Workers at the Aberdeen-based Wood Group are taking strike action this week over changes to their terms and conditions. Wood Group is a former fishing company that expanded to a 35,000-employee multinational engineering company after supplying the North Sea oil and gas industry since the first oil was pumped ashore. Last year it was acquired by Sidara, a Dubai-based engineering and design firm, who have removed the last remnants of its formerly paternalistic management.

The strike started on Tuesday with both Unite and the RMT transport union taking action in opposition to Wood’s decision to slash the pay and conditions of dozens of workers. This will affect the Britannia, Jasmine, Judy, Lomond and North Everest platforms.

Unite pointed out: “This is a profitable company, and it is despicable that it is threatening to fire-and-rehire its workers. This is corporate greed in its worst form.”

The union’s industrial officer Vic Fraser added that: “The workforce has been left with no option but to strike against the Wood Group’s threats and intimidation.”

Speaking for the RMT, General Secretary Eddie Dempsey said: “Our members are not asking for special treatment or unreasonable improvements. They are standing up to defend the terms and conditions they already have.” He also deplored the fact that “instead of working with the union to resolve these issues, the company has inflamed the situation by threatening the use of fire-and-rehire tactics”.

The strike involves production, instrument and mechanical technicians, and began with a two-day strike with further walkouts planned for 20th and 21^st October, and 3rd and 4th November. In addition, RMT instructed its members not to work any overtime from 8th October until further notice.

Unite is also involved in another North Sea dispute. This time, 160 off-shore workers based on seven platforms owned by Apache North Sea Productions Limited in the Forties and Beryl fields. Here the issue is a pay offer of four per cent, which has been rejected as inadequate. Unite also accuses Apache of making back pay conditional on negotiation deadlines.

Unite claims that a shutdown of one platform would lead to insufficient pressure in the Forties system, but oil industry sources say that the main Forties pipeline would not be affected. The Forties pipeline carries 30 per cent of UK gas production. It Unite is right, this could have a serious impact on fuel prices.

By New Worker