Offshore staff
ABERDEEN, UK – Britain’s Unite the Union has warned of spreading industrial action by its members on UK offshore installations.
This will impact operators including bp, CNRI, EnQuest, Harbour Energy, Ithaca Energy, Shell and TotaEnergies.
Those taking part include electrical, production and mechanical technicians, deck crew, scaffolders crane operators, pipefitters, platers, and riggers working for Bilfinger UK, Stork, Petrofac Facilities Management, Wood Group UK and Sparrows Offshore Services.
About 700 offshore workers at Bilfinger UK Ltd. are set to strike, demanding an increase above the base rate of pay set forth in the Energy Services Agreement (ESA) for 2022.
And 350 Stork construction workers plan action in a dispute over working rotas and rates of pay.
Unite members employed by Petrofac Facilities Management on the FPF1 platform (Greater Stella Area) voted to strike, with about 50 workers involved in a dispute over holiday entitlements.
According to the union, offshore staff can be asked to work at any time for no additional payment. Operator Ithaca Energy has a ‘clawback’ policy of 14 days, which compares to the industry norm (Unite said) of seven days.
About 80 of its members employed by Wood Group UK on TAQA platforms in the northern UK North Sea voted to strike, in a dispute over a 10% reduction in salaries in 2015 said to be equivalent to about £7,000 a year ($8,539/year).
About 200 Sparrows Offshore Services workers are set to take strike action on various platforms from March 29 through 7June 7, via a series of 24-hour, 48-hour and 72-hour stoppages. Operators affected will include bp, Shell, Apache and Harbour Energy.
Later this week, about 80 staff will be balloted on action against Petrofac/bpm, and about 50 more at Worley Services working on Harbour Energy platforms in disputes over pay.
Results could swell the total involved in actions offshore to about 1,500 personnel, Unite claimed.
03.20.2023
