News / Petrofac room share dispute escalates
THE ROW over Shetland Gas Plant construction workers having to share rooms in an accommodation block and flotels threatens to blow up into potential industrial action.
The GMB union said on Thursday that 47 pipe fitters had been locked out after the union had given notice the previous day of a strike ballot that would be held on 4 December.
Petrofac, the main contractor on the massive construction site owned by French oil and gas giant Total, said the workers had simply been given notice because their services were no longer required at this stage.
A company spokesman said the matter was not related to accommodation, although the union worked hard to make it appear that way.
Currently around 1,700 people are employed on site building the £800 million gas plant near Shetland’s Sullom Voe Terminal, part of a £3.3 billion project to unlock the vast gas fields to the west of the isles.
They are housed in an 850 bed accommodation block near to the site, and three barges moored in Lerwick harbour.
In an increasingly bitter dispute over the standard of the lodgings, the GMB accused Petrofac of “corporate bullying”.
The union wants its members who have to share a room with fellow workers to be paid an extra £50 per day.
They also demand compensation for the two hours travel time per day between the accommodation barges in Lerwick and the building site in the north mainland of the isles.
Phil Whitehurst, the GMB’s national officer for engineering construction, said the “provocative lock-out” was an attack on the union’s lawful industrial action ballot.
“As a direct result of GMB serving notice on Wednesday of an official industrial action ballot, Petrofac gave notice after the day shift returned to their lodgings, that 30 Balfour Beatty employees (a sub-contractor to Petrofac) already on the island would be flown home in the morning, and another 17 on rotational leave will not be coming back,” he said.
“GMB members are the victims of this corporate bullying. It is nothing but “subby bashing” by the principal contractor Petrofac trying to show the client Total how they are in control, but in real terms it shows how they have lost control.”
A Petrofac spokesman insisted that the pipe fitters were not locked out.
“The size of our workforce on any project routinely fluctuates to meet needs. This is common practice across our industry.
“We can confirm that a small number of employees from one of our sub-contractors have today been given notice that their services are not currently required.
“However we have stated our commitment to priority consideration for re-engagement when an opening arises aligned with their skill sets.
“We have a trade union site agreement, which has been in operation since 2011 with both Unite and GMB which to date has worked very effectively,” he said.
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