ACT ON OFFSHORE ENERGY CRISIS

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: february 2015 :: RMTnews 8 R MT has called on Shell UK Ltd not to award the Swiss- based Allseas Group SA the contract for the removal of three Brent platforms in the North Sea using its newest vessel, the Pieter Schelte – named after a top Waffen SS officer jailed for war crimes. RMT revealed that the vessel also operates under a Panamanian flag of convenience, employing socially-dumped foreign labour on pitiful pay and conditions. RMT general secretary Mick Cash said that it was sickening that a vessel named after a senior Nazi was set to be working on a tax-payer funded contract in British waters. “This scandal must be stopped and RMT will work with our sister unions and the ITF to bring this outrage to public attention and force it to be called to a halt,” he said. RMT national secretary Steve Todd added that with a massive decommissioning programme in place over the next 10 to 20 years, out of all the vessels that will be used hardly any of them will have British crews on board. “We will be lucky if any of the work from the decommissioning benefits anywhere in the UK or any of the UK workforce and yet it is UK taxpayers money that will fund the programme. “That is an absolute disgrace which is brought into sharp focus by the revelation that a union-busting company, using a ship honouring a top German Nazi and flagged out to Panama, stands to rake in a fortune at British taxpayers’ expense,” he said. RMT has called on the government to act after British Petroleum slashed hundreds of workers in the UK energy industry and warned that there was much worse to come. The oil giant cut 200 jobs and 100 contractor roles in the North Sea following a review of its operations. BP is the latest North Sea operator to announce job losses, with ConocoPhillips cutting 230 jobs, while Shell cut 250 jobs last August, and Chevron lost 225 in July. RMT general secretary Mick Cash s that the industry was making offshore workers carry the can for their failure to plan for lean times such as these. “Instead they have gone for a short term “slash and burn” approach that will have long term implications for the future of the entire industry and the security of the UK’s energy supplies. RMT, along with other unions and the Scottish TUC, met with Oil and Gas UK in Aberdeen recent over the on- going threat to jobs and the long-term security of the UK’s energy supplies. RMT set out three core points which it believes form a solid basis for weathering the current storm. The sector is in chaos as companies rush to slash costs in the face of a dramatic fall in oil and gas prices since the summer. Rather than engage in dialogue, companies are preparing to shut down drilling activity, in some cases two years ahead of contract end, lay thousands of skilled workers off at the stroke and ‘cold stack’ installations. This will also have a knock on effect in the supply chain, particularly supply vessels, helicopter transport and stand-by vessels. RMT members working on production platforms have been told shift patterns would be altered from the current 2-on 3- off to equal time of 2:2 or 3:3. One of the HSE’s objectives for offshore shift systems is to ‘minimise tiredness and fatigue’ but equal time shifts combining with 12-14 hour working days is a clear escalation of risk in a hazardous industry. A mix of the following options would be preferable to the ‘all or nothing’ approach taken by employers in the North Sea: qualification for advanced tax relief for job sharing or other worker friendly initiatives; flexible working; temporary lay- offs; increased training activity; secondment to HSE inspection initiatives ahead of the introduction of the EU Offshore Safety Regulation in July; onshore engineering development projects; incentivised drilling programmes; incentivised maintenance programmes; and clearing any backlogs in safety critical maintenance work. “The union is also continuing to lobby politicians for incentives to allow exploration, maintenance, safety and engineering development works to take place during this emergency period for the industry,” Mick Cash said. RMT DEMANDS HALT TO USE OF FLAGGED- OUT VESSEL NAMED AFTER TOP NAZI ACT ON OFFSHORE ENERGY CRISIS Union calls for action to defend jobs and the long-term security of UK energy supplies