Paying for the Piper: Capital and Labour in Britain's Offshore Oil Industry / Edition 1

by Charles Woolfson, John Foster, Matthais Beck

Overview

This book is an appraisal of current offshore industrial relations, and safety regulations instituted after the 1988 Alpha disaster in the North Sea. This text discusses the oil industry's attempts to contain subsequent, unwelcome regulatory interference, and examines the fraught history of trade unionism in the offshore industry, the conflict over health and safety, and the sometimes brutal struggle over union rights as the workforce attempted to achieve a collective voice in the reshaping of the safety and production environment. The authors conclude that, as yet, offshore safety has been little, or not at all, improved.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780720123487
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	01/02/1997
Series:	Routledge Studies in Employment and Work Relations in Context
Pages:	624
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

About the Author

Woolfson, Charles; Foster, John; Beck, Matthais

Table of Contents

List of Tables, List of Figures and Illustrations, Foreword, Acknowledgements, Abbreviations, Introduction, PART 1. CAPITAL AND LABOUR, 1. Oil, Imperialism and the British State: The Origins of the Crisis, 2. Problems of Union Mobilization Offshore: The 1970s and 1980s, PART 2. INDUSTRIAL ACTION, 3. Prelude to Action, 4. The Summer of Discontent, PART 3. OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY, 5. Lord Cullen's Report, 6. 'A Profound Change of Culture', 7. The Strategy of Containment, 8. Paying for the Piper?, PART 4. THE FUTURE, 9. Striking Out: Setting a New Agenda, 10. The Future of OffshoreTrade Unionism, 11. The Restructuring of Britain's Offshore Oil and Gas Industry, 12. Conclusion: An Unsafe Future, Postscript, Afterword, Bibliography, Index

Editorial Reviews

Investigates the crisis of industrial relations which followed the 1988 Piper Alpha disaster, the world's worst offshore accident. Appraises the current offshore safety regulatory regime instituted after the disaster, and examines the oil industry's attempts to contain further regulatory interference. Details the history of trade unionism in the industry and strategies of employers to sustain a union-free environment. Concludes that offshore safety is little or not at all improved. For scholars interested in industrial relations. Distributed by Books International. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

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