Petrofac workers resume 48-hour strike action

A fresh 48-hour strike is underway on BP Petrofac installations the UK’s largest offshore trade union, Unite, confirmed today (8 February).

The 48-hour strike action which starts today at 06:01 involves around 80 workers, and it will conclude at 05:59 on 10 February. It is the latest round of strike action following no breakthrough in negotiations with Petrofac.

The offshore contractor has failed to bring forward an acceptable offer to the workers with future rounds of strike action now scheduled to take place until 3 March (see notes to editor).

The BP Petrofac dispute centres on changes to rotas, the workers currently work a three on/three off rotation. An industrial action ballot previously returned a result of 98.3 per cent in favour of industrial action.

Yesterday (7 February) Unite blasted the UK Government's inaction on taxing oil firms as BP posted the biggest profits in its history as it doubled to £23 billion in 2022. BP’s bonanza profits come after Shell reports earnings of £32 billion, bringing the combined total profits of the top two energy companies in Britain to a record £55 billion.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Unite’s members at BP Petrofac installations are determined to secure a fair deal. Petrofac and BP seem more content in escalating this dispute rather than ending it by providing a better working environment and a fair pay rise to the workforce.

“Unite will continue to back our members all the way in their fight for good jobs, pay and conditions in the offshore sector.”

The BP Petrofac installations hit by the strike action include: Andrew, Clair, Clair Ridge, ETAP, and the Glen Lyon floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) facility.

Unite industrial officer John Boland, on behalf of the Petrofac workforce across the various BP installations added: “The latest round of 48-hour strike action is a sad reflection of the intransigence displayed by BP Petrofac management. The company refuse to work with us to resolve this dispute which is why Unite has had no choice but to schedule successive rounds of strike action until early March.

“We hope Petrofac see sense but the evidence so far suggests they are not interested in working with us to resolve the outstanding issues over rotas and pay.”

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