Offshore workers get 5.5%

Skilled and professional union Amicus has negotiated a pay rise worth almost double the rate of inflation for offshore workers in the North Sea.

Six thousand workers employed by nine companies will receive increases of at least 5.5% under the settlement, described by the union as the biggest negotiated in the offshore industry in recent years.

The rising price of oil has led the sector to become increasingly competitive, and the pay deal – approved by a majority of more than two to one in a ballot of Amicus members – is designed to attract and retain workers.

But union leaders have told employers that the “boom and bust” attitude to their workers must stop, so that mass lay-offs (such as the loss of 2,000 jobs two years ago) do not happen again.