Gas terminal staff in walk-out over tribute to helicopter victims
Action after row at Aberdeenshire gas terminal
By Gavin Roberts
Published: 09/04/2009
A ROW has broken out after scores of staff staged a walk-out at Aberdeenshire’s St Fergus gas terminal in a tribute to the victims of last week’s North Sea helicopter tragedy.
Around 150 workers “downed tools” at the gas terminal near Peterhead in a show of support for the 16 victims of the Super Puma helicopter crash in the North Sea last week.
Sources claimed bosses at the St Fergus terminal refused permission for a workers meeting over how they could remember those killed in the fatal Super Puma crash.
Workers at St Fergus gas terminal in Aberdeenshire – one of the world’s largest gas-processing plants – said the gas terminal workers were devastated by the deaths of the 16 men on flight 85N.
Staff at the Total-operated terminal in Aberdeenshire planned to hold a meeting last Thursday to consider taking a half day in tribute to the men who died in the North Sea helicopter tragedy and for their colleagues on the Miller Platform, which pumps gas into St Fergus gas terminal near Peterhead.
But sources claim managers at St Fergus gas terminal refused permission for the meeting.
One worker at the Aberdeenshire gas terminal claimed between 150 and 200 staff met outside the front gate of the terminal near Peterhead at 12.45pm where the majority voted to walk off the site immediately.
The St Fergus employee added: “The majority of the guys agreed to take the half day, although one or two voted against.”
groberts@ajl.co.uk
