More than 300 drilling workers have launched 48 hours of strike action across North Sea installations in a dispute over pay.
Participants include employees and contractors working on behalf of Archer, Maersk, Transocean and Odfjell, and covered by the United Kingdom Drilling Contractors Association (UKDCA).
Organised via Unite, the action comes as its members rejected a 5% pay offer tabled earlier this year.
Closed in late September, the strike ballot was returned with more than 96% voting in favour of downing tools. Unite said the pay offer represented a substantial real-terms pay cut.
Affected installations are understood to include: BP’s Clair and Clair Ridge, Repsol Sinopec’s Claymore and Piper Bravo, Apache’s Beryl, Brae and Forties assets, Shell’s Brent Alpha, Ithaca’s Alba North and Captain, Taqa’s Cormorant Alpha, EnQuest’s Magnus and Equinor’s Mariner platform.
Individual drilling rigs including the Maersk Innovator, Maersk Resolve and Paul B Lloyd Jr will also be affected.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham previously said UKDCA drill crews had received “no meaningful pay increase” for a number of years despite “consistently” high oil and gas prices and record operator profits.
Alix Thom, workforce engagement manager with industry body Offshore Energies UK, said employers and unions were “working hard to address workforce concerns”.
“Workers in all sectors across the UK are feeling the impact of the cost of living crisis,” she said.
“However industrial action does not offer a solution, and is not helpful for our sector, which is doing all it can to attract the investment essential to protect jobs and to ensure national energy security.
“We are certain all parties are looking to resolve matters as soon as possible.”
UKDCA Chairwoman Alexis Hay told Energy Voice on Thursday: “The United Kingdom Drilling Contractors Association (UKDCA) is disappointed by this action at a time when our companies are working to sustain global energy security while attempting to properly enhance pay and protect jobs amid an uncertain global economy.
“In an effort to achieve resolution while maintaining safe operations, we will continue our regular conversations with Unite the Union and appointed representatives.”
Speaking ahead of the strike, Unite industrial officer Vic Fraser said: “Unite has an emphatic mandate for industrial action from our members covered by the UKDCA. The level of participation from our drilling members is totally unprecedented with Unite’s membership growing on a daily basis.
“For years drilling companies have treated our members with contempt and in the process paid them a pittance. We will no longer tolerate this from an industry overflowing with record profits. Our members are now set to take industrial action in the coming weeks which will have a major impact on offshore platforms and drilling rigs.”
Further stoppages are planned for 3-4 November, 17-18 November and 15-16 December, while Unite has warned that could escalate to “all-out strike action”.
Measures could include an overtime ban from October 18, limiting the working day to 12 hours with no extra cover during scheduled field breaks and the “withdrawal of goodwill” which would prevent handovers between shifts.
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