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North Sea Oil Workers


shull

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Having worked in the industry for the best part of 30 years I fully support the work force. Many have taken pay cuts and accepted less conditions. Oil not so long ago was profitable at $30. Oil companies are taking the piss hence industrial action. There are a lot of dangers working out there more than on land.

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24 minutes ago, pod said:

I was involved in the last strike offshore on the Forties with Press Offshore. 

We were told after a fortnight we would have to go ashore before they would start discussions.

They discussed and we were all paid off.

 

That's exactly how I would expect this one to play out too. There's a large number of unemployed workers up there who are ready to fill vacancies. Timing is everything with industrial action and this is plainly bad timing. 

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That's exactly how I would expect this one to play out too. There's a large number of unemployed workers up there who are ready to fill vacancies. Timing is everything with industrial action and this is plainly bad timing. 


That is not how this will play out. As I wrote further back oil at $30 was making a profit. Now oil companies are looking at the over priced $100 as normal it is not. It's also political now to shut down American flacking so Arabian companies can make bigger profits. Remember president Bush- We must not rely on Arabian oil. It's all political bull shit where oil workers have to pay the price. Employers of wood group have already taken big hits. Hence this strike.
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If you are an oil worker right now in the North East and you are complaining about pay at a time when thousands of jobs are being lost with possibly tens of thousands to follow then TBH you are off your head striking.

Fair play to them though. Its their choice and their right.

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4 hours ago, Isle Of Bute Saint said:


That is not how this will play out. As I wrote further back oil at $30 was making a profit. Now oil companies are looking at the over priced $100 as normal it is not. It's also political now to shut down American flacking so Arabian companies can make bigger profits. Remember president Bush- We must not rely on Arabian oil. It's all political bull shit where oil workers have to pay the price. Employers of wood group have already taken big hits. Hence this strike.

Yeah alright it's all political bullshit, blah, blah, but come on IoBS you know the way this will play out, You've worked for companies like this before. The minute these guys leave the rig they'll be handed their P45s. This rag tag bunch simply aren't going to be able to hold the North Sea Oil industry to ransom and you've got to look at the RMT and the shop steward who is leading them out on this strike and say that at best they are tactically inept. 

It's a shame because I've got some sympathy with their plight, but they are on to a real loser with this one. 

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Most will be NRB'd after this.  My experience of oil bosses are that they are a bunch of pussies who revel in the chance to act tough.  I was once told, after two hours in the sick bay getting an infected sinus treated that i would be flown off if i lost another 2 hours.  Luckily the only doctor in the northern north sea was on the platform and he told the client i couldn't fly on a fixed wing with this condition, so I got 24 hours recovery time and back to work.

I once saw a shell tech get a hold of a steward, stand on his foot and push him over for a laugh.  the guy got 3 broken metatarsals and even though he was an innocent victim was sacked for horseplay , the Shell tech got off scot-free.

 

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If you are an oil worker right now in the North East and you are complaining about pay at a time when thousands of jobs are being lost with possibly tens of thousands to follow then TBH you are off your head striking.

Fair play to them though. Its their choice and their right.


Wood group chaiman have just had substantial wage rises. Shell who employ wood group have just paid out 73million sterling to share. holders . Wood group employees as I have already pointed out have taken substatantial wage cuts and lost lots of benefits. Now Shell and wood group want the workers to work an extra week to keep the cuts they have already taken with no extra pay. Bullshit.
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4 hours ago, Isle Of Bute Saint said:


Wood group chaiman have just had substantial wage rises. Shell who employ wood group have just paid out 73million sterling to share. holders . Wood group employees as I have already pointed out have taken substatantial wage cuts and lost lots of benefits. Now Shell and wood group want the workers to work an extra week to keep the cuts they have already taken with no extra pay. Bullshit.

Really you have to stop worrying about what the Wood chairman is getting. His job and salary and bonus rewards are based on him doing a completely different job. If you want his salary, become a chairman and you will quickly realise why he is paid the way he is paid. North Sea oil workers have been pocketing massive salaries for decades. Now there is a down turn and a surplus of workers. IMO the key here is to either stay in the game or negotiate a settlement package and take redundancy. Striking seems like a waste of time. You might as well be caught taking a dump in the chairmans shiny new car. You will get a similar response.

Edited by oaksoft
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Is it not just the case that the North Sea Oil Rig gravy train is over?

 

Did the same thing not happen in the mid 80's when the London

Stock Exchange changed  from an open outcry trading pit

to electronic screen based trading?

 

All of the loadsamnoney pit trader types in the weird jackets were suddenly

out of a lucrative paying job.

 

Is this not just a sign of the times?

 

Edited by murray street
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8 hours ago, beyond our ken said:

Most will be NRB'd after this.  My experience of oil bosses are that they are a bunch of pussies who revel in the chance to act tough.  I was once told, after two hours in the sick bay getting an infected sinus treated that i would be flown off if i lost another 2 hours.  Luckily the only doctor in the northern north sea was on the platform and he told the client i couldn't fly on a fixed wing with this condition, so I got 24 hours recovery time and back to work.

I once saw a shell tech get a hold of a steward, stand on his foot and push him over for a laugh.  the guy got 3 broken metatarsals and even though he was an innocent victim was sacked for horseplay , the Shell tech got off scot-free.

 

Aye, on the other side the nice workers.:lol: get up to some jolly japes when they are kicking around getting paid for doing not a lot.

Always two sides to every situation.I happen to agree the gravy train is out of steam.

Too many for too long getting paid for doing low skilled jobs on inflated salaries.

The recent downturn has been the worst in the 26 years I've been in the North east and has been a reality check for many, companies and workers alike.

 

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Really you have to stop worrying about what the Wood chairman is getting. His job and salary and bonus rewards are based on him doing a completely different job. If you want his salary, become a chairman and you will quickly realise why he is paid the way he is paid. North Sea oil workers have been pocketing massive salaries for decades. Now there is a down turn and a surplus of workers. IMO the key here is to either stay in the game or negotiate a settlement package and take redundancy. Striking seems like a waste of time. You might as well be caught taking a dump in the chairmans shiny new car. You will get a similar response.


Mate there is a reason why wages are high in the North Sea. I'm not going to go into all the detail as you know very well why they are so high. To be honest they are not high enough.
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Is it not just the case that the North Sea Oil Rig gravy train is over?

 

Did the same thing not happen in the mid 80's when the London

Stock Exchange changed  from an open outcry trading pit

to electronic screen based trading?

 

All of the loadsamnoney pit trader types in the weird jackets were suddenly

out of a lucrative paying job.

 

Is this not just a sign of the times?

 


Make no mistake oil will bounce back again. Banks was the start of the pack of cards falling one after the other hence world trade is debunked.
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3 hours ago, faraway saint said:

Aye, on the other side the nice workers.:lol: get up to some jolly japes when they are kicking around getting paid for doing not a lot.

Always two sides to every situation.I happen to agree the gravy train is out of steam.

Too many for too long getting paid for doing low skilled jobs on inflated salaries.

The recent downturn has been the worst in the 26 years I've been in the North east and has been a reality check for many, companies and workers alike.

 

so you are in the oil-funded middle east for less money?

For the displacement, the conditions and the fact that the profits are still huge, then wages should be higher than they are

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1 hour ago, beyond our ken said:

so you are in the oil-funded middle east for less money?

For the displacement, the conditions and the fact that the profits are still huge, then wages should be higher than they are

Playing Devils Advocate but the profits aren't as huge as they used to be. Why should the shareholders be the only ones to bear the brunt of the falling price of oil? 

 

2 hours ago, Isle Of Bute Saint said:


Make no mistake oil will bounce back again. Banks was the start of the pack of cards falling one after the other hence world trade is debunked.

I can't see any of this to be honest. The US has found a much cheaper supply of oil in it's own backyard with fracking. There's world pressure on business to move away from hydrocarbon fuel supplies, and if as you claim the banks are about to suffer another collapse and trade is going to take a downturn, demand for oil is only going to get worse. The over production in the Middle East was an attempt to make fracking less viable in the US and it's worked to a large extent, but the arse has fallen out of the oil markets now and I don't think we'll ever see the kind of prices per barrel that we had 2 or 3 years ago again. 

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1 hour ago, beyond our ken said:

so you are in the oil-funded middle east for less money?

For the displacement, the conditions and the fact that the profits are still huge, then wages should be higher than they are

I doubt he'll be working for less money. The tax break alone will probably be boosting his income. 

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