Around 200 north-east oil workers are to be laid off – and staff are furious they are not being furloughed.
Portlethen-based drilling firm KCA Deutag is consulting on making redundant its staff who work on behalf of Total, EnQuest and Canadian Natural Resources (CNR).
KCA cited the coronavirus impact on oil prices and claimed it was not viable to furlough staff on 80% pay, stumped up by the government, sparking confusion among staff.
One member of staff, who asked not to be named for fear of disciplinary action, said: “It makes no sense. If coronavirus is to blame, then why not claim the furlough money from the government?
“We have asked this question but have had no clear answer.
“If Covid-19 passes and the oil price doesn’t pick up, people would understand being made redundant then, but not now.”
Documents seen by the Evening Express show KCA’s UK country manager Jim Paterson said during one minuted conference call: “We are now looking at somewhere in the region of 200 potential redundancies, so no one should be under any illusions of what is going on here.”
He cited uncertainty about coronavirus and a disagreement between Russia and Saudi Arabia about oil production as “issues that have put us where we are”.
A 45-day consultation began on March 17 for KCA staff working on behalf of CNR and on March 23 for KCA staff working on behalf of EnQuest and Total.