UK union details dates of upcoming strikes at Total's North Sea assets

The UK's Unite trade union on Tuesday said it would begin strike action at a number of Total-operated assets in the UK North Sea on March 11 following a vote last week to take industrial action in a dispute over offshore rotas.

Unite said workers would down tools for three 24-hour strikes at the Elgin-Franklin, North Alwyn and Dunbar platforms on March 11, March 27 and April 12, as well as striking for three-hour periods on numerous days from March 18-April 5.

Workers are also set to strike at the Shetland Gas Plant for 24 hours on five days in March, April and May.

The announcement signals a resumption of a dispute over rotas that last year caused five days of strikes, reducing gas output by as much as 13 million cu m/d and oil output by around 70,000 b/d.

However, in this instance, Unite is formally in dispute with two service companies that operate day-to-day production under contract to Total: Aker Solutions and Petrofac.

As well as affecting North Sea fields such as Elgin-Franklin, the dispute would disrupt output from the UK's largest gas production hub, in the West of Shetland area.

Unite said the dispute centered on changes to shift patterns and a bid "to reduce the existing terms and conditions at the behest of parent company Total."