the oil boom continues. But the oil companies are operating Aberdeen importing port for the North East of Scotland.
The sudden attention of very big business in the shape of the oil monopolies went straight to the heads of the local businessmen and Labour counciliors. They dressed up the exploitation of offshore Tesouftes made econonnically nossible by the recent surge in world oil prices, as a great civic achievement - a matter for yet more pride and self-congratulation They treat the oil companies like bonoured guests who should not be asked to pay, but might Icave a tip it they were happy at the end of their stay. Meanwhile house of their stay, Meanwhile hourse prices tripled, rents soared and the social services became grossly over burdened.
WORKERS ISOLATED Aberreen workers have been isol ABERDEEN HARBOUR has been an important and busy one since it took the lead in the new trawling industry late last century. It is also the major So when the oil companies started their explorations in the North Sea, they naturally gravitated towards this well positioned harbour with its well developed services. The oil companies needed the harbour —but what's never mentioned is that the harbour didn't need the oil companies!
Hated goographucally and historically and are much less numerous and org anised than their brothers and sisters in Dundee and Glasgow. They have organisation solely by their bosses while doing exhausting work in unIt has meant a massive public relations job by the companies about Working as a team' and about the "rough life for tough anen, it isn't easy but it's worth it...
instance produces 400,000 copies of a paper which is distributed to every household. They also seem to Sca.
sate, unhealthy conditions isn't easy tig stand-by service.
As part of this operation, BP for the oil producers in the Middle East enabled them to outbid the trawler owners, who already had troubles of their own in the overtished North Last year about 10 ships were Jaid up indetinitely in Aberdeen becworkers have been attracted by the higher pay to work the supply boats. leaving their unions behind them. and more trawler owners have trans ferred their unprofitable ships to oil Many more boats both trawlers and general cargo boats- are being re-girected to other ports on the coast by owners beaten by the infl ONSHORE DEVELOPMENTS This map shows the way in which war ious areas have been affected by the opening up of North Sea oil.
anies have not relurned the touch ing faith which the city fathers have in them. They have instead distributed their service facilities in Ler wick, Peterhead, Montrose and Leith So when the dockers blacked supply ships in the fight for unionisation an the ships and rigs, the companies simply re-directed their ships to Peterhead and Montrose formerly very small fishing ports ers are casual. Jump workers. This cut the ground away from their blacking and brought the wrath of their employers down upon them with extra force - business had been taken away!
REGIONAL ORGANISATION The dockers are thus acutely aware of how their isolation is exploited by the massive, broadly distributed oil companies. It's very much in the interest of the oil companies to enccidr ape duplication of services (and construction yards) even to the extent of over-capacity, by a host of uncoordinated firms wanting desperately to get into the boom and backed by snail town councils with local hor izons. Dockers can only actually uso their strength against these off com panies by region-wide shop stewurds organisations, with dockers and workers in the rest of the oil industry together with links with workers in other energy seciors (for instance the For al least a year now there has been an Oil Rigs Construction Shop Stewards Liaison Committee, which Joins up the rig construction yards in solidarity. Their strugple cannot be separaled from that of the dockers The orpanised sectors will have to -which under united strength in the strugele to win the unionisation of all sectors and Scandinavian coast of the North Sea Only by such means can the org anised workers demonstrate a solution credible to the supply ship workcrs, the rip workers, and the horde of white collar workers crammed into the maze of offices around Aberdeen docks and elsewhere. Workers in the oil-related industry must make what gains they can now -in organisation, information and centralisation in order to turn the tide in their favour in the neat future, and pose as a realistic tarpet the nationalisation of the industry under workers control as part of a nationally coordinated workers plan for energy production and use.
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simply as a part of their world strategies. Developments far away could bring the boom to a sudden end.