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has found that recruiting new members has been difficult, because of a fear of
discrimination among employees in the offshore sector. 109
164. Some also argue that unions and employees gain little compared with employers, and that
trade unions would be more fruitfully employed engaging in strike action to generate
benefits for their members. An examination of the 2003–04 version of the agreement
between the AEEU and GMB unions with the Offshore Contractors’ Association leads to
the conclusion that the agreement falls short of meeting recognized definitions of genuine
partnership, such as those put forward by the Involvement and Participation Association.
The agreement contains no explicit commitment to job security, aside from an agreement
to improve performance through a focus on terms and conditions of employment, which
would recognize loyalty, skills and experience within the industry’s overall economic
position. While a commitment to job security might be found through other company
policies, the absence of one of the key building blocks of genuine partnership in this
agreement undermines arguments that a partnership can form the basis of good industrial
relations. 110
165. Others argue that pre-emptive agreements constitute a no-strike clause. 111 Partnership
agreements with employers represent a pyrrhic victory for unions, having delivered few
meaningful improvements to oil workers’ working conditions, and do not signal an
extension of the role of unions in the oil industry. In fact, partnership agreements may limit
a resurgence of organized labour, and may not offer genuine “partnership” between
management and unions in practice in the oil industry. The Employment Relations Act, by
offering no recourse to alternative representation through other unions if workers are
dissatisfied with current recognition arrangements, effectively limits the rights of
workers. 112
4.2.6.2. At company level
166. Good employer–employee relations are critical to the stable production and supply of
crude oil. Industrial action in any part of the supply chain can have quick, severe and farreaching
effects. Established companies have an identity and a specific culture that affect
the way employees operate and think about their business.
167. At the NOCs in the Middle East, for example, industrial relations are governed by the
inherited national culture of dialogue. At some NOCs, external factors such as the
influence of the IOCs have affected the corporate culture. By contrast, national economic
development policies contribute to defining the function of dialogue in industrial relations
at the NOCs. Regardless of the industrial relations system, trust and confidence must be in
place and fostered by tripartite or bipartite collaboration. Each Middle Eastern NOC has a
specific culture that informs its management and decision-making procedures. Kuwait
Petroleum Company (KPC) has a distinctive informal and formal dialogue mechanism
inside and outside the company. A feature of the Kuwaiti culture of dialogue which
influences KPC is the holding of diwaniyyas – social gatherings hosted by leading Kuwaiti
families and sometimes by an industry group, including KPC. Diwaniyyas are the channel
through which wasta (influence through connections) is exercised and special favours are
granted. For example, wasta can help KPC by enabling its professionals to appeal to
109 G. Martin et al., op. cit.
110 A. Cumbers, op. cit.
111 C. Woolfson and M. Beck, op. cit.
112 A. Cumbers, op. cit.
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