In a 5 June 2026 announcement, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said offshore wind supply-chain companies and trade unions had backed the Offshore Wind Fair Work Charter. The measure is designed to connect labour standards more directly to a growth sector built around ports, marine services, fabrication, engineering and manufacturing in coastal towns and industrial areas. (gov.uk) According to the department, the charter should give unions better access to workplaces and more opportunity to speak directly with staff, while also raising expectations on health and safety. The same announcement framed the move as part of the government's clean power mission and wider energy security case. (gov.uk)
The interim charter, published with the Clean Industry Bonus material, describes itself as a tripartite agreement between unions, business and government. Its stated purpose is to take practical early steps before statutory rights anticipated for October 2026, when provisions linked to the Employment Rights Act 2025 are expected to come into force. (assets.publishing.service.gov.uk) In operational terms, that means signatories are expected to negotiate voluntary access agreements with relevant trade unions covering both physical and digital contact. The document envisages agreed site visits, digital union noticeboards, digital meetings, union slots during staff inductions, and protections against intrusive monitoring of which workers attend access meetings. (assets.publishing.service.gov.uk)
The charter goes beyond access alone. It also commits signatories to early implementation of the forthcoming duty to tell workers about their right to join a trade union, including through inductions, face-to-face briefings and accessible digital notices. The document is explicit that the decision on whether to join, and which union to join, rests solely with the worker. (assets.publishing.service.gov.uk) On health and safety, the text is more concrete than a general statement of intent. It says elected or nominated safety representatives should be supported with time, information and involvement in inspections, accident investigations, health and safety committees and new safety plans, while UK HSE inspectors should be assisted with access to sites and vessels where operational conditions allow. (assets.publishing.service.gov.uk)
There is, however, a clear legal qualification. The charter itself states that it creates no legal obligations and confers no rights on third parties, and it does not determine any statutory recognition or bargaining outcome. That matters because the government presents the charter as a route towards stronger worker voice and possible future recognition arrangements, but the formal legal route remains the existing statutory framework. (assets.publishing.service.gov.uk) The governance arrangements therefore carry most of the practical weight. The charter says unions will monitor implementation, disputes can be referred through the Secretary of State to Acas, and signatory status can be removed where a breach is found. DESNZ also requires signatories to provide evidence of progress, including on voluntary access agreements, with the governance framework operating alongside separate Clean Industry Bonus enforcement processes. (assets.publishing.service.gov.uk)
The 5 June notice says an initial 37 supply-chain companies had signed up. The published company list ranges across ports, marine contractors, cable manufacturers, engineering firms and major industrial suppliers, including Associated British Ports, Belfast Harbour, Navantia UK, SeAH Wind, Siemens Energy, Siemens Gamesa and Vestas Celtic Wind Technology. (gov.uk) The same notice says those companies signed alongside five trade unions, but the signatory list published on that page names six union bodies: GMB, RMT, Prospect, the Trades Union Congress, UNISON and Unite the Union. On the face of the official publication, the main text and the signatory list do not fully match on the union count. (gov.uk)
This matters because the charter is tied to the government's wider offshore wind support model. In a 4 February 2026 statement, DESNZ said offshore wind companies seeking to participate in Contracts for Difference and access the Clean Industry Bonus would be required to sign up, making fair work commitments part of the conditions attached to public support. The publication page for the Allocation Round 8 Clean Industry Bonus documents records that the signatories list was added on 5 June 2026. (gov.uk) Set against the Clean Energy Jobs Plan, the approach shows how the department is presenting clean power policy as both an industrial programme and a labour market policy. DESNZ says the Jobs Plan is intended to keep job quality at the centre of workforce expansion, and its February statement described the charter as a way to bring forward workplace protections for offshore wind workers ahead of the wider statutory timetable. (gov.uk)
The original DESNZ announcement also linked the charter to a broader employment package. A Department for Work and Pensions press release published on 29 May 2026 confirmed 300,000 new work experience and training placements as part of a £2.5 billion youth employment support package, which DESNZ cited as part of the wider jobs context around the clean energy push. (gov.uk) Industry and union responses were supportive but measured. Navantia UK and Hutchinson Engineering presented the charter as consistent with fair treatment, workforce development and job quality, while the TUC and RMT argued that implementation and enforcement will be decisive. The government's own notice says later agreements between offshore wind companies and unions could move into terms and conditions, apprenticeships and more inclusive workplaces, so the next test is whether the present sign-up converts into site-level arrangements that workers can actually use. (gov.uk)