North Sea oil and gas workers may be about to stage another round of wildcat strikes.
Energy Voice (EV) – sister publication to The Press and Journal – has seen a notice encouraging offshore crew, including workers covered by the industry’s energy services agreement (ESA), to down tools at 1pm on September 8.
Similar messages have been shared on various social media channels, calling on workers to take action in the face of the UK’s cost-of-living crisis.
It is claimed the strikes will involve contractors employed by energy services firms Wood, Bilfinger and Stork.
Trade body Offshore Energies UK (OEUK) said it was “aware of the calls for unofficial action”, and urged those involved to “follow the official channels”.
OEUK workforce engagement and skills manager Alix Thom, said: “Employers and unions are working hard and constructively to address workforce concerns.
“Workers in all sectors across the UK are feeling the impact of the cost-of-living crisis, 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.”
ESA grievances
One source told EV a group to coordinate the strikes had been set up, with offshore workers demanding their pay be brought in line with that of onshore staff.
Many workers are unhappy with current ESA pay calculations, given the surge in oil and gas prices in recent months, the source added.
A statement from the Offshore Oil and Gas Workers Strike Committee said: “The collapse of the Offshore Contractors Association (OCA) was nothing but a power grab by the oil companies.
“They decimated our terms and conditions, then dressed up the new terms under the ESA as a game-changer. Total and utter rubbish.
“We have had derisory pay offers which give us nothing but the equivalent of a hard slap in the face.”
More than a dozen energy service companies and three trade unions have signed up to the ESA, which sets minimum pay and conditions for thousands of offshore workers.
It replaced the Offshore Contractors Partnership Agreement, negotiated between workers and the now dissolved OCA.
The ESA uses inflation, along with oil and gas prices over the past 12-months, in an annual rate review. The latest calculation was rolled out in January.
But commodity prices have increased dramatically this year, partly driven by the war in Ukraine.
Round two
Bilfinger became the latest company to sign up to the ESA in May after workers staged wildcat strikes, hailed at the time as a “wage revolution“.
Contractors working across 16 North Sea assets took action in the hope of raising pay rates by £7 per hour.
On the potential for further strikes, Bilfinger said: “As far as we’re aware, there are no planned or targeted wildcat strikes.”
Stork and Wood were also approached for comment.
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