Offshore Norway announced on Monday that it will lock out members of the Safe labour union beginning June 27 as a countermeasure to strike action that started on June 15.
The industry group said the lockout will apply to 1,272 Safe members within a pool of about 1,770 workers governed by the wage agreement. It added that some personnel will be exempted to preserve subsea emergency preparedness deemed safety-critical.
Offshore Norway warned the move will compound operational delays already caused by the strike. An industry spokesperson said at least two rigs have stopped work as a result of the labour action.
Safe initiated the stoppage after wage negotiations with employers failed to produce an agreement. Another union, Styrke, accepted the employers' offer and did not join the initial walkout. On June 18, however, Safe expanded the strike, raising the number of striking workers to 378.
The labour action has touched a range of supplier firms and service providers, with companies named by Offshore Norway including NYSE:SLB, DOF Subsea, NYSE:HAL, Weatherford, Tios and DeepOcean.
Offshore Norway described the strike as generating high costs for supplier companies and said it has led to "somewhat postponed production of oil and gas." The organisation said the employer side felt compelled to enact a lockout, characterising it as a legal instrument within the collective bargaining system used to help end the conflict.
The lockout is scheduled to begin June 27 and will restrict the work of a substantial portion of Safe-affiliated personnel covered by the wage deal. Offshore Norway indicated that exemptions will be made where necessary to maintain critical subsea emergency response capability.
Details provided by Offshore Norway and the unions outline the chronology of the dispute: wage talks broke down leading to the June 15 strike, the action was widened on June 18, and the employer response is now a lockout commencing on June 27. The announcement underscores ongoing tensions between oil-service employers and labour representatives over pay and working conditions tied to the collective bargaining agreement.
Impacted areas
- Drilling operations - at least two rigs reported stopped.
- Oil-service suppliers - named companies include NYSE:SLB, DOF Subsea, NYSE:HAL, Weatherford, Tios and DeepOcean.
- Subsea emergency preparedness - exemptions will be applied to maintain safety-critical coverage.