Offshore update, 22 December 2006
Colleagues
Can I apologise for the delay in putting out an update,
however many will be aware that much has been happening within
Amicus and also in the Offshore Sector, therefore this update will
be a bit longer than normal.
Brother Keith Ireland:
It is with regret that I have to start this update on a very
sad note, many of the Amicus members will already be aware that
following an incident on CNR Ninian Central on 16th
October 2006 our colleague Keith Ireland was severely injured, and
unfortunately Keith died two weeks later as a result of the
injuries sustained.
Many members have contacted the Aberdeen office asking that we
extend their condolences to Keith’s widow Gwen and family, this we
have done. I would also like to go on record in thanking Brother
Ray Holroyd, who kindly represented Amicus at Keith’s Funeral.
Further I can advise that at a recent meeting of the Aberdeen
supply and Offshore Branch the members voted to make a £500
donation to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary (Intensive Care Unit) in
Keith’s memory, this will be presented to the ARI early in
2007.
I am personally aware of the issues surrounding this incident,
however given that there is an on going investigation by the HSE it
would be inappropriate for me to comment at this time. It is right
and proper that the HSE are afforded the necessary time to carry
out the investigation and then forward their findings to the
Procurator Fiscal, in Aberdeen for consideration.
Having said this it is alarming but not surprising that
members and non members have indicated that they are afraid to
speak to the HSE about concerns that they may have not only in
relation to this incident but safety matters in general for fear of
retribution. Whilst I fully understand their concerns, I have to
say that if we are ever going to change the culture offshore and
make a difference to ensure that incidents such as this one is
never repeated then we have to know the truth about the day to day
routine and culture that exists on the installation.
I would therefore strongly encourage all members with any
information regarding Keith’s incident or any safety matter that
feel they cannot raise with their line management to then can
contact the HSE anonymously on 01224 252000 (as suggested by some
members it may be best that you wait until you are on the beach
before you phone), if it is direct relation to the incident on the
Ninian Central then the Principal Officer in charge is Ken
Staples.
Working Time Directive
Further to my brief update on the 29 November 2006 wherein I
advised that we were successful in the Employment Appeal Tribunal
(EAT) over the employer’s argument that the regulations didn’t
apply beyond the Territorial waters and into the Continental Shelf.
I can advise that to date there has been no indication from the
employers as to whether or not they intend to appeal this decision
to the Court of Session. If they intend to appeal they have to do
so within 42 days of the judgement.
I thought that it would also be useful to advise members of
the true story about the EAT. It is wholly wrong to suggest that
the arguments were the same as the initial Tribunal in Aberdeen. In
fact the Judge at the Tribunal, Hon Lady Smith, asked our Counsel,
who incidentally was also instructed by our colleagues in the TGWU,
about 3 particular cases.
These cases were not under the jurisdiction of our Counsel
(the only Counsel present) and therefore given that these
individuals were neither present nor represented and the questions
remained unanswered then the Judge found in favour of the employers
and dismissed these cases. It is for this reason that Amicus
are vindicated in taking the position to ensure that members were
represented.
A full copy of the judgement can be downloaded
here.
I can also report that a number of members have commenced new
applications and hopefully soon we will see new cases being brought
at Tribunal and of course the employers will not be able to use the
same argument about jurisdiction. Members should remember that it
is important to apply for paid holidays on an annual basis.
Information on how to apply can be obtained by contacting the
Amicus Aberdeen Office on 01224 588771 or by email to
angela.taylor@amicustheunion.org.
OCA and UKDCA Pay Negotiations 2007
Members employed by companies in either of the above mentioned
Associations should be advised that following feed back via
completed proformas claims have been submitted to the Associations
for consideration. Again as in previous years all members will be
invited to accept or reject the final offers from the respective
Association by way of a postal ballot.
We will only ballot Amicus members on these offers
(GMB will ballot their own members in the case of the OCA offer),
it is therefore essential that those wishing to have a say should
join the appropriate union.
Improving Communications with Amicus
Members
Amicus Shop Stewards and members often participate in Video
Conferences to discuss various topics. However this has often meant
that we have used the facilities at the various employers’ premises
and sometimes there has been a time restriction on this. I am
therefore delighted to report that every Amicus Office in the UK
will have a Video Conference facility installed in the near future.
The installation at the Aberdeen has already been completed.
It is hoped that more shop stewards and members will use this
facility, for more information please contact your Regional
Officer.
Amicus – TGWU Merger
As you will be aware, negotiations between Amicus and the TGWU
have been taking place for some time to form a new union for the
industrial needs of the future. Both the executive of Amicus
and the delegate conference of the TGWU have voted in favour of the
merger of the two organisations. The principal aims are as
follows:
1.
Defend and improve the wages and conditions of members
2.
Campaign for political and industrial change
3.
Promote solidarity between workers at home and abroad
4.
Affiliate to TUC and Labour Party
There will be a transitional period of approximately 18 months
where the two organisations will run as two separate sections
conducting their own affairs, but within the new general
rules. Current branch and regional arrangements will arrange
a new executive council will be elected 15 members from each
section who will have overall responsibility for the new
union.
There will be two joint general secretaries who will have
responsibility for their own sections.
The new union will come into being on 1st May 2007
after a ballot during the first quarter of 2007 by members
of both sections. The new executive will come into
being on 1st May 2008 and take office for three
years. By November 2008 a new rule book will be in place and
balloted upon by the members. The first policy conference
will take place during November 2009 and a rule conference will
take place during 2010. Our current General Secretary,
Brother Derek Simpson, will retire in December 2009 and a New
General Secretary designate will be elected during late 2010 to
take office in January 2011. The new General Secretary
designate will work alongside the TGWU Joint General Secretary Tony
Woodley who will retire in January 2012 and the new General
Secretary designate will be the sole General Secretary of the new
union.
This is only a brief summary of the timetable for the new
union and I would urge all members to read and digest the
information which they will receive and to vote positively when
they receive their ballot papers in the early part of 2007.
Lifelong Learning
Amicus is continuing in its efforts to bring lifelong learning
opportunities to offshore members. These are opportunities for
members to gain extra skills while they are offshore, mostly
through distance learning.
We already have successful learning programmes in some
companies in other sectors that Amicus organises in. For example,
in Rolls Royce we have a continuous programme of computer and other
courses, all shift friendly and free of charge to members. The
purpose is to increase the opportunities available to members, and
we want to expand these opportunities to our members
offshore.
Lifelong learning is driven by Union Learning Reps (ULRs), who
are union reps with a special remit for learning and skills.
Recently we put out a call to offshore members to come forward to
be trained as ULRs, and we have had a good response. We have spoken
to a number of UK-DCA companies, and are hoping to get the
agreement to trial a learning programme on an offshore installation
soon. Once we have agreement from the companies involved we will go
ahead and train learning reps.
Breaking News – Scottish Labour Party Commit to Oil
and Gas Academy
Members should be aware that in the last
24hrs the Scottish Labour Party Energy Spokesman Alan
Wilson MSP who is also Deputy Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong
Learning has announced that Labour in Scotland will raise the
skills agenda in the Oil and Gas Industry by committing to the
formation of an Oil and Gas Academy, which will be based in
Aberdeen, at the same time serve the whole of Scotland.
I along with Amicus Regional Officer Graham Tran, have been
working closely with the OCA and UKDCA and their member companies
to examine how best to take forward the skills agenda. It is our
position that an Academy specific to the needs of the Industry is
certainly the way ahead.
We have also been working with North East Labour MSP Richard
Baker on this issue and within the last month we have presented a
blueprint on how we see the Academy developing and how best to
manage the skills agenda. It is clear that we need an experienced
organisation to lead the Academy and we believe at this
moment in time that the Engineering Construction Industry Training
Board (ECITB), who already train the majority of offshore
apprentices, are best placed to head up the Academy.
For the Academy to be successful we need an agenda for all
sectors within the industry and a network to get the positive
message of the industry into the schools, colleges and local
communities both in Scotland and the UK as a whole, again we
believe that this network already exists via the ECITB and the
various Enterprise networks.
We look forward to working with the Scottish Labour Party in
delivering a successful Academy in 2007.
Finally on behalf of all the Amicus officers and
staff I would like to wish a Merry Christmas and prosperous New
Year to all members and their families.
Alan Harvey
Amicus National Officer
