The union representing around 85 offshore workers employed by Petrofac (LON: PFC) has announced an end to a pay dispute centred on ‘clawback’ entitlements.
Unite the Union said its members working on assets operated by Ithaca Energy have backed a move to a 10 days ‘clawback’ policy with no loss of pay.
A spokesperson for Petrofac said: “We are pleased to have reached a resolution and would like to thank our team for their continued focus on safe operations.”
The pay dispute originally centred on Ithaca Energy’s 14 days ‘clawback’ policy, which is double the industry norm of seven days, according to Unite.
A ‘clawback day’ refers to days of work paid in advance in anticipation that those days will be worked during the year to cover for events such as sickness, shutdowns or weather delays.
If the ‘clawback’ days are not worked, the advance payment is recovered from salary payments.
Petrofac originally offered to reduce the clawback policy to 12 days, which was rejected by union members.
On the eve of scheduled strike action from October 1st to 7th, Unite said Petrofac made a last minute offer to reduce this further to 10 days.
The revised offer led to a suspension of strike action in order for Unite members to be balloted.
Union leadership welcomes Petrofac result
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham welcomed the result.
“It was only through industrial action that this win was secured, and our Petrofac Ithaca members must be congratulated for standing firm in the fight for better jobs, pay and conditions in the offshore sector,” Ms Graham said.
Unite industrial officer John Boland said the union was pleased to have delivered an improved working environment for its members.
“It was no longer acceptable that the workers were left in one of the worst-off positions in terms of clawback days,” Mr Boland said.
© Supplied by Ithaca Energy“Our members have taken fourteen days of strike action in order to get this win and they must be applauded for their strong stance.
“To have secured a reduction in four clawback days with no loss of pay is a success and it is another example of Unite delivering for offshore workers.”
The affected assets include the FPF1 platform, Alba FSU, Alba North, Captain FPSO, and Captain WPP installations.
Unite said affected members include electrical, production and mechanical technicians in addition to deck crew, scaffolders and crane operators.
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