Offshore staff
ABERDEEN, UK – Close to 400 members of the Unite and RMT unions working for Wood Group across eight Shell oil and gas platforms in the UK North Sea have voted for strike action.
This follows a dispute over Wood Group’s plans for 30% pay reductions and changes to allowances.
The first 24-hour stoppage will take place on July 26, and will be followed by a series of further stoppages over the following weeks.
Unite says 99.1% of its affected members voted in favor of the action with 98.5% of RMT members sanctioning the strike, which will disrupt operations on Shell’s platforms on theBrent field in the northern North Sea and others in the central North Sea.
Recent changes have also seen platform personnel move from a two-week working cycle to a three-week working cycle, which means working extra weeks offshore for the same salary, Unite claimed.
Regional officer John Boland said: “This is the third series of redundancies, and cuts to our members’ wages and terms and conditions in the last two years…
“Wood Group needs to wake up to the determination of our members by negotiating seriously with Unite and the other offshore unions to reach a deal which is fair for their highly skilled and hardworking work force.”
Wood Group commented: “Our employees’ safety and welfare is our priority, and although we are extremely disappointed that they have chosen to take industrial action, we respect their right to do so.
“We continue to engage proactively and openly with our employees and the unions with a focus on reaching a resolution. Safeguarding these jobs in the North Sea now and in the future has always been, and remains our priority.”
07/19/2016
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