Offshore attack actions in the UK North Sea sector are increasing

Around 1,650 workers will take part in two rounds of 48-hour strikes from 1-3 June and 8-10 June, announced by UK union Unite, in response to disputes over job security, wages and working conditions in the offshore sector. The strikes will impact five companies, including Bilfinger UK, Stork Technical Services and Sparrows Offshore Services, and offshore workers, including electrical, manufacturing and mechanical engineers, as well as deckhands, scaffolders, crane operators, pipe fitters, coaters and riggers. The largest group of offshore workers “to date” will partake in the strikes in June, said Unite general secretary Sharon Graham, adding the dispute is a result of “unrestricted greed for profit on the part of the company.”
The strikes form part of an ongoing dispute between contractors and UK North Sea oil and gas operators. Major oil and gas operators, including Apache, BP, Harbor Energy, Enquest, Ithaca, Repsol, Shell and TAQA, are set to be impacted by the strikes. Last week, Unite said approximately 600 Bilfinger contractors had rejected new salary offers. Alongside them, 200 Bilfinger contractors working on BP and Repsol plants, some 650 Stork Offshore members and 200 Sparrows Offshore workers will participate in the strikes. Union members deserve a larger share of oil and gas operators’ profits, said Unite’s industry officer John Boland, adding the union had “a simple message” for contractors and operators: “we will stand up for our members, we will hold them accountable and in the end we will win.”

Tags: Offshore oil and gas,offshore strike,UK,unites union


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