Norwegian Union Broadens Rig Worker Strike Amid Pay and Pension Spat

By Dominic Chopping

A Norwegian union that represents energy sector workers broadened a strike Monday to include a further 881 oil rig workers after failing to reach agreement on wages and pensions with a group representing employers.

Nearly 700 rig workers went on strike last Tuesday after the Safe union rejected pay and pension proposals from The Norwegian Shipowners' Association, a trade and employment organization for Norwegian controlled companies within the shipping and offshore industry.

A Sunday deadline passed without compromise so under plans announced last week the additional members have now gone on strike.

"We're very positive about what we're doing," Safe union spokesman Roy Aleksandersen told The Wall Street Journal.

He declined to comment on what the next steps would be, but said there is currently no contact with the Norwegian Shipowners' Association.

Employees now on strike were working on rigs operated by Archer Ltd. (ARCHER.OS), Transocean Ltd. (RIG), Songa Offshore, Odfjell Drilling Ltd. (ODL.OS), and Saipem S.p.A (SPM.MI), among others.

In a statement last week, chief negotiator for the Norwegian Shipowners' Association Jakob Korsgaard said "We were not able to meet Safe's demands in the negotiations."

"These demands, when compared to regulations for other professions in the offshore sector and society in general, were simply unreasonable."

He was not immediately available for comment Monday.

Tove Astasund Iversen, spokeswoman at The Norwegian Shipowners' Association, said Monday there will be an internal meeting this afternoon to discuss the situation, but there is "no contact between the parties right now."

Write to Dominic Chopping at [e-mail]; Twitter: @domchopping @WSJNordics

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 16, 2018 06:13 ET (10:13 GMT)

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