nr. 2-2008 - Safe

And when I say international oil corporations
I mean the same one you work for
- ultimately.
“They work what schedules You’ve got
to be shitting me! You’re telling me that
I can’t decide who works on my own rig
What d’ya mean you can’t say that to a
Norwegian oil worker – who the f**** do
they think they are Do we have to put up
with this shit from these people What do
they say is wrong with the lifeboats Do
these people know what a lifeboat costs
Who runs this f****** industry anyway
What can we do to put an end to this shit
and introduce a note of reality into our
operation over there How much money
am I losing (for losing read not managing
to extract from the workers) every day”
Well here’s the good news. With oil
prices hovering above $100 a barrel, huge
investments already made, a government
that still has some sort of allegiance to
their own citizens, and continued resolute
action by oil workers fully committed to
their unions, we would seem to be in a
pretty strong position.
Now it’s true that any one of these variables
could change at any time. But there’s
no point sitting quietly shaking with fear.
Realistically the only thing we can do anything
about in the short term, is keeping
the union strong. But this is a real issue.
My experience may not be typical. I know
it’s not – not completely. But my own klub
would seem to be a warning about where
we are headed if we are not vigilant. We
have no functioning committee, no regular
elections, no meetings that I hear of, no
financial reports I’ve seen, and no internal
life. In short it has none of the things that
would be required should our world suddenly
turn to shit. What we do still have
however is the good wages, great overtime
and great schedules. We even have
a relatively respectful relationship with
management and that’s one of the things
that marks out Norway as a unique place
in the oilfield. In short we have a workforce
that enjoys all the excellent benefits
of union negotiated agreements but has
no input into, nor any responsibility for,
the health of the organization that made
it all possible.
I wouldn’t call that decadent - exactly.
Meanwhile it’s more than a possibility that
the company that ultimately pays your
wages is already using UK service hands
who are being worked 240 days a year
without any schedule, and who have none
of the protections you enjoy. Yes! And
on your installation - or the one you can
see from your cabin window. And when
he goes back to the UK to do the bulk of
these 240 days he’s going to be working
alongside a skilled Philipino worker earning
as little as $6 an hour. And he’ll be
back in a situation where he cannot guarantee
to keep his job should his employer
decide to really go after him. And that’s no
matter how innocent the UK labour courts
(industrial tribunals) might decide he is.
And this is just across that imaginary line
that runs somewhere between Gullfaks
and the Brents. Not the other side of the
world. Not Nigeria, Iraq or Russia.
I suppose there are a great many possible
“futures” for the Norwegian offshore
workforce – most of which I likely don’t
have the imagination to foresee. But
there’s certainly the “default future”
47
which sees us continue on a smooth path
of continuing improvement in our wages
and conditions. I suspect that’s what most
members of my klub see as the future.
But we need to get real! Because at least
one possible future for Norwegian oil
workers is being played out before our
eyes on the UK sector. And there is a dire
need that the realities of life offshore UK