The Unite union has confirmed to Rigzone that several strikes related to oil and gas will take place on Wednesday.
Unite regional officer John Boland noted that around 100 of the union members who work for Wood on TAQA assets will be on strike on May 10 and 11. Those members received an offer last week that was put to an advisory vote, although members rejected that offer. , Boland revealed.
The Unite representative also highlighted that approximately 50 of the union members working for Petrofac at the Ithaca FPF1 asset will strike on May 10 and 12, after starting the overtime ban on May 8 .
Boland also revealed that approximately all of Stork’s 650 offshore members will go on strike for 48 hours from 6.30am on May 10 to 6.29am on May 12. Sparrows’ roughly 200 offshore members will participate in an identical strike, according to Boland, who noted that the Sparrows strike excludes union members from BP’s Andrew, Etap, Clair, Clair Ridge, Glen Lyon and Mungo units and the ‘EnQuest from Heather, Magnus and Thistle, “all of whom have accepted separate offers”.
When Rigzone contacted industry body Offshore Energies UK (OEUK) for comment on the strike action, Irene Bruce, OEUK’s Energy Services Agreement Manager, said: “We are aware of “this upcoming industrial action and we would encourage all parties to work together to find constructive ways to address the concerns of the workforce.”
“Workers across all sectors of the UK are feeling the impact of the cost of living crisis, but industrial action does not offer a solution, nor is it helpful for our sector, which is doing everything it can to attract the essential investment to protect jobs and meet the UK’s energy needs,” added Bruce.
“While some offshore staff levels will be reduced, the companies are focused on maintaining safe operations for our people and ensuring continuity of production to maintain energy security in the UK,” the OEUK representative said in Rigzone.
On 21 April, Unite confirmed that 1,300 offshore workers would begin a 48-hour strike from 24 April, which it warned would “cause ‘severe’ problems for major oil and gas operators”. In a statement posted on its site, Unite said the 48-hour strike action will affect “multi-million oil and gas operators, including BP, CNRI, EnQuest, Harbour, Ithaca, Shell, TAQA and Total”.
Commenting on this strike action, Bruce told Rigzone last month that the organization was “aware of this industrial action and would encourage all parties to work together to find constructive ways to address the concerns of the workforce “.
In OEUK’s latest workforce report, which was published late last year, the organization projected that the offshore oil and gas sector would support 213,600 direct, indirect and and induced in 2022. That number stood at 200,800 in 2021, 178,500 in 2020, and 260,900 in 2019, the OEUK report showed.
Below is a breakdown of total direct, indirect and induced jobs for 2019-2022, as shown in the report:
- 2022: direct (30,300), indirect (99,700), induced (83,600)
- 2021: direct (28,400), indirect (93,900), induced (78,500)
- 2020: direct (25,800), indirect (91,700), induced (61,000)
- 2019: direct (30,300), indirect (121,900), induced (108,700)
To contact the author, please email andreas.exarheas@rigzone.com
