Offshore worker rota row sparks North Sea strikes
Union blasts ‘brutal’ redundancy move
A ROW over offshore work rotas flared up yesterday after two oil firms handed redundancy notices to disgruntled staff.
The escalating dispute involving French oil giant Total and contractors Aker Solutions and Petrofac could disrupt oil and gas output.
Unite Scotland, the country’s biggest trade union, said Total want to move away from twoweeks-on, three-off rotas to the “hated” three-on, three-off and three-on, four-off rotations.
Furious chiefs reacted by announcing two extra 24-hour strikes on North Sea installations – March 19 and April 2 – on top of those already planned to start next week.
John Boland, the union’s regional industrial officer, said: “The actions by Aker and Petrofac at the behest of Total are brutal and scandalous.
“This disgraceful behaviour will not go unchallenged and for this reason we have had no option but to increase the scheduled days of industrial action.”
According to Unite, both firms have begun a consultation period on terminating and re-engaging all workers under new terms.
Aker Solutions confirmed it was in talks with workers on the ElginFranklin platform and at the Shetland Gas Plant over terms and conditions.
Petrofac said they were in consultation with teams on the Alwyn and Dunbar platforms.
A spokeswoman said: “Petrofac is committed to working closely with our offshore teams, trade unions and our client to ensure this process concludes smoothly and safely.”
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