OFFSHORE JOBS CULL CONTINUES

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: february 2016 :: RMTnews 14 Five unions representing offshore energy workers have joined forces to form the Offshore Co-ordinating Group (OCG) after BP revealed another 3,000 job losses as it continued to hack back on budgets in the face of global turmoil. BP slumped into the red by £3.6 billion and confirmed that it will axe another 3,000 jobs worldwide in its downstream business - including refining, marketing and distribution - by the end of 2017. This is on top of the 4,000 cuts announced last year in a desperate scramble to slash costs without assessing the longer term implications for safety and assets. The OCG, comprising of Unite, RMT, GMB, BALPA and Nautilus unions, condemned the government’s £250 million deal for Aberdeen as “too late” for the city’s offshore and supply chain workers who have been hit by over 65,000 job losses and a savage attack on pay and terms and conditions for those who have held onto their jobs. OCG said that it was “far from satisfied” that the deal, and other support packages announced recently, would meet the challenges facing the industry and north-east as a whole. It also set out a series of steps which unions believe can turn the tide, such as a crackdown on the employment of foreign labour on low wages in shipping and on operators demanding rates cuts from contractors. The commitment to expanding Aberdeen harbour, where a record number of offshore supply ships are currently laid up, is welcome OFFSHORE JOBS CULL CONTINUES Trade unions launch fightback against job losses, pay cuts, safety and unilateral changes to terms and conditions for workers