A trade union said yesterday that it had organised a two-day strike next week over a dispute about redundancy pay for workers at a subsea engineering firm in Fife.
Unite said Oceaneering planned to lay off about 120 of its employees in Rosyth − and was prepared to offer statutory redundancy pay only, despite turning over hundreds of millions of dollars last year.
The union said Oceaneering − whose global operations include regional headquarters in Dyce, Aberdeen − had paid workers at least double the legal minimum when it went through redundancy rounds in 2008, 2009 and 2013.
Unite members began a continuous overtime ban at the base today, to be followed by a 48-hour strike starting on Tuesday.
Houston-based Oceaneering did not respond to a request for comment.
The company chalked up net income of $231million in 2015, down 46% on the previous year.
Its chief executive, Kevin McEvoy, was paid a basic salary of $715,000 last year, but add-ons including stock awards and “other compensation” took his overall emoluments to $7million.
Unite regional officer Ian Ewing said: “We remain in consultation with the company to try to save as many workers as we can from compulsory redundancy.
“We have continued to raise the issue of redundancy pay, and our message is quite clear – our members have worked their socks off to deliver for this company and they should be treated with fairness and respect.
“Our members accepted there would be no wage rise in 2015 and 2016 – and this has helped the company keep healthy profits in a difficult period. We understand that the work done in Rosyth has made the company over $15million in the first six months of 2016.
“For the company to then declare over half of their workforce at risk of redundancy and to say that they intend to only pay statutory redundancy is a slap in the face.
“Our members will not accept such unfair treatment. They are shocked and angry. That is why they have instructed the union to commence with the industrial dispute action.”
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