Staff operating the Foinaven floating production, storage and offloading vessel (FPSO) have voted to take strike action.
Unite union members voted by 96% for a strike on an 84% turnout. Continuous industrial action is now scheduled to take place from 5 August.
The Foinaven oil field - approximately 120 miles west of the Shetland Isles within the Faroes/Shetland Trough - is currently run by Altera under contract to BP, but when that ends next month it is due to be towed to Hunterston in Ayrshire.
Production from the field was suspended in 2021.
The dispute centres on offshore members being given a significantly inferior redundancy package compared with Altera’s onshore workforce.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Our offshore members working on the Foinaven FPSO vessel are rightly aggrieved at being treated as second class workers by Altera.
“We don’t do our members being treated as ‘second class’, all our members are asking for is parity in the redundancy package due to the contract coming to an end.”
Unite represents around 60 workers, who perform a number of roles including crane operators, electricians, deck crew and production technicians.
The Foinaven FPSO vessel is owned by Teekay, but operated by Altera staff.
It is currently contracted to work for BP, but it is due to end its contract when it will be towed to Hunterston Port. All workers will be made redundant at the end of August as BP ended the contact for the vessel.
It has emerged that Altera onshore staff are set to receive redundancy payments of one month’s salary for each completed year of service up to a maximum of 12 months. Offshore members were being offered basic statutory redundancy.
Altera stated that it was working towards a resolution.
Unite also highlighted the dangerous role its members perform by citing a recent fire on-board the Foinaven in early april, which prompted an evacuation of non-essential staff. The incident occurred while preparations were taking place for the vessel’s departure from station.
Vic Fraser, Unite industrial officer, added: “Ongoing safety concerns have been raised by workers, but both Altera and BP are still forging ahead with plans to move the vessel when virtually the whole crew will be on an all-out indefinite strike.
“The thought of having safety critical work done while in tow with no qualified competent crew working is a real concern.”
Don't miss the latest headlines with our twice-daily newsletter - sign up here for free.
