Offshore workers to strike at BP North Sea installations, union says

(Reuters) -About 50 offshore workers on BP North Sea installations have backed strike action in a dispute over pay and overtime rates, British union Unite said on Friday.

The strike involves Unite’s members who work on BP's Andrew, Clair, Clair Ridge, ETAP, Glen Lyon and Mungo installations in the North Sea. They will hold a series of 24 and 48-hour stoppages, the union said.

"BP is aware of the outcome of this ballot and we continue to liaise with the employing company Sparrows," a BP spokesperson said in an emailed response.

Victor Fraser, regional officer at Unite, said representatives would meet later on Friday to finalise the type of action and the date.

"Members want overtime to be paid at a premium rate of time and a half," Fraser told Reuters by email. He said that hours over and above the normal 12-hour shift or days worked in addition to the current three-week offshore stint are currently paid at single time.

Unite earlier said that 96.97% of Unite members on the BP installations supported strike action in a ballot turnout of 78.57%. The union also said the GMB and RMT trade unions were also balloting their members who work on the BP installations.

(Reporting by Seher Dareen and Ashitha Shivaprasad in Bengaluru, Additional reporting by Rahul Paswan; Editing by David Goodman, Jane Merriman and Susan Fenton)