A 'tsunami' of industrial action is to hit the oil and gas industry as 1350 offshore workers are predicted to bring dozens of platforms to a ‘standstill’ in the biggest offshore stoppage in a generation.
Workers will commence 48-hour strike action to demand a better deal on jobs, pay and conditions on April 26, with companies including BP, Shell and Total assets affected.
The workforce includes electrical, production, mechanical technicians, deck crew, scaffolders crane operators, pipefitters, platers, and riggers.
Unite general secretary, Sharon Graham, said: “Oil and gas companies in the offshore sector are enjoying record windfall profits.
"There’s no question that contractors and operators can easily afford to give Unite members a decent pay rise. The scale of corporate greed in the offshore sector has to be challenged."
The five companies to be impacted by the strike action are Bilfinger UK Limited, Petrofac Facilities Management, Stork Technical Services, Sparrows Offshore Services, and Worley Services UK Limited.
John Boland, Unite industrial officer, added: “Unite has received an emphatic mandate in support of strike action. It is historic and it will be the biggest offshore stoppage in a generation.
"Unite’s members are determined to get their fair share and to establish a better working environment. This is not exclusively about pay but also working rotas, holidays, and offshore safety.
"The workforce has been taken for granted for years but now their value will be acutely felt when strike action will bring dozens of platforms to a standstill.”
Around 700 offshore workers at Bilfinger will strike as part of a pay dispute, over 360 Stork construction workers will take action in a dispute over working rotas and rates of pay and around 50 members employed by Petrofac Facilities Management Limited on the FPF1 platform will take strike in a dispute over imposed clawback days.
While members employed by Worley Services UK will strike in a dispute which a base rate increase of £7 per hour and standby payments to be 12-hours full pay.
The announcement follows 48-hour strike action taken this week by around 150 Sparrows Offshore Services workers across more than 20 oil and gas platforms in a dispute over pay.
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