Shetland gas plant workers to strike on Friday

WORK on the construction of a new £500 million gas plant on Shetland is set to be disrupted on Friday by the first in a series of 24 hour strikes.

When completed, the plant will process gas from nearby oil fields. Picture: TSPL

Members of the Unite and GMB unions have rejected the latest offer from management in the long running dispute over accommodation and travelling allowances for workers employed at Total’s new Shetland Gas Plant.

A 24 hour stoppage is planned for this Friday, followed by another 24 hour strike next Friday.

Earlier this month an “overwhelming” majority of union members at the construction site voted in favour of industrial action following claims that 47 construction workers had been barred from the site after the union served notice of a strike ballot over the workers’ “unsuitable” lodgings.

Representatives of the GMB and Unite unions claim workers should receive £50 a day compensation for the inconvenience of having to share rooms. Petrofac management tabled a new offer at talks with union officials in Aberdeen last week. But that offer has now been firmly rejected.