Manufacturing Support – Energy and Transport.

 Conference calls upon the incoming Executive to work with its affiliated unions to:

• Campaign for the return of Northern Ireland Electricity to the ownership and control of Northern Ireland allowing the adoption of a pricing policy which will support the retention of our manufacturers;
• Continue to campaign for the accelerated delivery of the north-south energy interconnector, which is vital to the development of the all-island energy market;
• Demand that the NI Executive brings forward proposals to develop our huge potential for renewables production in wind, wave, tidal and biomass energy on a basis that does not undermine competitiveness;
• Demand action by the Executive to ensure large-scale independent generators are facilitated in connecting to the electrical grid;
• Demand the NI Executive investigate the competitiveness of freight operators on the Irish sea with a view to lowering the cost of shipping to Northern Ireland businesses;
• Campaign to ensure the NI Executive brings forward plans to extend our rail infrastructure in full public ownership across all parts of Northern Ireland, with a particular focus on developing rail freight volumes and plans for full rail electrification within a ten year period;
• Campaign to ensure the NI Executive brings forward plans for a British-Irish rail interconnector with a twenty-year development timeline;
• Demand the NI Executive brings forward plans for full interconnectivity, both passenger and freight, with rail connections to both airports and major ports within the short to medium-term.
• Campaign to demand the Executive proactively seeks to roll-out sectoral bargaining across those sectors of the economy with the lowest rates of pay and to demand