Hundreds of unionised UK North Sea workers employed by energy services company Petrofac kicked off two days of strike action on Thursday in an ongoing dispute over pay and working conditions.
Nearly 150 Unite union members working on Repsol Sinopec’s assets are downing tools for the second time in several weeks, after rejecting a 3% pay offer and demanding the reinstatement of a 10% equal time payment, alongside payments for offshore medicals as well as increases to mileage payments and stand-in duties.
In a separate dispute, 76 Unite members working on behalf of Petrofac on BP’s Andrew, Clair, Clair Ridge, ETAP and Glen Lyon installations are taking part in strike action on the same date, centering around a three-week on, three-week off working rotation.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham claimed management was prolonging strike action and said the union will continue to support members to find a resolution.
“Offshore oil and gas companies are making eye-watering profits yet are playing Scrooge when it comes to the workers that create those profits. Their actions are those of a greedy and callous employer hell-bent on making their workers worse off while their shareholders bathe in the wealth created by my members,” she said.
Unite industrial officer John Boland added: “Our members have faced a real terms pay cut and an attack on their working terms over years as a result of them taking Petrofac’s word that they would do the right thing.
“The workers involved in these disputes are resolute in their determination to continue with ongoing action until their claims are met. Petrofac can not only afford to pay up and settle this dispute, they should do so now in order that workers on these installations can get on with the job.”
Thursday’s strikes follow another 48-hour work stoppage on Repsol Sinopec assets on November 16. The strike included deck crew, platers, pipe fitters, electricians and riggers working on oil and gas fields Arbroath, Auk, Claymore, Clyde, Fulmar, Montrose, Piper, Saltire and Tartan and the Bleo Holm FPSO.
