Offshore Trade Union Boasts "Historic Day"

Independent UK offshore trade union OILC is to merge with the UK's National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT), it was announced today.

More than 2,000 OILC members voted by 807 to 207 in a postal ballot to become part of the RMT, the UK's largest transport union.

"This is an historic day for trade unionism in the offshore sector," says OILC general secretary Jake Molloy, set to become lead officer for the new RMT offshore section.

The union will push for better safety, better pay and conditions and job security for offshore workers, Molloy says.

RMT leader Bob Crow says the bringing together of the two unions will give more "industrial clout" and can only benefit members of both groups.

OILC, based in Aberdeen, was set up in the aftermath of the 1988 Piper Alpha disaster and focuses on improving safety for offshore workers.

By Ozge Ibrahim