Union rejects oil terminal restructuring proposal

WORKERS at Sullom Voe Terminal have rejected proposals by owner/operator EnQuest to restructure the company including making 25 per cent of the workforce redundant.

In a consultative ballot, 93 per cent of Unite members voted against Enquest’s proposed changes to terms and conditions with 97 per cent also opposing the company’s proposed changes to the organisation.

There are approximately 250 workers based at the terminal. In July, EnQuest announced that it planned to cut its workforce by a quarter.

EnQuest held a six week consultation on the reduction of 60 full-time employees and 20 contractor positions.

Unite regional industrial officer John Clark said: “Unite members have emphatically rejected the proposed changes at Sullom Voe by EnQuest.

“The announcement by the company in July to reduce the workforce by a quarter and to significantly weaken the existing terms and conditions took everyone by surprise.

“Unite pledged to do everything we could to support the workforce following this all-out attack, which is why we have been consulting with our members through this difficult period on the next steps.

“The fierce opposition to EnQuest’s proposals now means that we move to the next stage in the dispute process before we reach the stage of possibly balloting for industrial action.”

EnQuest plans to introduce these changes by January 2020. The company took over the terminal in December 2017 from BP.