An industrial relations crisis at the Shetland Gas Plant was averted on Friday after a group of around 60 scaffolders and labourers said they had been sacked by their employer.

By late afternoon chief contractor Petrofac said no one had been sacked and the trade union Unite were sending their regional organiser to the islands to resolve the situation.

The crisis began when disgruntled workmen employed by scaffolding contractor Bilfinger refused to work beyond 1pm, which they insisted was all their contracts required of them on a Friday.

The men told Shetland News their actions stemmed from anger with changes brought in since they returned to work after the Christmas and New Year break, which involved sharing rooms and losing washing time.

They added that they were now being forced to travel to and from work and change in and out of their working clothes during their own time when they were not being paid.

Two years ago industrial action was averted over protests about sharing twin rooms at the 450 room Sella Ness accommodation block, with workers complaining of lack of sleep.

A spokesman for the group said they were having to share even though half the rooms in the buiding were now lying empty after the workforce was reduced.

“As a body of men we thought we would just work our contracted hours today, but they said if you leave at 1pm we will sack you,” the spokesman said.

“They would not provide a bus so we have had to walk the one and a half miles back to Sella Ness with the traffic going past us and it teeming down with rain.

“But we don’t think we have done anything wrong because we have worked our contracted hours.”

The company disputes this, saying the men are contracted to work until 5pm on a Friday.

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