Maritime labour regimes in the North Atlantic offshore wind energy industry: On the socialization of labour and the structural power of the working class

Abstract

This article examines the emergence and transformation of maritime labour regimes in the North Atlantic offshore wind energy industry. Drawing on an array of published materials, observation at industry conferences, and semi-structured interviews with workers, managers, trade union officials, and others involved in the offshore wind industry in Northwestern Europe and the United States, the article analyses the development of labour regimes through an analysis of the contradictions between the production of use value and the production of surplus value. Through this dialectical approach, the article shows how the particular natural conditions and competitive dynamics of offshore wind power production necessitate an increasing socialization of labour, generating greater bargaining power for some skilled workers and more favourable conditions for collective organization. Through a discussion of recent industrial actions in two different divisions of the offshore wind energy industry, the article then shows how some workers are leveraging their structural power to contest an individualization of class relations. It concludes by arguing that the offshore wind industry is not simply a new frontier of capital accumulation, but potentially also a key terrain for the reconstitution of working-class power.