MSP warns that storms like Eowyn will become more common due to climate change

It was right that warnings were given as the storm approached and clear advice provided about the risk to life. I have no doubt this saved lives. Tragically there were still fatalities, injuries and considerable damage to property.

There are lessons to be learnt. One is around the protection of workers and employment rights in events like these. Many emergency and essential workers risked their lives and I pay tribute to what they did.



However other workers who were not essential were told they had to travel to work or lose a day’s pay, or were told they had to take the day off unpaid or take it as annual leave. Given the risk to life, it was completely correct that many employers told their workforce not to attend work on the day of the storm. However, it is not acceptable that many private sector workers.

Royal Mail employees were told they had to choose between taking annual leave, working back the hours lost to the storm or to take special unpaid leave. Many in the hospitality sector were either forced to attend work and travel through the weather warning or were not paid for their scheduled shift. These workers are low paid and so rely on the wages of every shift to make ends meet, having their pay docked so suddenly would have a serious impact on many family finances.

I raised the issue in parliament by asking the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs, Angela Constance MSP, to look at its fair work agenda to see whether more can be done to protect workers in emergency situations where there is a risk to life. In response she said that the Scottish Government “always looks at its fair work agenda, because it has to permeate through all portfolios and all of our actions”. Any reduction in wages in the face of extreme weather is not acceptable and an issue we need to address as these events become more common in the same way that we have fought for other employment protections.

Solidarity with workers in Inverclyde and across the whole country when it comes to advocating for their health and safety in the workplace..