Members Complain Unite Rigged Ballot to Accept Employer's Offer

Oil workers have written to the UK Government claiming the Unite union allowed ineligible members to vote in the recent Offshore Contractors Association (OCA) ballot. Around 20 complaints have so far been sent to the office of the Certification Officer in London, which is responsible for overseeing the conduct of trade unions and ensuring correct procedures are followed.The Certification Officer was set up by Harold Wilson’s  Labour government in 1975.

The workers claim non-OCA staff were allowed to take part in the ballot which saw offshore workers agree by 477 to 471 votes to accept an offer of revised pay and conditions. It is not known how many votes are alleged to have been ineligible from approximately 1,000 ballots received. Energy Voice magazine