OSLO, June 22 (Reuters) - Industry group Offshore Norway said on Monday it would impose a lockout from June 27 on Safe labour union oil service workers in response to an ongoing strike over wages.
The lockout would affect 1,272 Safe members out of roughly 1,770 covered by the wage agreement, while exempting some workers to maintain safety-critical subsea emergency preparedness, the group representing oil service companies said in a statement.
The lockout will further delay drilling operations already hit by the strike, with at least two rigs having halted work, a group spokesperson said.
Safe launched the strike on June 15 after failing to reach a wage agreement with employers, while another union, Styrke, accepted the offer.
The union escalated the action on June 18, bringing the total number of striking workers to 378 so far and affecting companies including SLB, DOF Subsea, Halliburton, Weatherford, Tios and DeepOcean.
The strike has imposed high costs on supplier companies and led to "somewhat postponed production of oil and gas", Offshore Norway said.
"Now the employer side feels compelled to implement a lockout. This is a legal instrument within the collective bargaining system and is used to help bring the conflict to an end," it added.
Reporting by Nerijus Adomaitis, editing by Anna Ringstrom
Source: Reuters