Energy conference: ‘Be proud of what you have achieved’

UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea opened the union’s first in-person energy conference in three years today telling delegates: “You should be proud of what you have achieved. You’ve faced so much adversity in the past few years. But you’ve faced it together.

“Although energy is relatively small compared to some of the other service groups it definitely punches above its weight and has a massive impact across all the other sectors in the union.”

She went on to talk of the energy crisis and the effect it was having not only on consumers but also the energy workforce. She said: “Our members’ livelihoods were sacrificed to pay homage to the ‘supposed’ benefits of market forces, that we were told, would drive energy prices lower.”

Instead, the Conservative policy meant that energy companies “privatised their profits, paid themselves handsomely, and mutualised the losses when things got difficult.” She concluded that, “this crisis exposes our government’s lack of a credible energy policy in the UK.”

After Ms McAnea’s speech, conference started on its order of business, addressing a motion on increasing diversity within energy, submitted by the national black members committee.

Patrick Yu (pictured) moved the motion, asking delegates to “Picture someone working in the energy sector,” adding “you are likely to mentally summon up an image of a white middle-aged male.

“While the situation is improving,” he continued, “it’s not changing fast enough.”

Conference also addressed several other motions on equalities:

• the disproportionate effect of climate change on LGBT+ communities,
• the need for “to become more visible and more vocal – louder and prouder – in supporting and promoting Trans equality
• and the importance of early work with girls in schools in encouraging participation in stem subjects to combat the lack of women in technical roles within energy and help to close the sector’s gender pay gap.

In a motion on the cost of living crisis and its impact on energy workers, Lindsay McNaught, chair of the SGE cited the fact that wholesale gas prices have nearly quadrupled in the past year, with tariffs having increased by some 54% with the latest predictions indicating they will increase a further 46% in October.

She said the government’s response so far shows “a total lack of understanding of the severity of the problem,” and called on the SGE to continue to highlight poor practice and reckless behaviours in this industry that have cost energy members jobs and to argue for greater regulation.

Christopher Reed, vice chair of the energy SGE told conference, “We have the perfect opportunity to springboard to the immediate fore of the UK’s energy outlook,” in a motion which called for a balanced energy system, fit for the future, to achieve net zero.

He added that while the government has made the right noises about net zero, “It will come as no surprise to learn that what this government says, and what this government does, are not the same thing.”

Another motion, which carried, called for the re-nationalisation of the retail supply of energy, with Tracy Wainwright of the SGE telling conference “Thirty one suppliers folded in 2021 – yet it’s our members who pick up the pieces.”

In a motion on apprenticeships, a delegate gave a personal story of her own apprenticeship, as she put it “an old-fashioned, hands-on, do everything – including clean the toilets” apprenticeship and added that the best way to unlock the potential of the energy industry was “cross-training on up-skilling.”

The motion called on the SGE to develop a charter with employers to encourage new workers to enter the industry and to progress those in customer service roles into operational ones as well as to promote the role women play in the energy system and support their development.