The meeting had been called by trade unionists in support of 500 factory workers at the Vestas wind turbine plant in Newport, Isle of Wight, and 100 in Woolston, Southampton – who all face redundancy at the end of this month.
But at 8.30pm the mee
ting's speaker announced that angry workers had occupied the Newport factory and were refusing to leave.
The audience of around 40 in Portsmouth Central Library erupted in applause and, in a spur of the moment show of support, a number agreed to catch the next boat to the Isle of Wight and set up a picket outside.
Speaking from inside the Newport factory, employee Michael, who asked not to reveal his surname, said: 'We will stay here until we get our jobs back.
'That may take a long time, and we have wives and children, but we are prepared to be here for however long it takes because we are here for our families and our livelihoods.
'This is a potential disaster for these employees. There are very few jobs and opportunities available across the south of England at the moment, so you're looking at people aged 19, 20, 21 facing five years on the dole.
'The government an-nounced recently that it wanted to create 400,000 new jobs in the green industry. We make wind turbines, so it's not the best of starts to lose 600 jobs in the industry.'
Jon Woods from Francis Avenue, Southsea, chair of Portsmouth City Unison branch, took the snap decision to travel to the island.
Speaking from the Portsmouth ferry terminal, he said: 'We've already had people saying they're coming down from London. There are people gathering from the Isle of Wight and more people are expected to come tomorrow, so things are really moving.
'This issue just crystallises everything I believe in as a trade unionist and someone who is concerned for the environment. It links the fight for jobs together with the fight against climate change.'
It is believed around 25 workers are involved in the occupation at Vestas.
An estimated 10 Portsmouth campaigners travelled over last night.
Police confirmed officers were at the plant, but said the protest is peaceful.
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