News / Tanker pilots fury over scab labour plans
SHETLAND Islands Council has refused to comment on contingency plans it is setting up to replace tanker pilots at Europe’s largest oil terminal in the event of strike action.
The council has given the 10 long serving pilots it employs at the port of Sullom Voe until Monday to agree to a new employment contract that will raise their retirement age from 60 to 65.
The two sides have been negotiating for around five years over how they can be brought under the new single status legislation, which was settled for the vast majority of council employees in 2009.
The council is also trying to reduce costs at the port to keep it profitable as North Sea oil runs out and the number of tankers visiting BP-operated terminal reduces.
The number of pilots has already been cut back from 24 over the past 30 years. Now both sides have agreed to cut back to six pilots who will work new shift patterns.
However talks broke down before Christmas over the retirement age and the council is planning a teleconference to discuss the issue on Monday with the pilots’ union Nautilus.
However on Thursday it emerged that the council has already set in motion contingency plans should the pilots refuse to accept new contracts that would be in place by 1 April.
They said that pilots in Harwich and Dundee had already been approached by a marine manning agency to “check availability” for working at Sullom Voe at short notice.
One pilot said they were feeling “very angry and let down” by their employer after the many years of service put in ensuring the safety of the port and helping to maintain its viability.
He said: “The fact that they are lining up scab labour in anticipation of industrial action or that we might leave is what is really annoying people. People feel offended, we don’t feel like we are being treated like loyal employees. It’s an insult.”
He added that it takes about six months to train a pilot to navigate an oil tanker through the waters in and around the port of Sullom Voe, so recruiting new pilots could create safety issues.
SIC infrastructure executive director Gordon Greenhill refused to confirm or deny that the council had already asked a manning agency to recruit pilots to replace existing staff in the event of strike action.
Mr Greenhill described the claim as an “unsubstantiated rumour”, but admitted that he had discussed a number of possible contingency measures should strike action take place.
He said: “I would be in dereliction of duty to the council, to our customers at Sullom Voe and to the public of Shetland if I didn’t manage the service in such a way that…didn’t compromise the income that Sullom Voe brings in to pay for many of the services the council provides.
“Prudent management would suggest that we would have contingency plans in place to put to the council in the event that there was industrial action. I am optimistic that we won’t have industrial action because there’s ongoing negotiations and I have put no contingency plans to the council as yet.”
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