Employees made redundant after the closure of the Grangemouth refinery can be given precedence for brand new roles created by the Scottish Authorities’s £25 million Simply Transition Fund, First Minister John Swinney introduced on Wednesday.
The brand new Grangemouth Jobs Prioritisation Scheme, developed in partnership with Unite the Union, will make it a situation for any enterprise receiving funding from the Fund to prioritise eligible Grangemouth staff throughout recruitment. The measure is designed to retain expert vitality staff as Scotland transitions to a low-carbon financial system.
Scottish Enterprise, which administers the Fund, is working with each the Scottish and UK governments to draw new funding to the positioning. The First Minister mentioned the initiative displays the federal government’s dedication to making sure the vitality transition doesn’t depart communities behind.
“Supporting the simply transition to a low carbon financial system is one among our highest priorities for presidency,” Swinney mentioned. “The Grangemouth Jobs Prioritisation Scheme – developed in partnership with Unite – is a concrete instance of this, serving to staff safe new alternatives and guaranteeing their important expertise and information will not be misplaced to Grangemouth and to Scotland.”
Unite’s Scottish Secretary Susan Fitzgerald welcomed the transfer however mentioned extra pressing motion was wanted to ship the promised employment. “Unite has fought daily for the alternative of the highly-skilled jobs misplaced on account of the refinery closing,” she mentioned. “The pilot scheme will embrace a job interview assure for eligible staff. We perceive it is a first throughout the UK.”
She added that the union expects fast progress: “It’s now time to ship with urgency the promised new jobs and funding for the employees and other people of Grangemouth if we’re to attain any resemblance of a real Simply Transition.”
The scheme goals to stability Scotland’s vitality transition objectives with the financial and social wants of native communities, guaranteeing public funding instantly helps displaced staff in one of many nation’s most important industrial areas.
Picture tormentor4555, CC BY-SA 3.0, through Wikimedia Commons.