Scottish Government Must Step In To Stop North Sea Strikes, Says Oil Expert
An oil expert has been telling Northsound News that he believes the Scottish Government must step in, in order to prevent North Sea strikes.
It comes after offshore catering staff voted to support industrial action, in a ballot by Unite the Union.
It's all because companies under Catering Offshore Trading Association decided to cancel an agreed two year pay deal.
Earlier in the week, members of the union protested outside the headquarters of a number of North Sea employers.
The ballot result was released on Wednesday, but Unite the Union now say they will give the companies, including Sodexo, Trinity, Compass, Entier, and Aramark, a last chance to come round the negotiating table.
Professor in Petroleum Accounting, Alex Russell, is now saying that the Scottish Government can no longer ignore the possiblity of strikes in the North Sea, which Professor Russell says would be "catastrophic".
He says: "The Scottish Government needs to get involved and show companies that they can't treat workers like this. It's better to get involved at this stage, rather than getting involved once jobs are lost and once we've had a long drawn out strike action, that may well jeopardise the running of rigs.
I don't think it should be left to the employers side or the unions side at this stage. I believe that what we are witnessing here is a domination of the game by the powerful players of the game."