Norway's oil-drilling unions are seeking wage mediation in order to avoid a strike
Employers and three unions reported that wage talks with 7,500 oil drilling employees in Norway failed on Wednesday. This could lead to a strike later this year.
The Norwegian Shipowners' Association's (NSA) talks with the Safe, Styrke, and DSO unions are to resume at a future date, which is yet to be determined, under the mediation of a state appointed mediator.
Geir Sjoeberg, the NSA's lead negotiator, said in a press release that "unfortunately" it wasn't possible to reach an accord.
In Norway's highly regulated system of collective bargaining, workers can only go on strike when the mediation fails. The details of the demands, and any wage proposals, have not been revealed and are usually confidential.
In March, a broad group of workers in the onshore sector reached an agreement with their employers for a pay increase of 4.4% this year. However, other sectors may have different demands.
Strikes among drilling workers can delay the expansion of existing fields and the opening of new ones in Norway. However, they have a minimal impact on daily production.
According to labour unions, the annual wages for offshore drilling rigs range between 743,000 and 942,000 Norwegian crowns (73,328 to $92,968), plus overtime, other benefits,
The NSA represented the NSA in the negotiations. Companies that were affected by these talks included Transocean, Saipem, Odfjell Drilling, Archer, Seadill, and others.
A group of Norwegian oil production workers who are directly employed by Equinor or Aker BP reached a wage deal earlier this month. $1 = 10.1325 Norwegian crowns (Reporting and Editing by Louise Heavens, Elaine Hardcastle, Terje Solsvik)
(source: Reuters)
