Workers at Sullom Voe Terminal have rejected plans by EnQuest to restructure the firm, Unite union has said.
A consultative ballot held by union members at the Shetland gas terminal returned result of 93% against EnQuests proposals to cut staff numbers at the site.
EnQuest, which owns the Sullom Voe terminal in Shetland, revealed in July that it plans to cut its workforce by a quarter.
The firm announced it would look to cut 60 full time roles and 20 contractor positions.
EnQuest said it wants to implement the changes by January 2020.
It took over the terminal from oil and gas giant BP in December 2017 .
John Clark, Unite regional industrial officer, said: “Unite members have emphatically rejected the proposed changes at Sullom Voe by EnQuest .
“The announcement by the company in July to reduce the workforce by a quarter and to significantly weaken the existing terms and conditions took everyone by surprise.
“Unite pledged to do everything we could to support the workforce following this all-out attack, which is why we have been consulting with our members through this difficult period on the next steps.
“The fierce opposition to EnQuest’s proposals now means that we move to the next stage in the dispute process before we reach the stage of possibly balloting for industrial action.”
An EnQuest spokesperson said: “Since taking over operatorship of SVT, significant progress has been made at the terminal. We have been greatly encouraged by the enthusiasm of the teams in terms of shaping the terminal’s future so that we are competitive, are best-placed to maximise the life of the terminal, and support the future of the North Sea.
“We can confirm we have now concluded the previously announced consultation process looking at aligning the terminals’ staff with market terms and conditions and a right-sized organisation for terminal operations. We will begin advising staff of their position in the coming week. We want to minimise the risk of compulsory redundancies through redeployment or voluntary redundancy, for which we have received a number of applications, and will continue to work with our teams and the unions to implement these necessary changes.
“We appreciate this is a difficult period for all those impacted and we will endeavour to make sure that these proposed changes are implemented as smoothly as possible as part of a controlled management of change process that will deliver a safe transition in 2020, ensuring SVT is well placed to retain and win future business and provide positive employment opportunities for decades to come.”
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