UK Union Calls on Total CEO to Intervene in North Sea Natural Gas, Oil Strike Dispute
UK labor union Unite has called on Total CEO Patrick Pouyanne to personally intervene in the ongoing dispute over working conditions, as the threat of further one-day strikes next month continues to hang over Total’s North Sea operations.
The series of 12- and 24-hour strikes at the Alwyn, Dunbar and Elgin-Franklin complexes began on July 23, with five days of industrial action reducing gas production by as much as 13 million cu m/d and oil output by 70,000 b/d.
Further strikes are scheduled for October 1, 15 and 29 if talks to resolve the dispute over a change to three-week offshore shifts fail.
“Unite members have written an open letter to Patrick Pouyanne requesting his personal intervention in the protracted dispute,” the union said late Wednesday.
In the letter, Unite said Total had decided to “forcefully implement an equal time three and three rota against the wishes of everyone offshore and contrary to Total’s own mission statement as a responsible employer.”
Total, which has defended three-week stints as necessary for the viability of its North Sea business, could not be reached for immediate comment Thursday.
SHELL DEAL
Unite pointed to an agreement this week between its members and Shell, which opted to return to a two-week offshore rota from May 2019 after “widespread consultation” with the workforce.
Shell, too, had looked to implement a three-weeks on, three-weeks off rota.
Unite cited a report by the Robert Gordon University (RGU) which identified that workers on three-week, equal-time rotas were nearly twice as likely to experience ill health as those on two-on-two-off shifts.
“It is good to see that Shell has listened to Unite and the views of the wider workforce — we believe the findings of the RGU survey should be the platform for all offshore operators in deciding whether to move from three weeks offshore to two weeks offshore,” Unite said.
In its letter to Pouyanne, Unite ends by quoting Steve Phimister, Shell’s vice president for upstream in the UK and Ireland, on the reasoning behind the company agreeing to the rota move.
“What’s important when you do these things is that you listen carefully,” Phimister was quoted as saying.
Wullie Wallace, Unite regional industrial officer, called on Pouyanne to “take a leaf out of Shell’s book” to listen to its workforce and act accordingly.
Source: www.spglobal.com
