{"id":8703,"date":"2016-05-13T12:18:23","date_gmt":"2016-05-13T11:18:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=8703"},"modified":"2016-05-13T12:18:23","modified_gmt":"2016-05-13T11:18:23","slug":"culture-of-fear-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=8703","title":{"rendered":"Culture of fear"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Unite is warning of a \u00e2\u20ac\u015bculture of fear\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 stalking North Sea offshore workers as the industry braces itself for more cuts.<\/p>\n

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The union is deeply concerned about the health and safety of workers, highlighting a race to the bottom in the sector which could result in a wave of industrial action.<\/p>\n

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Appearing before MPs on the Energy and Climate Change Committee, Unite regional officer Tommy Campbell, pointed out that changes to rotas can now mean people work on rigs 12 hour a day for 21 days in a row.<\/p>\n

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Fatigued and tired<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThere is evidence coming back to us that people are very, very fatigued and tired. Nobody wants anyone working and responding while tired,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Campbell said.<\/p>\n

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The oil and gas sector has seen a major downturn over the past two years, something Campbell made clear, saying, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bPeople have lost their jobs; those that have stayed have reluctantly accepted changes, but some changes are a bit too far.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe have a disengaged, demoralised workforce out there living in a culture of fear.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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Campbell said workers had \u00e2\u20ac\u015breluctantly\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 bought into the efficiency measures, but now had to be at the centre of maximising the economic recovery.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe workforce is the most important part of the oil and gas industry, we don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t produce anything without that workforce.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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Campbell added, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bsome workers have had enough\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 and warned that there was a move towards \u00e2\u20ac\u015bindustrial conflict\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 in the sector at the present time.<\/p>\n

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Some 65,000 jobs were lost in the North Sea in 2015 as oil prices tumbled. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been no major strike in the industry since the Piper Alpha disaster nearly 30 years ago.<\/p>\n

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Unite has also accused North Sea bosses of opportunistic cuts which make it impossible for rigorous health and safety standards to be maintained.<\/p>\n

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Lives at risk<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0<\/strong>Pat Rafferty, Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Scottish Secretary, said,\u00c2\u00a0\u00e2\u20ac\u015bLives and safety cannot be put at risk, we won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t stand by and watch while this happens.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWhatever the problems we face together as an industry, the health and safety of workers must come above all else. People should not be put in a position of risk.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt is approaching 30 years since the horrific Piper Alpha disaster which saw 167 workers lose their lives. It seems the oil and gas industry has learned little in that time.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe truth of the matter is that workers are feeling increasingly frustrated that their concerns are going unheard.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bI repeat our call for all involved in this vital industry to be brought together in an oil and gas summit so that safety standards are not the casualty of this downturn and that the potential for catastrophe is averted,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Unite is warning of a \u00e2\u20ac\u015bculture of fear\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 stalking North Sea offshore workers as the industry braces itself for more cuts.   The union is deeply concerned about the health and safety of workers, highlighting a race to the bottom in the sector which could result in a wave of industrial action.   Appearing before […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7642,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[240,213],"wps_subtitle":"Oil bosses warned over \u00e2\u20ac\u015bcrisis\u00e2\u20ac\u0165","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8703"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8703"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8703\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8713,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8703\/revisions\/8713"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8703"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8703"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8703"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}