Petrofac North Sea offshore workers walk out in dispute with ‘Scrooge’ employer

Offshore oil workers began two days of strike action on Thursday in a dispute over pay and working conditions.

Unite the union said about 146 people will down tools at Petrofac Repsol installations in the North Sea on Thursday in a dispute over payments, below inflationary pay increases, medicals, mileage and stand-in duties.

Unite members at Petrofac’s BP installations also began strike action in a separate dispute centring around the working rotation. The dispute involves 76 members, 98.3% of whom voted in favour of taking action.

The action could cause considerable disruption and will continue until Friday.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham claimed management was “prolonging” strike action and said the union will continue to support members to find a resolution.

She said: “Offshore oil and gas companies are making eye-watering profits yet are playing Scrooge when it comes to the workers that create those profits.

“Instead of working to resolve this dispute, management are prolonging it. Their actions are those of a greedy and callous employer hell-bent on making their workers worse off while their shareholders bathe in the wealth created by my members.”

Unite industrial officer John Boland, on behalf of the workforce, said: “Our members have faced a real terms pay cut and an attack on their working terms over years as a result of them taking Petrofac’s word that they would do the right thing.

“The workers involved in these disputes are resolute in their determination to continue with ongoing action until their claims are met.

“Petrofac cannot only afford to pay up and settle this dispute, they should do so now in order that workers on these installations can get on with the job.”

A Repsol Sinopec spokesperson said: “We can confirm workers on some Repsol Sinopec-operated assets have chosen to take industrial action.

“We continually review the remuneration of our offshore workforce and support fair compensation aligned with the market.

“Our priority remains the health, safety and well-being of our people.”