Unite and Total To Talk, But More Strikes Likely

Unite, the British labour union engaged in offshore industrial action against Total over a pay dispute, has said it will meet with the French company in two days, but has added more dates for its planned strikes.

After consultation with its members, Unite said August 14 it will hold further discussions with Total on August 16 with a view to try and reach a resolution to the dispute. 

But it also penciled in more prospective industrial actions over the next two months. A likely 24-hour strike on August 20 had already been publicised by the union. To this it has added five more dates: September 3 and 17, and October 1,15 and 29 (all Mondays). Like this week's 12-hour strike on August 13, they are expected to impact Total's Alwyn, Elgin and Dunbar platforms.

The union said talks held with Total on August 9 had made "negligible progress."

Update Aug.16:  Unite representatives said they met Total on August 16 and that the union made a series of counter-proposals to Total for consideration. The company will now consider these proposals and both parties will re-convene August 23 for further discussions, added Unite, adding however that the scheduled 24-hour stoppage on August 24 "will still go ahead as planned." It reiterated its intention to strike on five previously cited Mondays in September/October, unless an agreement was reached.