Norway Oil Workers Agree Wage Deal, Avert Strike
Wage talks between Norwegian oil firms and two labor unions ended in a deal on Wednesday, industry and union officials said, averting the risk of strike action later this year.The Lederne union as well as Industri Energi both came to an agreement with companies, industry group Offshore Norway said.A third union, Safe, will also be encompassed by the settlement, Offshore Norway said.Norway produces around 4 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, almost equally divided between oil and natural gas.The Nordic country became Europe's largest gas supplier after Russia cut its deliveries amid the war
Congo Republic Oil Workers to Go on Hunger Strike
Oil sector workers in Congo Republic will go on a hunger strike starting June 27, the workers' union said in a statement.A second phase of the strike starting June 29 will involve stopping work at all offices and industrial bases in Pointe-Noire, while the hunger strike continues at refineries, oil terminals, onshore and offshore bases, the statement said.(Reporting by Aaron Ross/Writing by Nellie PeytonEditing by James Macharia Chege)
UK Offshore Workers Accept New Pay Offer
Oil workers accepted an improved pay offer by the Offshore Contractors Association to 2,500 union members, the Unite union said, a move which removes the threat of strike in the British North Sea which is home to the Brent crude benchmark."Unite Scotland's 2,500 strong Offshore Contractors Association (OCA) membership today... confirmed they have accepted the revised pay offer following an online ballot on a 71 percent turnout," Unite said on Twitter on Tuesday."The two year pay deal represents a significant improvement on the initial OCA offer."(Reporting By Shadia Nasralla
Hundreds of Norway Oil Workers Go On Strike
Hundreds of workers on Norwegian offshore oil and gas rigs went on strike on Tuesday after rejecting a proposed wage deal, leading to the shutdown of one Shell-operated field and helping send Brent crude prices higher.One union said hundreds more workers would join the strike on Sunday if an agreement over union demands for a wage increase and pension rights was not reached.Royal Dutch Shell said that due to the strike it was temporarily closing production at its Knarr field, which has a daily output of 23,900 barrels of mostly oil, but also natural gas liquids and natural gas.Shutting the field
Oil Producer Norway Starts Wage Talks to Avert Widespread Strikes
, the 2018 round rolls a majority of private sector firms into a single negotiation in a bid to resolve a stand-off over pension reform. "We've understood that there is no real will among employers to compromise from the outset," labour union negotiator Asle Reime, who will represent oil workers, told Reuters ahead of the talks. "Pension rights are important to all workers regardless of which industry they are in, that's why I think there is more weight behind the demands this year and also more willingness to strike," he added. If initial talks break down
Most Norwegian Oil Workers Agree to Wage Deal
offshore Norway on Wednesday agreed wage deals for 2017 with the two largest trade unions representing oil and gas workers, while talks with a smaller union will continue at a later stage under mandatory mediation rules. Industri Energi and Safe, representing some 87 percent of Norwegian oil workers, said the outcome of the talks was disappointing, but added they had nevertheless accepted it as they did not have the right to go on strike this year due to a clause in last year's agreement. Lederne, a third union representing some 13 percent of Norwegian oil and gas workers or about
Oil Workers Reject Petrobras Offer, Strike Possible
Brazil's largest oil workers' federation said Thursday its members voted overwhelmingly to reject a contract offer from Petroleo Brasileiro SA, or Petrobras, and were preparing for a possible strike. Leaders of the FUP union plan to continue talks with Petrobras starting at 2 p.m. (1700 GMT) in Rio de Janeiro and have not yet called on workers to walk off the job. In recent years, Petrobras has given wage increases well in excess of inflation, and this year's annual negotiations are shaping up as a test of mettle for new Chief Executive Officer Pedro Parente, who has pledged to cut
Colombia's Largest Oil Union to Vote on Possible Strike
Members of Colombia's largest oil workers union will vote on whether to strike in protest of privatizations at state-run oil company Ecopetrol, the union's president said on Tuesday. Most of the 21,000 members of the Workers Union for the Petroleum Industry (USO) work at Ecopetrol, which has sold several major non-oil related assets in an effort to refocus its operations after the slump in crude prices. Ecopetrol's net profit tumbled nearly 48 percent in the second quarter, the company said last month, because of a fall in sales and output. Privatizations, the sale of
Wood Maintenance Workers Back Strike on Shell Platforms
strikes in the short term. Nearly all Wood Group workers who participated in the ballot carried out by labour unions Unite and RMT supported strike action over disputes surrounding pay and working conditions, the unions said. Weak oil prices are expected to cost around 120,000 oil workers in Britain their job by the end of the year, according to industry group Oil and Gas UK, and many have had to accept pay cuts. Wood Group announced in February a 9-percent cut in wages of around 200 British contractors, following pay reductions in December 2015 and May 2014. The
Norwegian Unions Say 755 O&G Workers Could Strike
result in more than 7,400 workers going on strike, data from the state mediator's office showed. "We do, of course, wish for mediation to lead to a deal, so that conflict is avoided," SAFE said in a statement. The three labour unions will negotiate on behalf of the oil workers, while Norwegian Oil and Gas (NOG) will represent the companies. In 2012 a 16-day strike among some of Norway's oil workers cut the country's output of crude by about 13 percent and its natural gas production by about 4 percent. (By Stine Jacobsen and Terje Solsvik; Additional reporting
Norway's Oil Wage Talks to Start June 30 in Bid to Avert Strike
top producer, the Industri Energi labour union said on Wednesday. The deadline for reaching a compromise has been set to July 1, Industri Energi leader Leif Sande said. If no deal is struck, shutdowns could begin the following day. In 2012, a 16-day strike among some of Norway's oil workers cut the country's output of crude by about 13 percent and its natural gas production by about four percent. Norway produces about 4.2 million barrels of oil equivalents per day, consisting of approximately 1.6 million barrels of crude, 350 million standard cubic meters of natural gas
UK North Sea Helicopter Pilots Threaten Strike Action
North Sea helicopter pilots, vital for transporting offshore oil workers to and from platforms, threatened on Thursday to go on strike unless their employers improve voluntary redundancy terms in view of threatened job cuts caused by the low oil price. Pilots are asking their employers to make better voluntary redundancy arrangements to reassure employees who are uncertain about whether their jobs are secure. "The way the companies are going about (job cuts) is causing massive frustration," said Jim McAuslan, general secretary of the British Airline Pilots' Association
Unions to Ballot UK North Sea Oil Workers over Appetite for Strike
Trade unions Unite and GMB are balloting their members working offshore in Britain's oil and gas industry to gauge appetite for strike action over changes to shift patterns and other grievances. The two unions represent about 3,000 offshore workers, including engineers and scaffolders, in the Offshore Contractors Association. John Kelley, a regional organiser for the GMB, said the consultative ballots will close on March 27, and the unions would then take a view on whether to proceed, depending on the response. "Regarding forms of action, that is entirely down to the
US Oilfield Jobs Cull Gains Pace, More Pain Ahead
is among thousands of workers caught in an accelerating cull of oil field jobs across the once booming U.S. oil industry. Sandlin has since found other off-field work, but his hours and pay have been cut in half and it was not clear how long it would last. Interviews with more than a dozen oil workers and job recruiters suggest this is just the first stage of bloodletting as oil drillers, producers and service firms such as Halliburton , Schlumberger and Baker Hughes respond to a 50 percent drop in crude prices since June. Those three firms alone have in recent weeks announced a total of 22
Nigerian Oil Workers Call Off Strike After Talks with Government
Nigerian oil workers' unions have called off a four-day strike after reaching a deal with the government in a dispute over pensions, they said on Saturday. A joint statement from the two main unions also said they had agreed to resolve directly with the state oil firm an outstanding issue over problems concerning refineries. Oil companies and the government had said the strikes, which began on Tuesday, did not affect exports, despite threats from the unions that they would shut down terminals. (Reporting by Camillus Eboh; Writing by Tim Cocks; Editing by Greg Mahlich)
