The North Sea workforce is “disenfranchised and getting angrier by the day”, union bosses have warned.
Unite Scotland issued a warning after Wood Group confirmed it had entered a consultation period with its workforce over pay and benefits. Unite said the move had given “rise to serious consideration by offshore workers that they will revert to industrial action to protect and defend their pay and conditions at work”.
Last week Energy Voice revealed a letter had been sent to Wood Group crew outlining plans to cut posts and review the pay and benefit terms for its existing employees. The move would affect staff working on Shell assets.
Jake Molloy, RMT’s regional organiser, said: “There’s a lot of angry guys out there. It’s not just the Brent field. It’s across all the Shell operations.”
Molloy has spoken to people on four different installations.
“In the 35 years I’ve been in this industry, I’ve never encountered such low morale or a demoralized workforce,” he said.
“That’s our biggest concern, that as long as companies are hell-bent on reducing their costs by attacking terms and conditions they are not taking into account how that demoralizes their staff.
“We have a totally disenfranchised workforce that’s getting angrier by the day and that can cost the companies more than anything they are trying to save.”
However, Molloy cautioned against employees mounting unofficial strike action.
“One of things I tell them is to that they must guard against leaving themselves exposed to the potential of a dismissal,” he said.
Unite and RMT would put on a united front and deliver a “very clear and loud message from members” when they meet with company representatives, according to Molloy. That meeting is expected to take place next week.
Unite’s Scottish secretary Pat Rafferty said: “Unite has long warned that the oil and gas industry is cutting too fast and too far. Lives and safety are being put at risk and workers have had enough.
“It is approaching thirty years since the horrific Piper Alpha disaster yet it seems that the oil and gas industry has learned little from the world’s worst offshore disaster where 167 workers lost their lives.
“Employers must not respond to the current downturn in this industry’s fortunes by putting people in a position of risk. When workers feel so frustrated as to take actions such as those taken today, it is because their concerns need to be listened to.
“I repeat our call for all involved in this vital industry to be brought together in an oil and gas summit so that safety standards are not the casualty of this downturn and that the potential for catastrophe is averted.
“Unite will be consulting with our members about their concerns and will consider what official industrial action may be necessary. But we say to the employers, do not delay in seeking to address the issues that demand immediate attention.”
Molloy added: “The trade unions will exhaust the consultation period. Should a solution not be found and the workforce is adamant that it wants a ballot on action that’s what will be done.”
Tomorrow, Molloy will meet with unions in Norway to discuss the potential of a cross-country alliance.
The three day meeting will have representatives from South America, Australia and India.
“There will be trade unions from every corner of the world when we sit down to discuss these attack tomorrow,” he said.
“The fear among our EU colleagues is that if these attacks aren’t stopped in the UK they will start affecting every other country like Denmark and Norway.”
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