Members of the Unite trade union at Total E&P have  written an open letter to Patrick Pouyanné (CEO) of the energy company requesting his personal intervention in the protracted dispute on the Alwyn, Dunbar and Elgin rigs . Unite Members Reject Latest Total Pay Offer

The development follows Unite members emphatically rejecting a previous pay offer by Total by 95% on 11 September. The union has put to its membership a ‘final offer’ by Total in a consultative ballot following discussions at ACAS last week. The offer retains the 3:3 rotas which remains the centre of the dispute.

In their  letter to Mr Poyanne, the Unite members state:

“Your Total E&P UK subsidiary has decided to forcefully implement an equal time three and three rota against the wishes of everyone offshore and contrary to Total’s own mission statement as a responsible employer”.

This comes at a time when Shell has returned to a 2/3 rota. Shell’s Decision to Return to Offshore 2/3 Rotas Welcomed

Wullie Wallace, Unite regional industrial officer, said:

“The Unite membership of Total on the Alwyn, Dunbar and Elgin rigs have taken the initiative to write to Mr Pouyanné to request his personal intervention. Total in its mission statement says that the company ‘strives to create the conditions’ for its workers to ‘express and develop their potential’.

“However, the Total workforce is emphatically telling management that the conditions the 3:3 rotas they are trying to impose are not what they want and it will create a poorer working environment. We encourage Mr Pouyanné to take a leaf out of Shell’s book who this week listened to its workforce and acted accordingly”.

A report by Robert Gordon University identified that workers on three-week, equal-time rotas were nearly twice as likely to experience ill health as those on two-on-two-off shifts. The 3/3 off rota pattern is now estimated to be worked by 56 % of the workforce offshore, compared with just 17 % working the same pattern in 2007.