Poll: Nine out of ten oil and gas workers urge chancellor to axe windfall tax

The overwhelming majority of oil and gas workers want Rachel Reeves to axe the windfall tax to protect the industry, according to an opinion poll.

GMB Scotland, one of the biggest unions across the energy sector, said nine out of ten members in oil and gas want the chancellor to cut the Energy Profits Levy in her budget on Wednesday to safeguard jobs, skills, and UK energy security.

The union’s polling also reveals eight out of ten (84 per cent) oil and gas workers do not believe UK or Scottish governments are capable of delivering a fair transition to renewable energy.

UK energy secretary Ed Miliband is promising 400,000 new jobs in green energy but, the poll suggests, nine out of ten (86 per cent) of GMB members do not believe renewables jobs will ever replace those lost in oil and gas.

Louise Gilmour, GMB Scotland secretary, said the snapshot survey of 250 oil and gas workers this week exposes their crushing lack of faith in ministers’ energy strategy and escalating fears over the rushed rundown of offshore production.

She said: “Our members are witnessing the needless and self-harming rush from oil and gas firsthand and their expert judgement could not be more damning.

“Ministers have stuck their fingers in their ears and ignored the voice of workers for too long but the warnings of industrial catastrophe are now deafening.

“Day after day, there are closures and redundancies in the oil and gas sector and across all the industries relying on it while we continue to be told of green jobs tomorrow.

“Tomorrow is too late, we need action today to slow the carnage and that must start with Wednesday's budget.”

The GMB Scotland poll revealed 84 per cent of oil and gas workers surveyed believe creating secure jobs should be the top priority for ministers during the transition to renewables.

Other priorities highlighted by the workers, with jobs offshore and in supply chains, include lowering household bills (79 per cent); ensuring an effective mix of energy sources (71 per cent); investment to allow more oil and gas exploration (66 per cent); and safeguarding energy security (65 per cent).

Almost every one of the workers (98 per cent) polled believe oil and gas will be essential in UK energy mix for years to come, however, and 77 per cent thought they would still be working in the sector in five years’ time.

Gilmour said the survey only confirmed how the drive to decarbonise will fail unless it is shaped by the expertise and insight of energy workers.

She said: “Experienced and skilled workers across oil and gas know better than anyone what the scale of this transition will demand and what is at stake.

“Promises of green jobs tomorrow mean nothing when real jobs are being lost today and, so far, this transition has been something done to our workers and their communities not with them.

“That must change.”