Norway Well Workers Continue Strike as Standoff Escalates
The Norwegian Union of Energy Workers (SAFE) said Tuesday hundreds of well service members are pressing on with a strike that has now entered a second week, after their companies imposed a legal work halt to force the workers into agreeing to terms proposed under government mediation.
"As of today, 378 SAFE members are on strike. The employers now find it necessary to implement a lockout", Offshore Norge, an association of companies on the Norwegian continental shelf, said in an online statement Monday. "This is a lawful measure within the collective bargaining system and will be used to help bring the dispute to an end".
The companies involved in the failed negotiations for new terms under the Well Service Agreement include SLB, DOF, Halliburton, Weatherford, Tios, DeepOcean, Subsea 7, Cactus, Vetco Gray Scandinavia and Baker Hughes.
"Preliminary feedback shows that the strike has a highly unbalanced impact on member companies, with significant consequences for those affected", Offshore Norge said. "Offshore Norge is therefore extending the notice of work stoppage under the Well Service Agreement to cover 1,272 of SAFE's approximately 1,770 members who are covered by the agreement.
"Certain companies operating offshore vessels are exempted to safeguard critical subsea emergency preparedness on the Norwegian continental shelf".
"Drilling rigs are being gradually ramped down and will only continue operations until ongoing well phases have been safely secured", it added. "Coincidentally, four Inspection, Maintenance and Repair vessels and one well intervention vessel have halted operations, and two rigs have already ceased activity.
"The strike is imposing significant costs on supplier companies, and has so far also led to some delay in oil and gas production".
After a board meeting Tuesday, SAFE issued a statement saying, "The SAFE board supports well service in its fight for a fair working life. SAFE sees the lockout notice from Offshore Norway as a strong escalation of the conflict".
"SAFE has had moderate withdrawals, and SAFE stands firmly behind the well service area in its continued fight", the union added.
SAFE launched the strike June 15 after rejecting proposals it sees as years behind collective bargaining agreements in other parts of the oil and gas industry. The government had mediated.
"The well service agreement has lagged far behind the other collective bargaining areas in the oil industry for several years", SAFE said at the time. "In the last five years alone, the area has lagged a full wage settlement behind the other collective bargaining areas in the oil industry, which means that employers are saving one full wage settlement every five years".
SAFE area manager Martin Skogland said, "We are falling behind financially, as well as when it comes to working conditions and rights".
"Employers have now started to apply to our agreement to register companies, and are withdrawing from other collective bargaining areas and terminating direct agreements. As we see it, the Well Service Agreement is becoming a 'dumping agreement'", added Skogland.
Elisabeth Brattebø Fenne, director for organization and labor relations and chief negotiator at Offshore Norge, said in Monday's statement, "We cannot comment on what was communicated during mediation due to confidentiality, but the term 'dumping agreement' gives a misleading impression of both wage levels and working conditions and cannot be characterized as dumping".
"The average wage level for these offshore employees is approaching NOK 1 million ($102,000) per year. The [government] mediator's proposal included an increase in the pay matrix rates of NOK 47,000 effective from 1 June 2026, including offshore compensation and holiday pay", Offshore Norge said Monday. "A further increase of NOK 5,000 in the pay matrix rates is to take effect from 1 January 2027, including offshore compensation and holiday pay.
"The shift/night supplement will increase from NOK 109 to NOK 116.50 from 1 June 2026, while the public holiday supplement will increase from NOK 2,350 to NOK 2,400.
"Minimum pay rates will also be increased, and various adjustments have been made to technical allowances.
"The settlement is in line with the framework agreed in the lead sector earlier this spring".
Concurrent government-mediated negotiations between Offshore Norge and trade union Styrke yielded a new Oil Service Agreement, which covers about 7,200 workers from nearly 50 companies.
Earlier this month Offshore Norge, SAFE, Styrke and the Norwegian Organization of Managers and Executives agreed new terms on pay and working conditions under their Offshore Agreement after government mediation. That prevented a strike that had threatened to cut national oil and gas production by, according to Offshore Norge's estimate, over 45,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day.
More Strikes
On Tuesday, SAFE said 325 workers covered by the Floating Rigs Agreement have also gone on strike against shipping companies. "If the parties do not agree, there will also be a strike in the rig area from Friday, July 3", warned SAFE, which has about 3,700 members covered by the agreement.
Separately Styrke, which has nearly 3,500 members covered by the agreement, said 265 members would join the strike should government mediation scheduled for July 1 and 2 fail.
Styrke also said Tuesday mediation was under way to avert a looming strike by 95 onshore supply workers.
To contact the author, email jov.onsat@rigzone.com
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