Concerns raised over damaging industrial action amid increased criticism of Trade Union Bill
Some oil and gas rigs in the North Sea could close permanently if proposed strikes in the sector go ahead, the Offshore Contractors Association (OCA) has warned.
The representative body for offshore workers has spoken out against planned industrial action by union Unite in a row over proposed changes to work schedules. The union’s members will be balloted in the next few weeks.
In an interview published on The Scotsman’s website, Bill Murray, chief executive of the OCA, warned: “We’re wary that some of the older platforms, if they are shut down for any length of time because of strike action, might not be recoverable. We might not manage to get them back so the jobs that go with them would be lost.”
The proposals to strike follows planned changes to rotas for North Sea rig contractors. The contested plans involve changing shift lengths from two weeks to three, which would cut down on the number of crew changes at sites.
Members of trade union GMB had also planned to walkout, but have called off the action after accepting a revised pay deal.
Commenting on the Unite industrial ballot, Murray said: “Strike action could cause significant, irreparable damage to the North Sea industry sending a clear signal to investors that the basin is a high risk investment and threatening future jobs. We encourage all Unite members who are eligible to vote to do so – with no turnout restrictions in industrial ballots it is important that all voices are heard.”
When their members rejected the initial deal in August, Willie Wallace, Unite’s industrial officer, said: “North Sea employers must do more to address the deep concerns our members have over these shift pattern changes – from loss of earnings and livelihoods to the impact on workplace health and safety and quality of life.”
Any industrial action might also have a knock-on effect for the wider UK economy. When the Forties pipeline was shut down in 2008 as part of a strike, it generated estimated loss of £50 million a day in lost oil production.
Unite is also calling for strike action among caterers in the offshore sector, after a pay rise of 1.3 per cent was rejected by employers.
However, warnings about damaging industrial action may become unnecessary in the future as the government’s controversial Trade Union Bill continues to make its way through parliament. The bill will place tougher restrictions on trade union members’ ability to strike with proposals under the bill including turnout requirements for ballots and tighter controls on picketing.
When it was first published, Frances O’Grady, TUC general secretary, called the new bill an “unnecessary attack on workers’ rights and civil liberties that will shift the balance of power in the workplace”.
Since then, Liberty, Amnesty International and the British Institute of Human Rights have spoken out against the bill, saying it “would hamper people’s basic rights to protest and shift even more power from the employee to the employer”.
And the Regulatory Policy Committee, the government’s watchdog for regulatory proposals, has criticised ministers for trying to rush the bill through without proper consultation and described government’s impact assessments as being unfit for purpose.
Consultation on the bill is set to close on Wednesday 9 September.