Norwegian workers employed on offshore drilling rigs will go on strike on June 21 if annual wage talks with employers fail, the oil and gas labour unions said on Monday.

In total, some 438 union members are initially ready to strike, including 175 from the biggest union Styrke, 193 from the second largest SAFE and 70 from the smaller DSO.
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The stryke and SAFE unions told Reuters the initial action would not affect oil and gas output, but a strike could be expanded as the annual wage talks involve more than 7,200 oil drillers and other service workers.

Initial wage talks between the Norwegian Shipowners’ Association and the three labour unions broke down last month, and will resume on June 20 under the guidance of a state-appointed mediator.

Styrke said a strike by its members would initially affect Transocean’s rig Encourage and Odfjell Drilling’s (ODLO.OL), Deepsea Bollsta, which are drilling wells for Equinor (EQNR.OL), and OMV in the Norwegian Sea, respectively.

It was not immediately clear which drilling rigs would be affected by SAFE and DSO members going on strike.

Equinor and OMV did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

“We have clear expectations of a good general wage increase,” Styrke union leader Frode Alfheim said in a statement.

Details of the demands and any wage offers have not been disclosed and are normally confidential.

The Norwegian Shipowners’ Association, which negotiates on behalf of the rig-owning companies, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A broad-based group of onshore industry workers reached a wage deal with employers in March for a 4.4% pay rise this year, although demands in other sectors could deviate.

Workers directly employed by oil firms separately agreed a wage deal last month, thus preventing a strike.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Nerijus Adomaitis, editing by Terje Solsvik and Barbara Lewis)