Report to the People
16th January 2006
Taking
Control
The Sanmina situation yet
again sums up the problem with the labour market in parts of Scotland: we are
still competing with low-wage economies on the basis of cost.
That clearly cannot continue.
Indeed, when I spoke in
Thursday’s Holyrood debate on developing Scotland’s workforce, I made the
point that the future for communities such as ours lies in attracting good
companies with work which can’t just be shipped overseas when someone else can
do it cheaper.
So the Scottish Executive
must press ahead with the regeneration of the waterfront, the creation of
Inverclyde’s own Urban Regeneration Company and the Gourock transport
interchange. We must also, I
argued, get our fair share of civil service jobs – the quickest way of
bringing quality jobs to a community.
And questions must be
answered about the practical barriers which prevent busy working people from
developing their skills.
That, though, is for the
months ahead. Right now, the
priority must be looking after the interests of the Sanmina workers who seem set
to lose their jobs. For a start,
they must get all the practical help they need to find new employment. This includes, I made clear to the Enterprise Minister when
we held talks last week, things such as funding for up-to-date skills and
qualifications or enterprise awareness training.
If we are to take control of
our own future – rather than continue being at the mercy of international
markets and foreign companies – we all need to take action now.
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