I have written several times about the effect on employment of new nuclear build:
- “Slave Labour“ building nuclear plants,
- Nuclear Jobs Boom and Bust in Rural Communities,
- The local Impact of Sizewell C and D on employment and the economy
- For more, see my page on Nuclear Power and scroll down to Jobs and Economics
This is just some further points about employment rights and EDF. Most of the work for this has been done by Emma, with only minor editing my myself.
The consultation document places a great deal of emphasize on the job opportunities the power station could provide. Edf has been severely criticised by representatives of its own workforce, who are wary of going ahead with Hinkley given the financial difficulties the company faces. On July 28, EDF’s board voted 10 to 7 to proceed with the project. All six staff representatives and one other board member voted against, while one board member resigned in protest against EDF’s strategy.
In August 2016 worker representatives on the board filed a challenge to overturn the company’s controversial decision to build the reactors. They protested against the participation of several directors with conflicts of interests, claiming that some of the EDF board members who voted in favour of Hinkley Point represent companies that are EDF customers and could benefit from the UK contract. 1
EDF board member Colette Lewiner is also on the board of construction firm Bouygues.2
Bouygues is one of the main contractors at the Flamanville plant in France and a joint venture of Bouygues TP and Laing O’Rourke (BYLOR) has been confirmed as preferred delivery partner for the main civil engineering and construction contract at Hinkley3.
in 2011 as the result of a fatal accident at Flamanville the French Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) investigated the working conditions overseen by Bouygues at the site. They found that there were serious breaches in safety and that numerous industrial accidents had not been declared.
In 2015 in one of the biggest ever court cases of its kind, Bouygues was found guilty of serious violations of labour laws. Social security contributions of more than 460 foreign employees had been deducted from the worker’s pay but had not been paid to the tax authorities, which led to workers being left without pensions and health care entitlement either in France or in their home countries4.
1 EDF union board members file challenge to annul Hinkley Point vote, Reuters, 31 Aug 2016 (http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-edf-britain-nuclear-cgt-idUKKCN11617T)
2 Bouygues, Vallourec deny conflict of interest in Hinkley Point vote, Reuters, 10 August 2016 (http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-edf-britain-idUKKCN10L22N)
3 Press Release: Hinkley Point C progress, Laing O’Rouke (http://www.laingorourke.com/media/news-releases/2015/hinkley-point-c-progress.aspx)
4 Procès en appel de Bouygues à Flamanville pour fraude au travail détaché, Challenges, 7 November 2016 (http://www.challenges.fr/emploi/proces-en-appel-de-bouygues-a-flamanville-pour-fraude-au-travail-detache_437421)
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