UK North Sea services unions have called for a two-day strike amid an ongoing pay dispute with Wood Group.
Unite the union and RMT said Friday that it has issued another call for Wood Group to drop proposed cuts to pay and allowances and hold further talks to resolve the dispute.
The call for talks comes ahead of a 48 hour strike action on Shell platforms planned for next week.
Earlier this week, union members downed their tools for 24 hours, the region’s first work stoppage in 28 years.
The 48-hour strike is scheduled for August 4 and is expected to affect Shell’s Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Nelson, Gannet, Shearwater and Curlew platforms.
Production at those platforms was not impacted by this week’s work stoppage.
“We are hugely disappointed that the significant movements we have made to reach a resolution have clearly not been acknowledged by the unions,” chief executive officer for Wood Group’s eastern region business unit Dave Stewart told the Belfast Telegraph.
The unions said that pay cuts combined with reductions to allowances will cut their pay by 30 percent.
Wood Group has denied the unions’ claims that it has proposed a 30 percent pay reduction.
“Wood Group needs to drop the cuts and get back round the table with us if it genuinely wants to avoid further industrial action,” Unite Regional Officer John Boland said on Friday.
