News / Tugmen vote for industrial action
TUGMEN at the oil port of Sullom Voe have overwhelmingly voted in favour of industrial action.
The 98 per cent ballot in favour of a strike is the latest chapter in an increasingly bitter dispute between employer Shetland Islands Council and the 48 men crewing the tugs.
The important oil port, which serves the BP operated Sullom Voe oil terminal, could be without tug cover as soon as by the end of this month, should last ditch attempts to resolve the dispute over staff reduction and terms and conditions fail.
The council is seeking to save money in a bid to maintain their income from the commercial operation as oil throughput declines.
In August, it opened a 90 day consultation on reducing the number of tugmen from 48 to 32, longer working hours and a new ‘on call’ system when crews are not on board.
Regional organiser for the union Unite, John Taylor, has now called on the council to withdraw the consultation paper, a document union members have described as an attempt to divide their unity, and return back to the negotiating table.
“98 per cent of our membership has voted for industrial action, and that could be anything from an overtime ban to strike action.
“We are still hopeful that we can get a resolution to the situation, but we could start some form of industrial action within the next two weeks,” Mr Taylor said.
It is now up to the local membership to decide what form of industrial action they want to take. A meeting among Unite members is due to take place later this week.
Local union members said last night (Tuesday) that they were delighted with the endorsement and expressed the hope that this mandate would lead to new talks with senior council managers, including the newly appointed director of infrastructure services Phil Crossland.
“If the council withdraws the consultation document that would open up a window of opportunity for common sense talks to take place,” one member said.
Union members were appalled by the content of the consultation paper which they say was “nothing more than a 90 day notice to terminate” the men’s contracts.
The 48 tugmen have all returned the document to the council saying they will not accept the new terms and conditions, which effectively leaves the port without tug cover as of 1 November.
The local union members have put forward their own proposals to reduce the number of people working on the tugs while maintaining a safe harbour, but feel they have not been listened to.
They say that apart from the new terms of conditions they take issue with a whole raft of topics such as port safety, the performance of the new tugs and the overall professionalism of the port operation.
The council’s chief negotiator Gordon Greenhill was not available for comment on Tuesday night, but the chairman of the harbour board, councillor Robert Henderson, said that as far as he was concerned negotiations between both sides had never been closed.
“I am sure that all the parties involved will be doing their level best to reach a negotiated settlement,” he said.
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