In a statement sent to Rigzone on Friday, UK union Unite announced that workers employed by the Compass Group at ExxonMobil’s Fawley oil refinery who were due to take strike action this weekend have suspended their industrial action.
The statement highlighted that the workers were due to go on strike from July 25 until 28 July but noted that they will now not take industrial action in order to consult on a pay offer. Unite added that strike action scheduled for August 1-4 will go ahead as scheduled if workers reject the current pay offer.
“Unite has paused its industrial action to allow our members to consult on a pay offer,” Unite Regional Officer Rebeca Johns-Lawrence said in the statement.
“If the offer is rejected then the strikes planned for early next month will go ahead as planned,” Unite added.
Rigzone has contacted Compass Group and ExxonMobil for comment on Unite’s statement. Rigzone has also contacted Bram Frankhuijzen, EMEA Procurement Director at CBRE Global Workplace Solutions (GWS) EMEA, for comment on Unite’s statement. . At the time of writing, none of the above have responded to Rigzone.
In a statement sent to Rigzone last week, .
“Fawley workers will be famished when the oil refinery’s canteen staff strike over poverty pay,” Unite noted in that statement.
“The predominantly female workers, employed by catering outsourcer Compass, are paid only slightly more than the minimum wage,” it added.
“They are demanding a pay rise that reflects the rising cost of living and ensures the gap between their wages and the absolute legal minimum does not shrink,” it went on to state.
Unite revealed in that statement that the workers would strike from July 15-28 and from August 1-4. Canteen and food services across the refinery will not be available during the strikes, Unite noted in the statement, adding that industrial action will intensify if the dispute is not resolved.
Rigzone previously contacted Compass Group and ExxonMobil for comment on that Unite statement. In response, an ExxonMobil spokesperson told Rigzone, “we do not believe such actions are in anyone’s interest”.
“We encourage employers and representatives to work together constructively to reach a resolution as quickly as possible. We have taken contingencies to ensure onsite personnel are not impacted,” the spokesperson added at the time.
ExxonMobil directed Rigzone to Frankhuijzen in that response. Rigzone previously contacted Frankhuijzen for comment on that Unite statement. At the time of writing, Compass Group and Frankhuijzen have not responded to Rigzone’s request for comment on this Unite statement.
ExxonMobil Fawley is the UK’s largest integrated petrochemical complex, producing a range of energy products, lubricants, and chemicals, a brochure on Fawley hosted on ExxonMobil’s website states.
Fawley opened in 1951 and supports over 2,000 supply chain companies, according to a fact sheet on the complex available on Exxon’s site, which notes that “more than 2,500 staff and valued contractors work at ExxonMobil Fawley”. The site produces around 650,000 tons of petrochemical products annually, refines 270,000 barrels of oil every day, and covers 3,250 acres, the fact sheet outlines.
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