Offshore Caterers Vote YES To North Sea Strikes
Offshore caterers have voted YES in a ballot for industrial action, by Unite the Union.
Results show that 54.2% of members voted YES to strikes, and 62.7% voted YES to action lesser than strikes.
It's all due to the cancellation of a two year pay deal by North Sea companies under the Caterers Offshore Trade Association.
Today, a group of members protested at a number of North Sea employers HQ's, including Sodexo, Trinity, Compass, Entier and Aramark.
Unite say their next steps will be determined shortly, but are urging the companies involved to get back around the negotiating table.
Unite Regional Officer John Boland said, “The result shows that the majority of our COTA members are not prepared to sit-back and let employers worth billions revoke their pay agreement – the 1.3 per cent required to settle this dispute is mere drop in the ocean for companies like Sodexho.
“We are not blind to the significant challenges facing our industry, our members have been at the coal-face of the downturn from the start, but it sets a dangerous precedent for employment rights if companies are able to impose change without negotiation and that’s why we are looking at a strike scenario.
“We are disappointed the employers have chosen not to resolve this matter amicably and the door remains open for discussion, whether it’s face to face or through the auspices of ACAS, if they want to avoid serious disruption to catering and ancillary services across the North Sea but we are rapidly running out of time.”
In a statement, Peter Bruce, chair of the Caterers Offshore Trade Association, said: “We are very disappointed with the outcome of the Unite ballot. However, we note that only 250 people have voted in favour of strike action out of a total workforce of over 3000.
“RMT’s ballot closes on Tuesday 27 October. We strongly urge all RMT members who are employed by our member companies to make their voices heard. Our message to them is that if you don’t support the industrial action proposed by the unions you need to cast your vote.
“We understand workers’ frustration at the original pay deal being retracted but we ask them to remember that the economic climate is very different now to the one in which we agreed that deal. Strike action can only threaten the long term sustainability of our industry and jeopardise jobs. We urge workers to remember that if Unite does call on you to take strike action no one is obliged to participate.
“We have detailed contingency plans in place to deliver at least a basic service to our clients and will do all we can to keep installations open throughout any strike. We will be keeping in close contact with all our clients as the situation progresses.”