Talks between unions and COTA (Caterers Offshore Trade Association) will be held today in a bid to reach an agreement over potential strike action. Last month both Unite and RMT members were balloted on whether to take industrial action. Offshore catering and auxiliary workers are in dispute with COTA after it said it would not be honouring the second year of a pay deal worth around 1.3%.
Crunch talks will take place between unions and COTA (Catering Offshore Trade Association) in a bid to prevent the first North Sea strike in more than a generation. The body, which represents six catering companies working in the UKCS, has been in dispute with staff after it said it would not be honouring the second year of a pay deal worth around 1.3%. The talks will be held next week. Earlier this month 54.2% of Unite members voted for strike action while 62.&% voted for action short of a strike.
The UK Government must support the North Sea oil and gas industry through the downturn because it was its “sacrificial milk cow” for years, a union boss warned last night. Jake Molloy, RMT regional organiser, made the comments on a visit to London, where he briefed MPs in the union’s parliamentary group. They discussed sustainability of production and jobs, and how to maximise the recovery, in advance of a meeting with energy ministers at Westminster.
The TUC has backed a motion calling for a concerted campaign to resist "commercial pressures" that offshore unions say could erode safety standards, cut jobs and training.
Aberdeen South SNP MP Callum McCaig called on the Caterers Offshore Trade Association (Cota) to restart talks with unions over a staff pay deal. In April, Cota announced it was withdrawing its 2015/16 pay offer, worth around 2% and part of a two-year pay agreement. Unite and RMT remained “keen to engage” with the association, Mr McCaig said, adding he had written to Cota asking for a meeting with the unions as soon as possible.
One of the largest offshore trade unions has announced it is to ballot members on possible strike action amid an ongoing dispute over terms and conditions in the North Sea. The Rail Maritime and Transport (RMT) union, which represents about 5,000 workers, said it is planning a "rolling programme" of action designed to have the "maximum effect" on operations. The RMT, along with Unite and the GMB, has railed against what it is describes as an "unprecedented assault" on the workforce during a downturn in the industry.
Offshore union RMT has called for a “crisis management” plan to rescue British jobs and infrastructure in the wake of the oil price slump. It has “major concerns” about the impact of cost-cutting across the sector with workers from Total, Apache, Shell and others complaining that terms and conditions are to be cut and shift patterns altered. Major redevelopment and refurbishment projects will be “delayed indefinitely as investment dries up”, the Health & Safety Executive “will be stretched to maximum capacity trying to deal with the introduction of the new EU Offshore Safety Directive”, the sustainability of production is “at risk”, and the UK taxpayer faces a bill of up to £30 billion for decommissioning, it said.
North Sea oil workers at Marathon Oil are considering industrial action after bosses cut their satellite television and daily newspaper subscriptions.