Labour Court Rules in Favour of Styrke – Employees May Be Entitled to Back Pay for Handovers
In an important ruling, the Norwegian Labour Court has confirmed that offshore employees who work exclusively day shifts during an offshore rotation are entitled to overtime payment for mandatory handovers carried out outside normal working hours.

Who does this apply to?

• Employees in permanent day-shift positions who are required to attend handovers outside normal working hours.
• Employees who normally rotate between day and night shifts but work only day shifts during certain offshore rotations and do not receive a night shift allowance.

In both cases, mandatory handovers must be compensated as overtime. As a general rule, any part of a half-hour period counts as a full half-hour.
Could you be entitled to back pay?
Members who have not received payment for such handovers may be entitled to back pay, normally for up to three years.
If this applies to you, we recommend preparing a list of the relevant offshore rotations and contacting NAF for guidance on submitting a claim.
NAF encourages all affected members to check whether they may be entitled to back pay.
Please note: Regarding permanent day-shift positions, the company may take the view that handovers are not required. We will discuss this with the company during November.
 

New Employees and Familiarisation Trips
We have received reports of considerable frustration regarding new employees being assigned to the drill floor on their very first offshore trip.

It has been suggested that the previous requirement to spend six months working on deck no longer applies. This is not something NAF has been informed of.
We fully understand the need to train new employees and recognise the tight schedule for getting Noble Interceptor operational. However, having four inexperienced employees on the same rotation creates significant challenges.
We have heard of cases where employees have been assigned directly to the drill floor on their first offshore trip, or after spending only one week working on deck.
This is not fair to the experienced employees responsible for training them, nor to the new employees who are placed in such demanding situations.

 

International Employees
There is little new to report at present.

We are continuing discussions with the company to find solutions and hope the company will be willing to meet our concerns.
NAF maintains its demand that all internationally employed personnel should be offered Norwegian employment contracts.

Long-Service Awards
Unfortunately, this matter has now reached its conclusion, and many employees are understandably disappointed.

The response from Houston is that the new arrangement introduced on 1 September 2026 will remain in place.
NAF has no negotiating rights or opportunity to influence this decision.
However, several colleagues at the Stavanger office have made genuine efforts to improve the situation, and they deserve recognition for their work.

 

Competence Allowance
NAF and the company have now agreed on how the new competence allowance will be administered.

All employees who believe they qualify for the allowance must submit their claim directly to the company, together with the necessary supporting documentation or certificates.
The allowance will be backdated to 1 June 2026.
 

CCTV on NCBA While the Rig Is in Shetland
CCTV monitoring cannot be introduced before an agreement has been reached with the trade unions, ensuring that all relevant concerns and input have been properly considered.

If CCTV is a requirement from the operator, BP, the company must arrange a meeting with the unions.
So far, there has been little or no information from the company regarding this matter.
We are awaiting further clarification.

 

Union Representatives' Conference
NAF recently travelled to Kiel for the first of two conferences for our union representatives.

With many new representatives joining us, these conferences are an important opportunity to get to know one another, exchange experiences and strengthen cooperation.
It was a fantastic experience, even for those of us who have been involved in union work for many years.
We are extremely proud to have so many dedicated and motivated union representatives who are doing, and have done, an outstanding job on our rigs.
Thank you all for a wonderful trip! 😊
The second conference will take place from 10–12 November, for those who were unable to attend the first one.
We are confident that this group will be just as enthusiastic and engaged!

 

NCBA – Training Courses in Shetland
NAF has submitted a list of training courses that we know many employees are required to attend.

We have questioned whether all these courses are actually necessary.
We are currently awaiting a response from the company.

 

OCS
NAF has requested that the company make all codes used in OCS available and accessible within the OCS system.

 

Section 13.5 – Business Travel
We have asked the company to clarify how employees should register compensation under Section 13.5 – Business Travel of the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

The rate has now increased from NOK 25 to NOK 50.
This allowance applies to time spent travelling when employees are instructed by the employer to undertake business travel during their time off.
 

GMDSS and Well Control Courses
NAF's position is that compensation must be based on the official course timetable, and employees must be compensated in accordance with the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

This does not mean that employees are automatically entitled to compensation for homework or private study.
However, if the official course timetable specifies a total of 44 hours, compensation should be based on 44 hours, not 40.
The company is currently reviewing this matter.

Agreement on Job Classifications
NAF is currently working on a new agreement covering job classifications.

The agreement will include all offshore positions currently existing within the company.
We expect the agreement to be signed in the near future.
 
 

Below you will find the names of those nominated for the NAF board election 2027:
 

• Frode Larsen - NAF kontor
• Ulrik Vassgård - Integrator
• Odd Richard Kollstad - Invincible
• Frode Sell - Invincible
• Tom Eirik Hansen - NAF kontor/Invincible
• Jørn B. Hansen - Invincible
• Jarl R Pedersen - Integrator
• Lars Reber - Invincible

 

Today, 1 October, nominations for board elections in NAF start.
Members will today receive an email explaining the nomination process. In short, it has previously been possible to nominate members by writing them up on lists that hang on board each unit. Now you can only nominate by sending an e-mail to the club:
post@nafsiden.no
Our website will be continuously updated on who has been nominated. If you see a name on this list, you do not need to submit a nomination for the same person.

The election itself starts on 1 December.
 

There have been many meetings and a lot of activity, and this will continue in the weeks ahead.
In addition to the day-to-day operations and handling of ongoing matters, there will be a board meeting next week in Stavanger, followed by two employee representative conferences. There will be many new employee representatives attending this time, and it will be great to meet them all.
A big thank you to everyone on the rigs who contributes valuable input on issues that need to be addressed.
Until now, we have not had a Facebook or Instagram page that was open to everyone. That is about to change.
Next week, during the NAF board meeting, this page will be officially launched.
At this board meeting, the club representing international employees, Senior Personnel in Noble Drilling Norway, will also participate. The chairman is Tommy Grønnli, who is a Toolpusher (TP) on Crew 1 aboard the Intergrator. We look forward to welcoming all internationally employed personnel to our union club within Forbundet Styrke.
 
Election of Employee Representatives to the Board of Noble Drilling Norge AS
The election of employee representatives to the board of Noble Drilling Norge AS is currently underway.
We hope that as many employees as possible exercise their right to vote.
This election is not related to the trade unions within the company.
The role of these representatives is to safeguard the interests of all employees at a broader level. Information from the company is shared with the three elected representatives, giving them insight into all departments across the organization.
This does not prevent employee-related issues affecting both onshore and offshore personnel from being raised during board meetings.
Information discussed during the board meetings of Noble Drilling Norge AS is confidential.
 
ATPI and Late Check-Out
We have investigated the issue of late check-out for those who wish to request it.
It turns out that this can be arranged through ATPI when booking travel.
Of course, there may be situations where late check-out cannot be granted, but ATPI encourages employees to contact them if a hotel does not offer this option, regardless of membership status in loyalty programs such as Strawberry.
 
State of the Business
At our monthly meetings, we have a standing agenda item covering the status of all rigs.
There is positive dialogue with Aker BP regarding contract extensions for the Integrator and Invincible.
NCBA is operating at full activity. Members of the Noble Drilling Board of Directors in Houston recently visited the rig and were pleased with what was presented.
The Interceptor is now in place and operational. After completing its accommodation assignment, it will drill a well for DNO before moving on to ConocoPhillips. Securing work with ConocoPhillips again from next year is fantastic news.
The Intrepid has been awarded a short contract with Orlen in 2027. The contract is expected to last approximately 50 to 60 days, and we are exploring staffing solutions to support this project.
Another important item discussed during the meeting was Equinor's planned campaign at Martin Linge in 2028, which appears very promising. Dialogue between the parties is ongoing.
 
Recruitment
Recruitment continues for several positions.
With the Interceptor scheduled to drill for DNO next year, the company will need to recruit approximately 60 additional personnel for that rig.
 
 
International Employees
This matter remains unresolved. As previously mentioned, we had an agreement that could have been signed if all parties had agreed.
We continue to monitor the situation, but there is currently little that can be done given the circumstances.
 
Well Control Courses
On several occasions, we have raised concerns regarding "homework" associated with these types of courses.
The company is not willing to accommodate compensation for this at present. We have also checked with other companies, and practices vary.
Further information will be provided.
 
GMDSS Course
This is a mandatory course that requires a significant amount of time.
We have discussed with the company whether the compensation is appropriate, considering the number of hours allocated for both theory and practical training.
This is an issue we will continue to follow up on.
 
Accommodation at Hanøytangen
There has been significant concern regarding how accommodation arrangements will be handled during the upgrade of the accommodation facilities at NCBA. The barracks on site and Bibbi Avon have been mentioned as possible alternatives.
NAF has maintained a close dialogue with the company on this matter from the very beginning and has consistently communicated its concerns, based on information received from various sources, and not least from the offshore workforce itself. NAF would like to express its sincere gratitude to everyone involved in the safety organization at NCBA, and especially to Chief Safety Delegate Frank Fosse, for the extensive work carried out with the company, including the requirement to bring in independent organizations to inspect and approve these accommodation solutions.
 
 
Salary Determination for Individually Employed Personnel on NCBA
Several meetings have been held regarding this matter.
Because there are many new positions within our company, both positions covered by collective agreements and positions not mentioned in those agreements, determining appropriate salary levels and job placement has been challenging.
For positions covered by collective agreements, salary determination is relatively straightforward, provided employees are placed in the correct group.
For individually employed personnel, job titles often differ from those specified in the collective agreement. We have submitted our input on this issue.
A protocol will be established to clarify these matters.
The company determines salary levels based on market conditions.
 
Baggage Inspections at Hanøytangen
We have not heard much about this issue recently.
The matter originated from the disappearance of tools on the rig, as well as concerns regarding items being brought on board.
 
Emergency Response Training with E-Learning
It has been an issue that several employees have had to complete parts of their GSK training at home.
We believe this is not an ideal solution, and the company has stated that it intends to address the matter.
 
Accommodation During Courses
We have simply asked the company to apply common sense when it comes to training courses and accommodation arrangements.
This concerns not only Well Control courses at Forus and the use of Quality Hotel Pond, but all training courses in general.
 

Effective 1 September 2026, Noble introduced a new global program for recognizing employee service anniversaries. The program, called “Noble Spotlight,” replaces the previous Global Service Award Program. For employees of Noble Drilling Norge AS, the change appears to represent a significant reduction in the financial value of anniversary awards.

From anniversary gifts to points

In information distributed to employees in 2025, Noble explained its then-current five-year Service Award Program.

Under this program, employees reaching each five-year service milestone could select from a range of gifts corresponding to their years of service. Employees could also choose a commemorative lapel
pin or bracelet charm.

At the time, Noble provided the following average cost per employee:

Service Anniversary	Average Cost per Employee	Converted to NOK*
5 years	$434	NOK 4,036
10 years	$772	NOK 7,180
15 years	$1,424	NOK 13,243
20 years	$2,039	NOK 18,963
25 years	$2,839	NOK 26,403
30 years	$4,054	NOK 37,702
35 years	$5,532	NOK 51,448
40 years	$7,335	NOK 68,216

*Converted using an exchange rate of approximately NOK 9.30 per USD, corresponding to our calculation as of September 2026.

These were the average costs per employee stated by Noble itself for the previous anniversary award program.

Noble Spotlight is introduced
In September 2026, employees received information announcing the launch of Noble Spotlight, powered by Awardco.

In its announcement, Noble emphasized that the company’s greatest strength is its people and that recognizing and celebrating employee contributions is an important part of the company’s culture.

The new program includes annual recognition for every service anniversary, while employees reaching each five-year milestone receive points that can be redeemed for products through Amazon Marketplace, or a similar global marketplace where Amazon is not available.

Every ten years, employees may also choose an optional commemorative lapel pin or bracelet charm.

What is less clear from the information provided to employees is how the financial value of the new points-based system compares with the value of the Service Award Program described by Noble in 2025.

One point appears to equal NOK 10
Based on information NAF has received from employees who have already been awarded anniversary points, the value appears to be NOK 10 per point.

For some anniversary milestones, we have already received confirmation from employees regarding the number of points awarded. For the remaining milestones, we have made estimates based on how the new program appears to be structured.

The figures that have not yet been confirmed should therefore be regarded as preliminary estimates.

If our calculations are correct, the comparison looks approximately as follows:

Service Anniversary	Previous Average Value	New/Estimated Value	Reduction	Reduction %
5 years	NOK 4,036	NOK 3,000	NOK 1,036	26%
10 years	NOK 7,180	NOK 4,000	NOK 3,180	44%
15 years	NOK 13,243	NOK 5,000	NOK 8,243	62%
20 years	NOK 18,963	NOK 6,000	NOK 12,963	68%
25 years	NOK 26,403	NOK 7,000	NOK 19,403	73%
30 years	NOK 37,702	NOK 8,000	NOK 29,702	79%
35 years	NOK 51,448	NOK 15,000	NOK 36,448	71%
40 years	NOK 68,216	NOK 20,000	NOK 48,216	71%

The figures indicate that the reduction becomes increasingly significant with longer service, particularly up to the 30-year milestone.

For example, an employee celebrating 15 years of service previously had an average award value of approximately NOK 13,243. If the new value is NOK 5,000, this represents a reduction of approximately NOK 8,243 – or 62 percent.

At 30 years of service, the difference is even greater. The previous average value was approximately NOK 37,702, while our estimated value under the new program is NOK 8,000.

That represents a reduction of almost NOK 29,700 – or 79 percent.

For an employee celebrating 40 years of service, the corresponding value would fall from approximately NOK 68,216 to NOK 20,000.

What could this mean collectively for employees?
We have also prepared a calculation based on an example involving 100 employees distributed across the different anniversary milestones:

Anniversary	Number of Employees	Total Reduction in Value
5 years	10	NOK 10,362
10 years	15	NOK 47,694
15 years	15	NOK 123,648
20 years	10	NOK 129,627
25 years	15	NOK 291,041
30 years	10	NOK 297,022
35 years	15	NOK 546,714
40 years	10	NOK 482,155
Total	100	NOK 1,928,263

 

Based on this example, the combined value of anniversary awards for 100 employees would be reduced by approximately NOK 1.93 million compared with the average values Noble itself provided for the previous program.

It is important to emphasize that this is a calculation example, and not necessarily the actual annual saving for Noble Drilling Norge AS.

The actual amount will depend on how many employees reach each service milestone in any given year and whether our preliminary assumptions regarding the new point levels are confirmed.

From “enhanced” to significantly lower value?
Noble describes Noble Spotlight as a “newly rebranded and enhanced version” of the Global Service Award Program.

The new program clearly includes new features. Employees receive annual recognition, colleagues can congratulate each other through a social feed, and employees have access to a digital platform where their points can be redeemed.

However, if our calculations of the point values are correct, it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that the financial value of the anniversary award itself has been significantly reduced compared with the amounts Noble communicated as recently as 2025.

For employees with the longest service, these are not minor adjustments.

Our calculations indicate reductions of more than 70 percent at several of the higher service milestones, with the largest estimated reduction reaching 79 percent at 30 years of service.
 

Why is NAF raising this issue?

We also want to be open about one important point: NAF is fully aware that anniversary awards are not an entitlement under our collective bargaining agreement, nor are we aware of any law or regulation that gives employees a legal right to such an award.

It may therefore be reasonable to ask why NAF is raising the issue at all. In principle, the company is free to decide how a voluntary employee recognition program should be structured.

Nevertheless, we believe it is important to speak up.

For us, this is not simply about money. It is also about communication, expectations and culture.

When Noble presents Noble Spotlight as a “newly rebranded and enhanced version” of the previous program, employees will naturally expect that the new program represents an improvement.

If our calculations are correct, and the financial value of anniversary awards has at the same time been reduced by between 26 and 79 percent depending on length of service, NAF finds it difficult to reconcile those figures with the way the change has been presented.

It is this kind of communication that concerns us.
We do not expect every benefit provided by the company to be included in a collective bargaining agreement. Nor do we expect every voluntary benefit to remain unchanged forever.

But if a benefit is significantly reduced, we believe it is better to communicate that openly and transparently rather than presenting the change in a way that may leave employees with a different impression.

NAF wants our members to know where we stand on this issue.
We also know that the new anniversary program is currently being widely discussed among employees.

That is unfortunate, because Noble Drilling Norge AS is entering a period in which there is a great deal to be positive about. New contracts and increased activity should create optimism and enthusiasm among employees.

When an issue such as this instead creates frustration and discussion, it unfortunately risks weakening some of the positive momentum that should otherwise be felt throughout the organization right now.

What happened?
Noble begins its announcement of the new program by emphasizing the importance of its employees:

“At Noble, we believe our greatest strength is our people.”

That is a message NAF supports.

And precisely for that reason, we believe that actions and communication should be consistent.

When a program intended to recognize long service and loyalty changes this significantly, we believe it is reasonable to ask what happened between the information provided in 2025 and the introduction of Noble Spotlight in September 2026.

We also believe it is legitimate to ask how a program can be described as “enhanced” if the financial value for many employees has at the same time been substantially reduced.

Is the purpose of the change to provide employees with an improved anniversary recognition program – or has the result also been a significant cost reduction for the company?

And perhaps most importantly:
Why have employees not been provided with a clear comparison showing the financial difference between the previous and the new program?

NAF will therefore continue working to confirm the point levels for all service anniversaries. Once the remaining figures have been verified, we will be in a better position to calculate the actual difference between the previous Service Award Program and the new Noble Spotlight program.

This is not about NAF claiming that employees have a contractual or legal right to a particular anniversary award. It is about transparency, credible communication, and how employees who have dedicated many years of their working lives to Noble are recognized and valued.

We will provide further information once the remaining figures have been confirmed.
 

We are pleased to announce that our club will be holding a Shop Steward Conference this autumn aboard the Color Line ferry between Oslo and Kiel.
The conference will take place on the following dates:

• 21-23 October
• 10-12 November

The purpose of the conference is to bring together our shop stewards for professional development, exchange of experiences, and discussions on matters important to our members and the organization.
Further information regarding the program, registration, and practical arrangements will be provided directly to the participants.
We look forward to a productive and enjoyable gathering for our shop stewards.
 

NAF encourages you all to vote on the list that NAF has sent.
 
The board election for the company Noble Drilling Norge AS will start shortly.
 
The election will be held electronically.
 
We encourage you to vote on our list which consists of:


1st place: Frode Larsen               Electrician                        NAF office
2nd place: Bår Inge Pedersen       Rig Adm                          NAF office
3rd place: Marianne Bertelsen       Medic                             Noble Interceptor
4th place: Tom Eirik Hansen         Ass driller                       Invincible/NAF office
5th place: Glenn Gulbrandsen       Rstbt                               Noble Integrator
6th place: Sunniva Øverland         HSE Compl. Manager    NDN Office
 
This election concerns employee representatives to the board of Noble Drilling Norge as. There are 3 people who want a seat at the board table and we hope you will vote on the list that NAF has sent.
 
Good luck with the election!
 

Here you have a link to the new salary tables, they have been approved by the parties involved.

You can find it here: Salary table 2026

This is what Noble writes on its website late Thursday evening:

Noble has been awarded a contract by ConocoPhillips Skandinavia AS for the ultra-harsh environment jackup Noble Interceptor.
 
The scope comprises plug and abandonment wells in the Greater Ekofisk Area. The contract is expected to commence in the third quarter of 2027 and has an estimated duration of 670 days.
 
"We appreciate the opportunity to support ConocoPhillips' operations offshore Norway with the Noble Interceptor,” said Blake Denton, SVP of Marketing & Contracts at Noble. “This award reflects an exciting new relationship for us on the shelf, and we look forward to demonstrating the full capabilities of this asset and crew."

Noble's communication on social media may contain forward-looking statements. Please see the overview section of this page for disclaimer details.

First comes an abbreviated version, then comes all the text that includes the settlement in 2026 with comments in red text. The last part that has the complete text and comments marked in red is attached, good luck.
 
NOTE: The attachment is very printer-friendly and all this information can be very informative for all employees in the company, especially for those who work offshore.
 
Shortened version, prepared with the assistance of AI

What Did We Achieve in the 2026 Collective Bargaining Settlement?
The 2026 settlement consists of two parts:

• Changes agreed in the 2025 negotiations, effective from 1 June 2026.
• New improvements agreed in this year's settlement.

Changes Effective from 1 June 2026
Several positions have been upgraded within the salary matrix.
The following changes affect Noble employees:

• Roughnecks (Floorhands) holding a BVO certificate or a drilling technical qualification are promoted to Salary Group C while keeping their seniority level.
• DVOs (Roustabouts) holding a BVO certificate, Able Seaman certificate, Logistics certificate, or Crane & Lifting certificate are promoted to Salary Group D from 1 June 2026. Please note that employees previously receiving the E6 special allowance will no longer receive this payment.
• New Safety Officers / 3C Coaches with the required qualifications will normally be placed in Salary Group A.

The remaining position changes do not apply to Noble.
It is also important to note that the job classification matrix has been frozen until the 2032 collective bargaining negotiations.

2026 Wage Settlement

Salary

• A 5.2% general salary increase applies to all employees in Salary Groups A–E.
• Individually paid employees will receive a minimum increase of 4.4%, within an overall framework of 5.2%.
• Minimum salary rates for all groups also increase by 5.2%.

Pension
The defined contribution pension will gradually increase:

• 5% from 1 January 2027
• 6% from 1 January 2028
• 7% from 1 January 2029

This is the maximum contribution currently permitted in Norway (up to 7.1 G).
Employees residing outside Norway will continue under the current 15% pension arrangement (approximately 13.1% in practice). NAF has asked Styrke to review this arrangement for possible future negotiations.

Improved Rates and Allowances
Several compensation rates have been increased, including:

• Deviation from work schedule
• Acting in a higher position
• Oil-based drilling mud allowance
• Mud pit cleaning allowance
• Night shift allowance
• Public holiday allowance
• Meal allowances
• Business travel compensation (increased from NOK 25 to NOK 50)

Other Important Changes
The agreement also includes several important improvements:

• Extended preferential re-employment rights up to the age of 62.
• Gender-specific work clothing is now included in the collective agreement.
• Increased compensation for shared cabin arrangements.
• Higher respiratory protection allowance.
• Additional positions qualify for the higher drilling mud allowance.
• New compensation for employees qualified as emergency smoke divers.
• Improved provisions for pregnant employees.
• Various technical updates and clarifications to the agreement.

Welfare and Catering
A new joint declaration highlights the importance of:

• Good catering standards
• Clean accommodation and common areas
• Employee welfare onboard
• Qualified catering personnel
• Employee involvement before changes to welfare services are introduced

New Competence Allowance
A new Competence Allowance of NOK 1,000 per month has been introduced.
The allowance applies to employees holding relevant additional qualifications, including:

• Scaffolding certificate
• Automation certificate
• Petroleum engineering qualification
• Hydraulics technical education
• Unlimited ETO certificate
• Marine engineering certificates
• DP D1/M1 certificates
• Advanced nursing qualifications
• Relevant Bachelor's degree for Materials Managers / Logistics Coordinators

The allowance becomes effective from 1 June 2026.
No additional competence allowance claims can be submitted before the 2032 collective bargaining negotiations.
NAF expects that a significant number of Noble employees will qualify for this allowance. We are currently in dialogue with the company regarding how the scheme will be implemented in practice.

Summary
The 2026 settlement provides:

• 5.2% general salary increase
• Gradual pension increase to 7%
• Significant improvements to a range of allowances and compensation rates
• A new NOK 1,000 monthly competence allowance
• Promotion of several job categories within the salary matrix
• Stronger employee rights regarding re-employment, workwear and welfare

You can find the attachment here: "ENG Hva fikk vi egentlig?"
You can find the attachment here: "NOR Hva fikk vi egentlig?"
You can find the attachment here: Protocol from Riksmekleren

 

See this link: https://styrke.no/nyhet/riggansatte-er-sikret-betydelig-lonnsokning-og-bedre-pensjon/
 
We will provide more information as soon as it is practically possible.
 

The mediation for the floating rigs started today at 10:00.
If there is no agreement before 23:59 on Thursday July 2, then there may be a strike on the floating rig agreement at the beginning of today on July 3 at 00:01. The mediation is taking place at the Office of the Ombudsman in Oslo.

We at Noble will probably not be directly affected in the first few days, but if the strike expands, the chance of being directly affected is quite high.

There is a strict duty of confidentiality during mediation, while as soon as there is an agreement or a breach, we will publish it on www.styrke.no and the union's Facebook. NAF will also publish as quickly as practically possible.
 

A board meeting has been held in NAF in Bergen. Here the board was on board Noble Interceptor and Noble Claus Bachmann. Very good atmosphere on board and many satisfied members.

We have also attended the Federation Board and the National Board in Oslo. Here the accounts for the union and many other decisions were made. Among the important things for us is that the strike support was adopted, if the mediation does not lead to an agreement on July 2-3 in Oslo.
In this connection, we have made everything clear to the company regarding the agreement regarding safety staffing in case of labor disputes. This protocol must be in place before going to mediation.
Another thing that must also be in place before going to mediation is which rigs we in the NR area will take out in the event of a strike. This meeting will be held on June 18, 2026, where all the clubs are represented.

Bår Inge Pedersen and Frode Larsen are the representatives from NAF when we meet at the National Ombudsman on July 1-2. A possible conflict can start at 00.01 on Friday, July 3 at the earliest.
 
It has been a week of many meetings and high activity in the office.
We have had our first meeting with the company about wage negotiations for the land employees and we have agreed to new meetings next week. NAF has submitted its demands and we are waiting with excitement.
 
So the mediation did not lead to an agreement for all parties on the well service agreement and this has led to 154 members from SAFE being on strike and a further 224 may be called out on strike from 18.06.2026 at 08.00.
This has no effect on us at Noble today, and we have no overview of whether this will include members who are out on our rigs. We will come back with more information as soon as we know more.
 
VR glasses
A major concern for NAF is the use of VR glasses on safety courses. There are several examples that we have received that deal with VR glasses on both GSK/rep courses and fire brigade courses.
We have raised this with Offshore Norway on June 17th together with the Norwegian Federation of Force and Emergency Preparedness Training, and this will be put on the agenda for the next meeting of the Network for Safety and Emergency Preparedness Training in September.
Is this also done on fire brigade and lifeboat courses in Norway? We have only heard of fire brigades happening in Denmark.
NAF is asking for examples of such incidents that you have heard of or experienced yourself, so that we can give the Norwegian Federation of Force as much ammunition as possible for this meeting. Offshore Norway would like to know as much as possible about this. Another thing is that you have the right to physical courses if you want them. Here we have an example of someone being called 2 days before the start of the course and being asked to take the first day online.
We believe that this challenges safety on the rigs and that this is important to highlight.
 
Some info from the monthly meeting:
International employees
International employees are still open, as the company must decide on some fundamental issues.
 
New hires
Recruitment for Noble Claus Bachmann continues and the company states that many have been identified, but that there are also many left.
 
KHVO
KHVO, Frank Fosse had an update on his work and there are many things going on at the same time.
 
Well control and GMDSS courses
NAF believes that the company must pay for hours spent on required work beyond the course time.
A proposal for minutes is being prepared.
 
Salary determination for individually paid and new positions at NCBA
This has not been clarified, and we have started discussions that will continue next week.
 
Anniversary gifts
There are a lot of strange things going on here. Here the gift varies from a few kroner to 50-60,000.- for example 35 years in the company. We believe this is very unprofessional and have asked the company to provide us with the guidelines that are being used. This only creates dissatisfaction and frustration.
 
Baggage check at Hanøytangen
There have been thefts on board the rigs and the company will investigate the possibility of checking luggage both before boarding and when going ashore. We just have to make sure that you stay within all laws and regulations for this.
 

No agreement was reached during this year's main negotiations for offshore employees.
 
Here is a link to STYRKE's website.
 

Today the wage settlement for those working offshore started.
 
The negotiating committee has gathered in Oslo and the plan is to see if we can reach an agreement in the next few days.

Frode Larsen and Bår Inge Pedersen are represented from NAF.

It is not allowed to inform while we are negotiating, but we will update as soon as the negotiations are concluded.
 

Employment in Noble Drilling Norge AS
The company was able to inform that when it comes to new employment, 75 of 189 people are identified with NCBA and 59 of 60 with NINC.
All vacant positions are posted on the Noble website: https://noblecorp.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/noblecorp/jobs?locationCountry=d07f8ca8625e4345b98a91d0558b872a
and https://www.finn.no/job/company/66875 is also used for some of the positions.
 
Info from KHVO
Frank Fosse is participating in the collaboration part of the monthly meeting with the company. He was able to inform that there is a lot to do, especially with SUT at NCBA and NINC.
 
International employees
We are not yet finished here, but discussions are underway on how this can be resolved.
Then the company has to clarify a number of things with another union, and it looks like it may take some time. As mentioned earlier, we had made a draft of a protocol, but it requires that everyone agrees on this.
We are waiting for the situation and are ready to negotiate further.
 
Well control course level 2/3/4
NAF believes that the company must compensate for the time that one has to spend as homework after each course day when one is on these courses. Then it is the case that there will be different requirements for these courses, but we are in a dialogue about a possible solution.
 
Salary determination Individually compensated at NCBA
Not everything is clarified here when it comes to placement in the matrix.
It is the case that you cannot just create new positions or place other positions wherever you want.
NCBA had several positions that were not described in the matrix when it came to Norway and we need to get this sorted out.
 
 
Pension for those living outside Norway
This is just a brief explanation for all the new people who have now started with us.
There have been several questions about exactly what the company pays in and to whom.
In short:
Those who are resident in the UK receive 13.1% paid to Scottish Widows from the company, their own contribution is 2%. The contribution from the company is taxable income, the own contribution is not taxable.
All other employment outside Norway has PFA in the same way for those who are resident in the UK.
The own contribution can be increased individually, then you contact the company.
 
Salary adjustment office
A salary adjustment will be made from July 1, 2026, but will be paid in arrears from April 1, 2026.
From 2027, the salary will be adjusted from July 1, 2027. The company calls for negotiations
 
Apprentices August 2026
Otherwise, we can inform you that there will be 6 new employees in drilling in August.
NAF believes that this is far too little and that the company should take greater social responsibility when we know that optimism is back, both in the company and in the industry.
 
Rig visit
NAF has stayed at NCBA on 3 occasions recently. There are many brand new employees who ask about completely ordinary things that may be unknown to them. Many come from other companies and are curious about internships with us. And the positive atmosphere on board must be emphasized. A mix of a lot of routine and a lot of different new things seems like an inspiration and new courage. At the same time, we have of course taken the opportunity to visit NINC, every day. The same atmosphere is felt here and the rig looks "unused", this bodes very well.
 
Wage negotiations
Next week, wage negotiations will start for those of us who work offshore. The negotiations themselves will start on Tuesday, May 19th and end during the day on May 21st, at least that is what is planned. I must mention that the Operator and Oil Service have had negotiations without reaching an agreement. The Operator will meet with the National Ombudsman on June 3rd, Oil Service has not yet been given a date. So then it is a question of NR and we will agree ...
 
We cannot write much about the future, but it is a fact that there will be work in the future that is very adapted to our company. We will work very hard to secure more work for the rigs we have.
Have a nice May 17th everyone.
 
Stronger together😊

Here is the campaign that starts now and lasts until 2026.
We expect many new hires and we want to offer everyone who is not a member 3 months free membership and double referral points.
Feel free to hang up the posters, there is a QR code that takes you to the membership page in Styrke. 
These are here and here:

Good luck with the recruitment everyone.
 

The rig has now arrived at Hanøytangen outside Bergen and the estimated stay is calculated to be the end of August/September 2026. At that time, the rig has a 150-day hotel contract with AkerBP. We will have about 60 Noble employees attached to the rig during that period.

When we are at the shipyard stay outside Bergen, we have entered into an agreement to fully follow the collective agreement. This also includes the provisions of the main agreement and we continue in the same way as offshore, including within the safety service. In other words, everything that we have on the rig in the North Sea, we also have on the shipyard stay at Hanøytangen. Same salary, same allowance, same rotation, same everything...

The protocol can be found here
 

The provisions of the collective agreement state that compensation can be agreed for PC based on mandatory training locally. NAF has been trying to create such a protocol for a long time, now it is a fact. The reason why we wanted to enter into a local agreement on this is the increasing amount of e-courses that "fall into" the mailbox of more and more of us. In short, this agreement means:

• E-learning courses with an estimated duration of up to and including 2 hours are compensated with 2 hours of overtime.
• E-learning courses with an estimated duration of 2 hours to and including 4 hours are compensated with 4 hours of overtime.
• E-learning courses with an estimated duration of over 4 hours are compensated with the time spent, a minimum of 8 hours of overtime.
 
All e-learning must as a general rule be carried out within normal working hours. If this is not possible, the employee may, after prior approval from the section manager, carry out the e-learning course in his or her free time and be compensated according to the above model.
Important: Please note that before you do this in your free time and hope for compensation, you must get prior approval from the section leader.
 
The protocol can be found here
 

As has been informed, NAF have signed an agreement for Noble Great White during the stay in Hanøytangen outside Bergen. The rig should be ready for operation in March 2027. It has not been confirmed that the rig will go to Shetland immediately after the workshop stay, but if it happens, we are planning for 3-6 shifts due to unfavorable travel to/from the rig/home. This possible stay is estimated to be 6-8 months. Everything else in the collective agreement will apply, this is historical. We have not heard of such agreements before, nor from our closest competitors.
After this possible stay West of Shetland, we will work for AkerBP for a minimum of 3 years in Norway.
During the workshop stay at Bergen, the collective agreement applies in full. This also includes the provisions of the main agreement and we continue in the same way as offshore, also within the safety service. In other words, everything that we have on the rig in the North Sea, we also have during the shipyard stay at Hanøytangen. Same salary, same allowance, same rotation, same everything...

The protocol can be found here
 

Tariff conference 2026
NAF has been at the Tariff conference last week and there we had good discussions and processed many proposals that had come in from the different clubs within our tariff area.
So we just have to cross our fingers that we get a good settlement now that we meet at the Norwegian Shipowners' Association on May 19.
 
Rig visit to Noble Great White
NAF has been on a rig visit at Hanøytangen in Bergen and got a very good impression of Noble Great White and those who were there on board. We got to talk to most of them and many questions were answered about working in Norway. At that time, the agreement for GW had not been signed, but we explained what we had set as requirements for both the shipyard stay and a possible contract in the UK.
 
Rig visit to Noble Interceptor - Denmark
NAF was on a rig visit in Grenaa before Easter. We met many nice people on board and were impressed by how nice the rig was, at least inside. At the time of writing, they are pumping water out of the dry dock at Hanøytangen, where we will also visit.
 
Management personnel in noble Drilling Norway.
We have now activated the club "Management personnel in Noble Drilling Norway".
Here, Tommy Grønnli is the acting manager. He is TP on Intergrator, crew 1.
This is something that we have been looking forward to and want to have a close and good collaboration, where we are responsible for the daily operations, but here the management personnel will have their own channel to NAF.
 
International employees
When it comes to Norwegian employment for all international employees, this has not yet been clarified with the company, but we are working on this.
 
Well control course level 2/3/4
We are in dialogue with the company to find a solution to this, with those taking these courses being compensated for the required work that everyone has to do "homework" while they are on the course.
We will update as soon as we have more.
 
Treatment insurance outside the Nordic region -BUPA
We have received some questions regarding treatment insurance. Those who reside outside the Nordic region are covered by BUPA, as has been the case in Noble Drilling Norway for a long time. It may be that those who worked at NGW previously had other schemes, but these will be covered by the BUPA insurance that is for employees in Noble Drilling Norway.
 

International Employees
This is still something we are working on. However, the company needs to clarify certain matters before a solution can be implemented.
 
Welders
This has been a discussion for a long time. For now, the matter is considered closed, and we will continue with the current arrangement of two welders in the competence pool.
 
Compensation for E-learning
This topic continues to be widely discussed, particularly regarding compensation.
We have also seen that several employees have received emails stating that the “Rigger/Signalman course” should be completed as soon as possible.
The question is: what does “as soon as possible” actually mean?
We have raised this issue with the company, and they have clarified that this should be done when the employee returns offshore for work. This is connected to the broader discussion about whether such courses should be something employees may choose to complete while at home.
This means that a compensation model needs to be established.
 
NOVOS Course
The company states that this is not defined as a course, but rather as a meeting.
Therefore, it should be compensated in accordance with Section 8 of the collective agreement, which equals 6 hours of overtime payment.
 
Payroll Input Date
We have received requests to move the payroll input date back to what it previously was – the 15th of each month.
The company has stated that they wish to keep the date at the 10th. However, they will attempt to process and pay travel expense claims submitted up to and including the 15th.
Their argument for keeping the 10th as the payroll input date is to ensure that everyone receives their salary on time.
 
Well Control Level 2, 3 and 4
We again see that these courses require significantly more time than the estimated 40 hours allocated for employees.
According to Section 9.2 of the collective agreement, the compensation should be a minimum of 8 hours per day or actual time spent.
We have seen course schedules where training days run from 08:00 to 17:00, which equals 9 hours per day.
Another important aspect is that additional study is required in the evenings, because the first hour of the following day is used to review the material that participants were expected to study after the course day ended.
We believe the company must compensate employees for the time required to complete work during their personal time after each course day.
 
Reduced Membership Fee for Members on the Floating Rig Agreement Living Outside the Nordic Countries
A positive and fair update for members living outside the Nordic region.
Forbundet Styrke has decided that the membership fee for members covered by the Floating Rig Agreement who reside outside the Nordic countries will be NOK 430 per month, excluding legal insurance.
The union will inform payroll departments through the deduction portal about the membership fee change for existing members this week and continuously for new members. Neither members nor union representatives need to take any action.
If a member experiences an incorrect deduction, they may contact
okonomi@styrke.no.
The union will then follow up with the payroll department, which is responsible for updating the deduction basis in the payroll system.
 
Changes in the NAF Board
The NAF board would like to thank Jørn B. “SMILEY” Hansen for his excellent work for NAF onshore over many years and wish him the best of luck offshore on INV, Crew 4, as Technical (HLO).
This means there is now a new Deputy Leader in a 50% onshore position, which has been taken over by Tom Eirik Hansen.
We have already worked together for the first few weeks, and things are going very well. Tom Eirik is highly engaged, and we are confident that he will do an excellent job.
 
 

- Frode Larsen: Chairman, full position onshore
- Tom Eirik Hansen Deputy Chairman, half position onshore/offshore.
- Frode Sell: Deputy Chairman offshore
- Ulrik Vassgård: Deputy Chairman offshore
- Bår Inge Pedersen: Association secretary, full position onshore.
- Odd Richard Kollstad: Insurance representative.
- Ståle Engen: Apprenticeship representative and student representative.
- Glenn Andersen: Pension Norway, Finance Representative
- Glenn Gulbrandsen: Social representative, apprentice representative
- Henrik Eiersted, Pension DK
- Jørn B. Hansen, Alternate 1, Active board member
- Jarl Reidar Pedersen, Alternate 2, Active board member
 
In addition:
- Christoffer Vik Youth representative, appointed by the board of NAF.
 
The NAF board has also appointed
Frank E Fosse as KHVO for the next 2 years.
 

The contracts and staffing situation:
A great and very good news for all of us, and probably also the best start to the new year that we could wish for, is that Noble GreatWhite has now been awarded a long contract with us in NDN. We refer to our latest news on January 26.
Integrator and Invincible, continue with good performance and satisfaction for our customer. The framework agreement with AkerBP expires at the end of 2027, but the company has good faith that it will be extended before that time.
Interceptor, which is currently located in Grenaa in Denmark, will soon arrive in Norway and will serve as a hotel for 150 days for AkerBP, with an expected start around the end of August. The crew will be around 60 people. Before starting up in hotel mode, the rig will be dry-docked in Bergen. Opportunities for a drilling contract are being looked at after it has completed the hotel contract.
The company has started planning the crewing of Interceptor, and therefore also who will be asked to travel to Grenaa. Here we refer to our protocol from July 28, 2018 "Agreement concerning work outside the Norwegian Continental shelf" especially with regard to voluntariness and tax guarantees. Read the entire protocol here:
https://www.nafsiden.no/Protokoller/2018-07-25%20Agreement%20work%20outside%20NCS.pdf
All of this provides many good opportunities, and hopefully we will see many of our old colleagues being offered re-employment.
We have of course again made the company aware that we have had many temporary employees for a very long time, and that we expect them to look at them when hiring more permanent employees. The company does not disagree with this and takes it into account in their overall assessment. More rigs also mean a larger competence pool, and we expect that the use of temporary workers can be cut to a much lower level. We are continuously negotiating with the company about staffing in general.
 
The new AW189 helicopters.
The operating company "LUFTTRANSPORT" continues to deny that PCF inspections (Pre Flight Check) should be carried out on the new helicopters. And EQUINOR accepts this. This inspection is not a requirement, but it has been carried out by all operators, and on all helicopter types in Norway for many years. And it has always been seen as a major part of our safety.
It was agreed that the PFC-inspections should be done for at least a period of 2 years and then be evaluated again. But they have now broken that agreement.
Henrik Fjeldsbø, head of LO's helicopter committee, and federal secretary of STYRKE HMS, writes, among other things, this:
We do not accept their attempt to reduce safety to a minimum level. Both we and the Norwegian authorities have a clear ambition that we should be world leaders in safety on the Norwegian continental shelf.
The conditions on the Norwegian continental shelf are unique compared to other places in the world. And nowhere do the helicopters fly as much in a day as here. Precisely for this reason, we demand a calm introduction of new helicopters, with an inspection regime based on our experience.
Read about the entire case here:
https://styrke.no/nyhet/helikopterutvalget-avviser-pastander-fra-lufttransport-og-equinor/
 
Alarming and worrying:
Henrik Fjeldsbø has full support from the Norwegian Helicopter Workers' Association (NHF) and the Norwegian Pilots' Association (NF), which represent helicopter technicians and pilots.
Helicopter pilot and board representative in NHF, Jan Møller Andersen, finds it both alarming and worrying that Equinor has chosen to deviate from a very well-established practice.
https://nhaf.no/operativt-pfc/
 
"BankID" for residents outside Norway
For information: “BankID” is Norway's most widely used personal, electronic identification (eID) and signature service.
We have been informed that Nordea has started to require a Norwegian address and telephone number to obtain a BankID. We do not know if all other banks also require this, but we have been in contact with "Sparebank 1" and they have stated the following:
We can offer our customers BankID if they have identification that qualifies for BankID. For customers from the EU/EEA, you must have a valid passport or national ID card with a readable RFID chip and signature.
For citizens outside, you also need a valid residence card. BankID is given to active customers, i.e. those who use us on a daily basis with salary income.
For your information, we actually see "Sparebank 1" as "our bank" because it is partly owned by LO, and they provide services for our benefit program LO-Favør.
BankID also gives access to all public services in Norway. Tax, pension, NAV and, for example, also to the blue EU health insurance card. So we would definitely recommend that anyone who does not have a BankID to get it set up.
 
Agreement on compensation for e-learning.
The company would like to open for the possibility of taking e-learning courses on overtime compensation at home during the leisure period, instead of during working hours offshore, for those who do not have time for it.
It is frustrating for many that there is no time to take courses during working hours, and when you try, you are often disturbed by all sorts of other tasks that are pressing on you.
At the same time, the leaders do not always allow you to take the course while you are at home, if that is what you want. This may of course be related to the fact that according to clause 9.2 of the collective agreement, a mandatory course taken during your leisure period must be compensated with time spent, but a minimum of 8 overtime hours, unless otherwise agreed locally.
NAF has investigated how this is practiced in other companies, and we see that there are many different local agreements about it. We believe that the best solution must be for us to make an agreement about how many overtime hours each individual course shall be compensated with. This will also be a topic at our coming annual meeting.
 
NOVOS course for drilling personnel.
One Driller, one Ass Driller and one Floorhand from each crew on Invincible and Intergrator are invited to the NOVOS course. NAF points out that unless this is a voluntary course, it must be compensated with 8 overtime hours.
 
Approval of travel expenses.
We have received a number of inquiries that the company often use a very long time to approve our travel expenses. The company states that it is not their intention to delay approval and payouts, and they will address this problem internally.
 
Anniversary scheme
After we switched to the Noble anniversary scheme, we have received a number of inquiries about this.
We must discuss whether the company should have made a transitional scheme for a longer period than the approximately 2-year scheme that has now expired.
We see that those who have been employed between 20 and 25 years receive somewhat less appreciation than they would have received under the old Maersk scheme. Especially because they have not received the gifts that Noble has always given to those who have had 5, 10, 15 and 20-year anniversaries. This means that we who come from the Maersk scheme receive less financial appreciation after 25 years in the company, than those who have been employed in the Noble group for 25 years, even though we are legally employed in the same company.
The same can be said for those who have been employed between 30 and 35 years. Is this fair?
The company believes that plenty has been given during this 2 year transitional period and does not believe that we can demand more.
We have asked STYRKE about their opinion, and their answer is that if it’s not agreed in a collective agreement or employment agreement, the company can change this as they please. They compare it to bonus schemes where the company can unilaterally choose to introduce bonus schemes, and thus they can also unilaterally choose to abolish them again.
This means that legally we cannot demand anything, but we can still think that it’s unfair.
We will therefore also discuss this next week at our annual meeting.
 
NAF annual meeting.
Our annual meeting will be held in Gdansk on 6-7 February. The board meeting will be held the day before on 5 February. This year it will be "main negotiations" in the tariff and wage negotiations.
We look forward to meeting all our talented and engaged shop stewards and we expect that as always there will be many good discussions and inputs to what the union working committee shall prioritize in 2026.
We will have guests from both the office in Stavanger and in Gdansk, and we are of course pleased that so many have agreed to visit us.
 

Finally, after many years of waiting, we have now secured a contract involving the use of a floater rig in Norway. The company dared to take the risk, and now we have succeeded.

We will rebuild/upgrade the rig in Norway, use it in the UK for a few months, and then bring it back to Norway for three years.

NAF is already in discussions with the company regarding all practical matters related to the yard stay, the use of the rig in the UK, and its return to Norway.

We can probably expect that the modification work will begin as soon as practically possible. The rebuilding is expected to take 9–12 months. After that, AkerBP, based on what we know now, will use the rig in the UK sector for a few months before it returns to Norway on a three‑year contract.
 

This means that Bår Inge Pedersen, Ståle Lønne Engen, Glenn Andersen, Henrik Eierstedt and Glenn Gulbrandsen will be on the association's board for two years. 
Jørn B. Hansen will be the 1st alternate and Jarl R Pedersen will be the 2nd alternate. Alternates will be elected to the board for one year at a time. 

Frode Larsen, Ulrik Vassgård, Odd Richard Kollstad, Frode Sell and Tom Eirik Hansen were not up for election. They still have one year left on their term. 

There were 214 members who voted electronically.

Protocol
 

The new AW189 helicopters.
STYRKE writes this in their news update:
We do not trust the inspection regime on the new offshore helicopters. We therefore demand that it have operational consequences for the dispensations that have been granted for flying at high seas, says Henrik Solvorn Fjeldsbø, who heads LO's helicopter committee.
We must be a world leader in security on the Norwegian continental shelf. This also applies to the flights that transport people to and from jobs offshore. Then it is not enough to rely on minimum requirements in the regulations, as Equinor and “Lufttransport” clearly want.
Fjeldsbø also emphasizes that the helicopter committee can never accept that the safety level for offshore flights must be lowered.
Read the entire article here:
https://styrke.no/nyhet/ma-fa-operasjonelle-konsekvenser-for-nye-helikoptre/

See video on YouTube:
Eirik Grimstad Øvrelid from the Odfjell club, has posted this video on Youtube, where Henrik Solvorn Fjeldsbø Union secretary of HMS in STYRKE, explains about the challenges.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSXnqWwn5d0

Here is a summary of the information from the video, so that our UK members can also stay updated.
A “Pre Flight Check” (PFC) is a visual inspection that is carried out every time a helicopter has returned to the heliport. It is the check that we surely all have seen many times from the window in the heliport, where the technicians open the hatches up to the engine room, and carry out a visual inspection.
This check typically takes about 15 minutes, and it has been carried out by the entire industry in Norway for many years, on all helicopter types.
The manufacturers do not require this, and it is not described in their manuals either. It is an extra safety check that many believe should be done regardless.
The reasons for this are, among other things, that the helicopters on the Norwegian continental shelf are in heavy use, in a very harsh climate, and that the mechanics are generally exposed to a lot of vibration.
The new AW189 helicopters shake less, and they have more monitoring sensors for safety. But as Henrik says in the video, things can happen anyway. Things can shake loose, and oil leaks can occur. And of course, we want faults to be discovered while the helicopter is still on land, and not after takeoff, where it would result in a U-turn back to land due to technical issues.
Equinor and “Luftransport” decided that the Pre Flight Check should not be done on the new AW189 Helicopters. Therefore, Styrke has had several meetings with Equinor and the local Styrke club in the past year, where it was initially agreed to continue the scheme with visual checks (including opening hatches) for at least a 2-year period, after this period we should evaluate the situation. And this evaluation would then be based on actual data, and not just on someone believing that faults cannot occur on anything new.
The big problem is that this agreement has now been “adjusted”, so that instead of opening the hatches to the engines, the pilot, together with a technician, now only must walk around and check the helicopter on the outside before takeoff. They call this an “Extended Pre Flight Check” but we believe it is actually less extensive since the hatches remain closed.
We have examples of how our use of Pre Flight Check on S92 helicopters has led to many findings over time that required immediate repair.
As recently as June of this year, a fuel leak was found on an S92, which most likely due to vibrations would have gotten worse if repairs had not been made before takeoff. This fuel leak would not have been discovered if a full pre flight check had not been done (where the hatches are opened).
Henrik points out in the video, that AW189s are good and safe helicopters, but so is the S92. So when it has been proven that these pre flight checks, over many years, have meant that errors have been found before takeoff, then it gives every good reason to continue with them, also on the new helicopters, even if it is not a requirement, but simply for our safety. At least for the 2-year period that was first agreed and then re-evaluate the situation.
The case is not forgotten, it is kept hot, Henrik says in the video. 
We will follow up as soon as there is any news on the matter.
 
The contract situation.
Unfortunately, we have nothing new to report here. We are of course still disappointed that we did not manage to get a contract with Equinor for Ocean Great White. But we know that other opportunities are being worked on in Norway.
As written last month: What is positive and as most people know is that Noble Interceptor is returning to Norway. The contract is with AkerBP and starts in August/September 2026 and initially applies to a hotel assignment. But the rig will be upgraded so it is expected to arrive in Norway in March/April. NAF is already in dialogue with the company and we can say that the crew from Noble will number about 60 people when the contract starts. There will be a need for crew already when the rig is moved to Norway.
We will of course continuously assess and negotiate the need for staffing, and the size of our competence pool. Also with those in mind, who have worked for a very long time as temporary workers.
 
Conferences for our shop stewards.
We have just held two conferences at the Quality Hotel Stavanger Airport. We would like to thank all the shops stewards who attended, and by that contributed to, that we can to call both conferences for successful.
We had many good discussions and many good inputs were given to us, which we are now working on towards the company.
John Ludvigsen - Union Secretary of STYRKE, is our main contact in the union. We know John as a very professional and dedicated person, who has also just become responsible for the collective agreement.
He participated in both of our conferences, where he answered questions and shared his extensive experience.
Many questions were raised regarding the calculation and rules for our pensions. We will continue to work on this, in collaboration with John. And then we will provide more information about pensions in general.
 
Booking of flights for return journeys.
It also came up during the conference that some UK residents were not allowed to book flights home from Intrepid on the same day they came in from rig, even though there were available flights. They were told that the tickets were too expensive. We do not find this acceptable. 
If it is possible to travel home on the same day you are coming in from the rig, you should also be allowed to do so. We took this up with the company, and they agree with us.
 
Meetings at the heliport before departure.
NAF points out that it is always voluntary to participate in meetings during free time, unless compensated with overtime.
 
Compensation for e-learning.
The company would like to open up for the possibility of taking e-learning courses on overtime during the free period, instead of during working hours offshore, for those who do not have time for it.
This means that an agreement must be made on how many hours of overtime compensation each individual course should provide.
NAF is investigating how this is practiced elsewhere. If this is something that we can agree on, then we must ensure that everyone is compensated for at least the time they spend on each individual course. This is probably not entirely simple, but we are looking into it.
 
HLO crew on Invincible.
Due to increased helicopter traffic, and thus increased need for crewing on the helideck, the company has agreed with AkerBP to expand the HLO crew, by now also using the technical department.
Therefore, both the Assistant Crane Operator, Planner, Floorhand and ET/Electrician are now parts of the permanent HLO crew on Invincible.
 
25th and 40th anniversary.
The company has informed us that it has been decided that the Legacy Maersk scheme with 25th and 40th anniversary will end as of 31.12.2025. However, the Noble scheme with anniversaries every 5 years will continue as before.
 
NAF positions onshore.
We have gone from 3 full positions to 2½ positions for AU onshore.
After the Annual Meeting on 24-25 January 2025, the new board constituted itself in such a way that if we were to go down to 2½ positions in AU onshore, Jørn B. Hansen would take a half the position offshore, if this were to become relevant. For this reason, Jørn has now started in the K-pool in a half position offshore + a half position in AU onshore.
He will of course continue his work in NAF, and will continue to perform his duties as nest leader, both onshore and offshore.
 
The blue EU-health insurance card for travelers and commuters.
For residents outside Norway.
Earlier this year, we received questions about this from the Vo-organisation at Integrator, and we must regret that it has taken so long to get an answer, but it has not been easy to get an answer from the right authorities.
”Udbetaling Danmark” Now finally writes that they will not issue EU health insurance cards if you are socially insured in another country. Those of us who live outside Norway, but are socially insured in Norway, must therefore apply for the card here:
https://tjenester.helsenorge.no/skjemautfyller/HELFO_EHIC?lang=nb-NO
It is required to have a Norwegian D-number (Norwegian social security number for foreigners) but everyone should be able to apply for one. If necessary, contact "Sparebank 1" to open an account in Norway.
 
The NAF election is ongoing.
Remember to use your right to vote. If you have not received a link in your e-mail, please contact us.
 
NAF wishes everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
 

From December 2nd through January 16th, it will be possible to cast your vote for the 2026 NAF board election.

This time, the election will be conducted electronically, as resolved at the NAF Annual Meeting in 2021.

Unfortunately, the election had to be suspended as it did not comply with NAF’s bylaws, section 7.2, which stipulates that it must also be possible to vote for deputy positions. Consequently, the Election Committee will conduct the election anew and extend the deadline by one day, through January 16. In the renewed election, you will be able to vote for up to seven candidates.

Procedure:
On December 2, an email will be sent out marked “NAF Board Election 2026 / NAF styrevalg 2026.” The sender will be noreply@eballot.com.
In the email, you will receive a link to the page where you cast your vote. If the link does not work, the email will also contain information on how to log in with your unique username and code.
We are using a platform called “eBallot” to collect the votes. This platform is specifically designed for elections, unlike SurveyMonkey which was used previously.
Please note that the election email may end up in your junk mail or spam folder, depending on your email program. The email is safe to open.
If you do not receive or cannot find this email and wish to vote, please contact us at post@nafsiden.no to receive a link to the election.
Please note that it will only be possible to cast your vote once. If you are unsure of whom to vote for, you may save or flag the email for later. Several reminders will be sent to those who have not voted before the election closes on January 16.
Responses are handled confidentially by eBallot so that individual votes cannot be traced back to individual voters. The election committee will only receive an overview of how many have voted, who participated in the election, and the total results. It is not possible for the election committee to influence the election in any way once it has started. “eBallot” records all actions taken in connection with the election.
After you have cast your vote, you will receive an email confirming that your vote has been registered, marked “Thank you for voting.” This email will come from support@votenet.com but is signed by “The eBallot Team.” Unfortunately, we were unable to change the content of this confirmation email.
Use your right to vote! Good luck.
Best regards,
Election Committee
Gøran Gulbrandsen, Tom Erik Hansen, and Odd Richard Kollstad
 

It has been well-known news that we at Noble have spent time and resources securing a contract for GreatWhite with Equinor.
GreatWhite is located in Fedafjorden in Norway and was ready for preparation on the Norwegian shelf if the contract was signed. Now, at the time of writing it is unclear what will be done with one of the world's largest floating rigs. But one thing is certain, Noble is working with other operators in Norway, the opportunities are there.

What is positive and as most people know is that Noble Interceptor is returning to Norway. The contract is with AkerBP and starts in August/September 2026 and initially concerns a hotel assignment. But the rig will be upgraded so it is expected to arrive in Norway in March/April. NAF is already in dialogue with the company and we can say that the crew from Noble will number about 60 people when the contract starts. There will be a need for crew already when the rig is moved to Norway.
 

Following the Labour Court judgment delivered in late September 2025, the following personnel are entitled to compensation of NOK 50 per hour for off-duty time on board.
This applies to personnel who were on board the Noble Integrator in Åmøyfjorden in autumn/winter 2023.

Those who held the following positions may claim compensation for the period 
5 October – 31 December 2023:
- Logistics Coordinator
- AD
- Operator Drilling
- Crane Operator
- A Crane Opr.
- Medic
- Ops Planner
- Operator Technical
- Engine Mechanic
- Electrician
 
Those who held the following positions may claim compensation for the period 
5 October – 15 November 2023:
- Floorhand
- Roustabout
- ET
- Hydraulic Engineer
 
All employees should enter this in OCS, after which it will be approved on a rolling basis.
 
For those who are no longer employed, please send the overview to Hilde Finnesand Egeland (HFinnesand@noblecorp.com).
 

About cooperation with other local clubs.
NAF basically want to be able to cooperate with all other unions and local clubs, and we do not want to write condescending words about others, but sometimes the true story just must come out.
Cooperating with other local clubs can often make good sense and be an advantage for our members. But it does not make good sense, nor does it lead to advantages for our members, when another local club, with which we otherwise maybe could have cooperated with, constantly writes condescending and untrue stories about NAF in their media, presumably to promote itself.
Fighting to be the best local club is not in any way wrong. But it’s very wrong, and very unfair, not to stick to the truth.
Our club leader FLA recently, but shortly before we solved the case, contacted the leader of the before mentioned local club, by telephone to inquire in more detail about which solution models they were discussing with the company. It only ended up being a short conversation on the phone, and subsequently they did not return with more answers, as otherwise agreed in the conversation. 
So, they themselves refused to cooperate with us, or even to exchange opinions with us.
 
About avoiding the truth in the hydraulics case.
Now we can unfortunately see that this other local club, in their news update, again avoids the truth to such an extent that they make it sound like they have had an influence on the fact that NAF succeeded in getting an agreement with the company about a competency salary supplement for the hydraulics.
We and this other club negotiated completely separately against the company.
We managed to get an agreement made, while their proposal was irrelevant for the company, and moreover, their proposal was also in conflict with the collective agreement.
There was absolutely no cooperation between us and this other club in our negotiations with the company. And it was obviously completely different solution models that we discussed.
 
A historically good deal.
To write it clearly and distinctly:

• NAF has been working for about 15 years to get the hydraulic workers' salaries up, and we never gave up.
• We have had countless local negotiations, both with the previous and the current HR, and we have tried all the arguments we have been able to find.
• We have tried at all the main salary negotiations.
• We have tried through the cooperation committee "NR-Forum" to get the other unions to join us together, to front our case at the salary main negotiations.

• We have had the case in the “Salary Position Committee” So everything that has been possible for us has been tried out.

Now we have finally succeeded, and we believe that it was a question about the right negotiation technique, and a good and understanding dialogue with the company, but also the right timing, which gave us the breakthrough.
It was therefore NAF alone that made this happen, and it is therefore not true what another union writes on its website.
Representatives in our main union, STYRKE, are surprised that we succeeded, and they call it a historically good agreement. So, we are not just giving that agreement away to others who have not participated in any way.
 
Please contact us.
If anyone hears rumors, or reads news where one can doubt the truth, then please contact us, so we get a chance to clear it up.
It's really sad, if we were to lose members because of information that does not reflect the truth, and it's really sad that this kind of union fight is taking place at all. 
 

As we wrote earlier this week, NAF/STYRKE prevailed in the Labour Court regarding compensation for denial of shore leave.
NAF has sent an e-mail to its members and is providing them with ongoing updates in this matter.
 

The case concerns the question of the right to compensation for denial of shore leave for employees on the installation Noble Integrator while it was located in Åmøyfjorden in the period from 21 September 2023 to 1 January 2024.

NAF has won its case regarding this matter, and the Labour Court has ordered Noble Drilling Norge AS to pay compensation for the period 05.10.23–01.01.24.

This means that all members of the union Forbundet Styrke who were on board the Noble Integrator and are entitled to this compensation, shall receive back payment of NOK 50 per hour for the hours concerned.

The reason why the compensation period starts from 05.10.23 and not from 21.09.23 when the rig first entered the fjord, is that this was the date when we were first made aware of the situation and submitted the claim to the company.
 

NAF has succeeded in securing an agreement that provides the Hydraulic Technicians with an allowance that closes the gap between group A and group B.

This has been a long struggle which was not possible when we were under Maersk, but with the new management in Noble Drilling Norge AS, and with their understanding of this issue and the dissatisfaction it has created, we managed to finalize an agreement that gives the Hydraulic Technicians an addition of up to NOK 3,464 per month, or NOK 41,568 per year, depending on their seniority level. Our Hydraulic Technicians are all in B6. This will be added under the line “Normal Monthly Salary.”

This will take effect from 01.10.25.

It is important to understand that this position cannot simply be moved up into group A, as this would be contrary to the collective bargaining agreement, and that the competence allowance in section 4.3.2 of the agreement is the only way this can be solved, since the pay matrix is locked until the collective bargaining settlement in 2032.

A bit of background:
Since the matrix is locked until 2032, it has not been possible to move this position up to group A. It is important to say that this struggle, which started before 2010, has been extremely difficult. We have raised this issue in every wage negotiation, tried through the Job Classification Committee, and not least through all the meetings we have had with the company both under Maersk and Noble. Some may think that we have done nothing or too little on this matter, but the fact is that we have had a good dialogue with the company ever since we became Noble, about the need to find a solution to this issue.

You can find the protocol here

International employees on Norwegian contracts.
As previously written, we are ready to sign an agreement with the company. We have been working on this case for a long time, and we believe that we have a good agreement ready, which will ensure good conditions and better security of employment, according to the seniority principle for our leaders. 
At the same time, we have arranged for our leaders to have more influence by establishing a new club under the main union Styrke "Ledende personell i Noble Drilling Norge, afdeling 1562" Translated to: "Leading personnel in Noble Drilling Norway, department 1562" 
Here it is intended that the leaders, can choose a representative between themselves, who will be able to participate in our NAF-board meetings, with the right to speak and make proposals.
The following was taken into the minutes of our monthly meeting:
Due to unreasonable demands from a trade union, the company must await its decision on signing the proposed agreement.
 
Hydraulics salary
NAF has sent our own proposal for an agreement to the company, and we expect to receive a response to this as soon as possible.
 
Clause 3.7 of the collective agreement - The right to go ashore. 
The trial starts on September 2, and NAF has been called in as a witness.
https://www.arbeidsretten.no/saker-og-avgjorelser/2025-3
 
Crewing and contracts
Intrepid has now arrived in Norway, and is partly crewed by NDN employees, supplemented by hired personnel, both from the UK and from Norway.
Everyone will be on Norwegian terms and collective agreements, from the first day they work on the Norwegian shelf.
The company did not have much new information for us, but we sense a better optimism for the near future.
The company is looking at all opportunities in the market, and it has probably not passed by anyone, that we also have the floating rig Ocean Great White lying in Fedafjorden (Green Yards). Of course we hope to get an agreement for it here in Norway. 
The rig is currently not crewed by employees from NDN, but if that were to change, we will demand an agreement with the company.
 
Expiry of certificates and booking of trips
The company is making savings everywhere, and we hear that there have been some threats that there may be consequences for those who do not follow the company's rules, for either booking trips or not renewing their certificates on time.
We have asked what the company means by "consequences"?
To this, the company responds that everyone must do what they can to book trips as early as possible, and that each individual has a responsibility to check whether their certificates are close to expiring. They refer here to the fact that you can check it on SkillsVX, or perhaps just check your printed certificate.
By consequences, they mean that it could lead to a personnel case.
The company also states that if you are prevented from participating in a course, you must contact them to have the course postponed, and not just cancel it. Otherwise, the company will have to pay for the course.
 
Upcoming meetings and conferences
The NAF board meeting will be held at the Quality Airport Hotel on September 4-5.
The conferences for our shop stewards, will be held on September 18-19, and again on October 8-9. Also at the Quality Airport Hotel.
Styrke national meeting will be held in week 42. The annual meeting has elected the delegates from among our union representatives, and they will be contacted.
 

Rig visit to Noble Íntrepid.
NAF visited Intrepid in Aberdeen on 30 June to 1 July, together with two representatives from Styrke. These were Arne Geir Mehl, Organizational secretary, and Fraser Knox, Negotiator, who chose to join our visit.
The rig is currently staffed with a number of permanent employees in NDN and some temporary workers, but also many employees from Noble internationally, and agency employees from there.
We had some good conversations, both with our members, but also with all the international employees in Noble Drilling.
Some of them chose to join us, even thought it unfortunately, only will be for a shorter period.
We feel a general uncertainty about the future, both from those who are temporary employees, but also from many of those who are international employees in Noble Drilling. 
Many asked about the possibilities for permanent employment in NDN, in connection with this project. Unfortunately, at this point, we can only answer that we fully understand the uncertainty that many must live with, and therefore we naturally want to get as many permanent positions as we possibly can. 
But with a contract for 50-90 days only, it is not enough for us to demand many permanent positions. This would just lead to a new round of dismissals.
Having said that, we must also say that the company has become much more positive in their statements to us, regarding getting more rigs up and running in Norway. We have written about this before without anything happening, but this time we have more faith in it. Several options are being seriously worked on, but we must wait a little longer for something more concrete.
Everyone on board Intrepid, is now on a 2-4 rotation, and everyone will switch over to our collective agreement, either when they cross the border while sailing, or upon their first travel out on Intrepid in Norway.
In practical terms, we can again state that the company agrees with us that all NDN employed, who agree to travel to Aberdeen, will follow our protocol from 2018 "Agreement regarding work outside the Norwegian shelf"
This protocol states, among other things, the following:

• Work outside the Norwegian continental shelf in this context shall be based on volunteerism.
• The employees maintain membership in Norwegian National Insurance Scheme during short temporary assignments (as defined above) outside the Norwegian Continental Shelf.

• MDN will make advance deductions as if working on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.

• With regard to personal tax, the individual employee must not be worse off than if he/she worked in Norway.

We can also inform you that we now have shop stewards on all 6 crews on Intrepid. A big thank you to them for standing up so quickly.
You can find them here: https://www.nafsiden.no/om-oss/plass-og-bedriftstillitsvalgte/noble-intrepid
 
Helicopter transport to Intrepid.
Here we were faced with major challenges, because DNO could not find available helicopters in Norway, but fortunately the solution to this came while we were on board. After many negotiations about alternative solutions, DNO was finally able to announce that there will be departures from Stavanger with Sikorsky S92. In other words, completely as usual.
In addition to several meetings with DNO and the company, we have had close and constructive cooperation with the Federal Secretary for HMS in Styrke, Henrik Solvorn Fjeldsbø, in the work of assessing the alternative solutions that DNO came up with in this process. We know Henrik as a very dedicated person, with a very strong focus on safety around helicopter transport on the Norwegian Shelf, and we of course greatly appreciate Styrke's involvement in this.
 
Hydraulics salary
What happened at the salary settlement this year, will not make any difference to our ongoing work to find solutions for our hydraulics. And this matter still remains a permanent item on our agenda with the company.
A committee in Styrke has worked for 3 years to create a more equal distribution of the level in the individual salary groups, and this meant that the groups A and A1 were merged back to what it was before.
NAF never supported the creation of A1, and for this reason, among other things, the salary level became minimal between the two groups.
Incidentally, this was an interim settlement, where we normally do not negotiate the salary groups, but there was a broad agreement that if the plan for this equal distribution of the salary groups was to be implemented, it should be done now, to avoid it affecting the next year's main settlement.
 
International employees on Norwegian contracts.
NAF is ready to sign an agreement. But we must wait for DSO, who are currently conducting their own negotiations with the company.
 
Clause 3.7 of the collective agreement - The right to go ashore.
As previously informed, the case is scheduled for the Labor Court on 2-3 September 2025.
 
We will of course inform you as soon as something new happens.
But with this, we at AU and the Board of NAF, wish you all a really good summer.
 

Everyone who says yes to this, will be regulated by our protocol from 2018 "Agreement concerning work outside the Norwegian Continental Shelf". 
This states, among other things, that it must be based on voluntariness, and that you maintain your membership in Norwegian National Insurance, and that you are also covered tax-wise if such challenges should arise.
If any other challenges should arise that we have not foreseen, please contact us so that we can look into it as fast as possible.
The protocol can be found here:

Compensation for lost off-time, when changing shifts, in accordance with the collective agreement, section 3.4.
We also receive various questions about how you are compensated if you lose your earned time off, when changing to another rig or crew.
Regardless of whether you are in the competence-pool and change to a fixed rotation on a rig, or whether you change from one rig to a new rotation on another rig, you will be compensated with lost free time, which is 4 overtime hours per day, for the earned days off, you lose due to the change. However, if there are any disagreements about compensation, please contact us of course.
 

International employees on a Norwegian contracts.
As we wrote in our latest news update, DSO has now chosen to negotiate alongside us. We are not writing this to attack anyone, but we find it necessary to inform our members about why this case is now delayed, and our members can only get that information from us.
We just had a new conversation with the company, where we came up with proposals for how these new challenges can be solved. We cannot get into what the proposals are about yet, but the company will take it further into their other negotiations.
If the international contracts should be inconsistent with the rules in the law, we have not tested legally, because we have always believed that we can achieve the best results with local negotiations.
We believe we have a good agreement in place, so we would like to see the new challenges resolved quickly. Our desire is to have an agreement signed that ensures good conditions and security of employment, according to the seniority principle for our managers.
 
The staffing situation.
HR is working to find solutions on how to solve the temporary need for staffing of Intrepid, which, if all goes according to plan, will drill a single hole for DNO, with expected start-up d. 1 August, and a duration of approx. 50-90 days. With such a short contract, there will unfortunately and inevitably still be a need for some use of temporary staffing.
 
We receive many questions about how Intrepid will be staffed, but HR is still so early in the process that we have not yet received a complete overview.
As we have previously stated, the company agrees with us that they will prioritize some of the temporary employees they have used the most in the last couple of years, both when it comes to the need for temporary employees, but also when it comes to permanent employment.
Furthermore, the company agrees that everyone who is reassigned to Intrepid must, as a starting point, be returned to where they came from, after Intrepid has completed the contract in Norway. However, they also point out that there may be operational considerations that must be taken into account.
 
In the last newsletter we informed that 6 floorhands, 3 planners and 3 assistant crane operators were to be employed for the shuttle crew on Invincible. Unfortunately, AkerBP has just informed the company that they are not needed anyway. Instead, the shuttle crew that is currently on Integrator will eventually be used on Invincible when needed.
 
The size of the competence pool will of course be negotiated continuously in all this, but first of all, we must have the full overview of the coming staffing situation.
 
Clause 3.7 of the agreement - The right to go ashore.
The case is being prepared and is scheduled in the Labor Court on 2-3 September 2025.
 
Well control level 2 course.
As a result of requirements from HAVTIL, this course has now been added to the course list as "mandatory" for the positions Operator Drilling and Hydraulic mech.
We have received several inquiries about this. Some concerns are about what will happen if they do not pass the course. We have raised these concerns with the company, and they state that if anyone should have challenges passing, they would like to see if they can possibly contribute with some help to get the course completed.
The course has a duration of four days and is compensated with overtime when it's passed.
We will of course follow how this will go, and we would very much like to hear from our members if any challenges should arise.
 
Hydraulics salary.
We have once again presented all our best arguments for the company and asked them to take a new assessment of this.
NAF still believe that this must be put in place. Unfortunately, we have also met with a lot of resistance in all the years we have tried. But we continue because we are convinced that it is the only right thing to do.
 
Safety meetings on Integrator.
We believe that the management on board continues to violate Section 14 of the framework regulations:
"Norwegian language shall be used to the greatest extent possible in the activities. Other languages ​​may be used if necessary or appropriate to carry out the activities, and this does not compromise safety."
 
The company states that they practice this, in such a way that if everyone at the safety meeting is Scandinavian speaking, the meeting is held in Scandinavian, but if not, the meeting is held in English, but stopped and translated when desired.
We do not agree that the management on board can say that "Norwegian language is used to the greatest extent possible" when it have to be completely unproblematic for the management to conduct safety meetings in both Scandinavian and English language, and we do not believe that all the Scandinavian speaking, get the full benefit of the meeting if it is held in another language.
 
Board meeting NAF.
The next board meeting will be held on June 3-4 at Clarion Hotel Energy. We will inform you more after the meeting.
 

The wage settlement for offshore employees started on Tuesday, May 20th at 11:00.

We have been in negotiations until now (Wednesday, May 21st at 02:00)

International employees on Norwegian contracts
Last month we could write here, that we were now just waiting for the final approval from the company, before we had a final agreement for our international employees in place.
But now it has happened that DSO has started negotiations with the company, but in parallel with us. We do not find this particularly appropriate for the case, and unfortunately it can only delay the project further.
In the spring of 2023, NAF informed the company that they should see it as a formal requirement from our side, that all our members with international employment, should be employed in Noble Drilling Norge AS. Our most important reason for this, was so that our leaders should also have good predictability, in order to be able to keep their workplace in Norway.
NAF subsequently had a meeting with DSO, where we agreed to do this together, in order to be able to take care of as many of our members as possible. Therefore, we had our first joint meeting with the company about this on May 16, 2023.
A new meeting with the company was held on June 12, 2023. But here DSO chose not to show up, and thus withdrew themselves from the negotiations.
Now it has happened that the same club has returned to the negotiating table with the company, but this time without us in NAF. This has unfortunately put a brake on the project, and in the worst case it could end up with the whole thing falling to the ground. This is very regrettable for those of our members, who have been looking forward to a quick decision, and a security to keep their current workplace in Norway.
We have spent a very long time reaching an agreement with the company, and we therefore have no faith that others can achieve a better result. The agreement that is ready for signing today, we believe is the best we can achieve, and it will provide good conditions, and security of employment, according to the principle of seniority.

The staffing situation:
If everything goes according to plan, we will hopefully get Intrepid to Norway, to drill a single hole for DNO, with an expected start-up on 1 August, lasting 50-90 days. This means that HR is busy planning how to handle this temporary need to staff a full XLE rig, and we are in dialogue with the company as well. 
They agree with us, that they will prioritize some of the temporary workers, that they have used the most in the last few years, both when it comes to the continued need for temporary workers, but also when it comes to permanent employment. And there will be a need for permanent employment again.
The good news is that the company informs to us, that the customer for Invincible has requested a shuttle crew. This means that 6 floorhands, 3 planners, and 3 ass. crane operators will be hired within a short time.

Welding positions in NDN 
We have agreed with the company, that we will continue with two permanently employed welders, at least for now.
 
Stripping drill course (AkerBP simulator)
This course in handling the well control situation on Invincible, is conducted in AkerBP's simulator, for the positions AD, AUX-AD, Driller, TP and DSL. The company agrees with NAF that it will be compensated according to 9.2 of the collective agreement, with 8 hours of overtime pay.
 
Well control level 2 course
As previously written here, the company has decided to add “Well control level 2 course” as mandatory on the course matrix, for the positions Operator Drilling and Hydraulic mech. Since this is a requirement from HAVTIL, it may be difficult to avoid. However, we have encouraged the company to provide more information about the course content and duration. We will update as soon as we know more about this.
 
Hydraulics - higher salary
NAF absolutely still believes that Hydraulics should have a higher salary, to match the other positions in the technical department. The fact that they now also must take Well control level 2 course, is just another argument among many. The company has so far said no, but we are by no means ready to close this case.
 
Safety meetings at Integrator
On some teams, safety meetings are only held in English. NAF believes that this is against Section 14 of the Framework Regulations, and we have therefore asked the company to rectify this.
 
Clause 3.7 of the collective agreement - The right to go ashore
The case is pending in the Labor Court. We will update as soon as there is a decision in the case.
 
Service Award Programme
The 5-year service award program has been introduced to legacy MD employees as per 1st January 2025, meaning that all employees regardless of legacy company are in the same program.
However, we backdated the program for legacy MD employees who reached a 5-year mark in 2024 (5, 10, 15, 20, 30, 35, 45 etc.), so they were awarded for their service. Everybody else will become part of the program as soon as they reach a 5-year mark.
 
However, since the Noble Benefit Policy is not fully completed, we have not yet removed the legacy MD process for 25- or 40-, year anniversary, so that continues until further notice.
 
 
The gifts included in the 5-year program are actually 2-folded:
 

1. The employee can chose either a lapel pin or charm for a bracelet and the cost ranges pending on how many years the employee has reached.

 

1. The employee can choose from a range of gifts, relevant for the number of years of service. There are lifestyle items as well as jewelry and watches. The cost ranges pending on the number of years, the employee has reached (anything from USD 400 to over USD 7,000 at 40 years).

Monthly meeting
The planned monthly meeting we always have with the company is postponed until April 8th, so this means that the processing of some cases has unfortunately been postponed.
 
The competence pool.
We are fully aware that the use of temporary workers is too high, and that we therefore need to have more permanent employees in the K-pool. This generally applies to all positions in technical, deck and drilling.
We started the new negotiations back in February, when we initially demanded more floorhands into the pool. But this will happen continuously during some time, and the results will of course also depend on the prospects for future needs, where everything is not yet completely clear. But we hope for increased activity very soon, and thus the need for more staffing. We know that a deal is currently being worked on for Intrepid, to drill a single hole for DNO in Norway, but no contract has been signed yet. We hope to have some positive news on this very soon.
We will also raise with the company that they should look at prioritizing the temporary workers, that they have used more or less permanently for a very long time.
 
International employees on Norwegian contracts
We have discussed the final details that we believe should be included in the agreement, and now we are just waiting for feedback from the company, before we hopefully can reach an agreement, and proceed to the signing of the protocol.
 
Welding positions in NDN
As we have previously informed, the company has notified us that they will reduce the number of our permanent welders. NAF does not agree that we do not need our own welders, and we will continue the discussion at our next monthly meeting on April 8th.
 
Well control level 2 course.
With reference to a HAVTIL audit on INTEGRATOR in 2024, the company plans to introduce “Well control level 2” as mandatory on the course matrix for the positions Operator Drilling and Hydraulic mech.
This has not been discussed with us in NAF in advance. The company informs us that they see it as a requirement that they must comply with, and that it has already been introduced globally in Noble Drilling.
NAF has received collective inquiries, with concerns about this, and why it is necessary. We will take up the matter again at the next monthly meeting.
About the well control course in general, the company informs us of the following:
IOGP 476 is an international standard that contains recommendations for improvements to well control training, examination and certification. HAVTIL has long used IOGP 476 as a guideline but has slowly moved to consider it a requirement. This therefore applies to all rigs, but HAVTIL probably only supervises those that have “SUT” and operate in Norway.
The recommendations in IOGP 476 apply to personnel who plan, approve or carry out well work at any stage of a well's life cycle.
Issues raised include the following:
Important input parameters for well design (pore pressure and fracture gradients)
Well design
Designing activities on wells
Well construction (drilling and completion)
Well intervention, wellhead maintenance or overhaul
Plugging, suspending and abandoning wells.
 
Hydraulics - higher salary
As we previously wrote about, on February 12, this case is by no means dead.
The hydraulics need a higher salary to match the other positions in the technical department. 
As we write about in the article above, the company will apparently introduce the “well control level 2 course” as a mandatory course for our hydraulics. Whether this will be implemented, we cannot say yet, but it would of course give us an even better argument in the case. The discussion with the company will continue at our next monthly meeting.
 
Stripping drill course (AkerBP simulator)
The company has planned together with AkerBP, that the positions AD + Aux-AD, Driller, TP and DSL on Invincible shall complete a course in handling the well control situation at AkerBP in their simulator.
The company wants to discuss compensation for the course. This has not been finally clarified with us, but we believe that it is clearly described in clause 9.2 of the collective agreement
If you have already taken the course, you will regardless be compensated with what we reach an agreement on.
 
The right to necessary health care in Norway for those living abroad.
Based on a request from the safety representatives on Integrator, we have investigated the rules for the right to receive necessary health care, for residents abroad who travel and work in Norway.
 
For residents living in or outside the EU/EEA.
If you are working in Norway, or on the Norwegian continental shelf, and are resident outside the EU/EEA, you become a member of the national insurance. This will cover the necessary expenses for health care in the public health system in Norway, but you must pay deductibles for some treatments (those deductibles also apply to residents of Norway)
 
Links to UK and EU health card applications.
https://overseas-healthcare.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/get-healthcare-cover-travelling-abroad/start
About the card.
https://employment-social-affairs.ec.europa.eu/policies-and-activities/moving-working-europe/eu-social-security-coordination/european-health-insurance-card/applying-european-health-insurance-card_en
 
For residents in Denmark.
The usual yellow health insurance card is not valid outside Denmark. Here you must apply for the blue health insurance card which is valid in all EU/EEA countries. It may be that if you receive a pension or other benefits from Norway, you must apply for the blue health insurance certificate in Norway. We will check this out as well.
https://www.borger.dk/sundhed-og-sygdom/sundhedskort--laegevalg-og-tandlaege/EU-sygesikringskortet-det-blaa-kort 
 
BankID and D-number.
We have been informed that Sparebank 1 can again provide BankID with D-number for residents abroad.
 
 

 
NAF had our monthly meeting with the company on February 6.
The company did not have much news to inform about, other than what we already knew, that Integrator and Invinsible have good contracts in the alliance with AkerBP until the end of 2027, and that we have no gaps in the program this year. This provides a good stability in the staffing and in the economy, but of course all possibilities are being worked on, to get more rigs back to NDN, and there is a good optimism for that this will happen in 2026.
 
International employees on Norwegian contracts
The final details of the long-awaited agreement were discussed, and we hope that it can lead to a final signing very soon.
 
Welding positions in NDN
The company has previously notified us that they are planning to reduce the number of our permanently employed welders. They justify this by, among other things, that we are now down on two rigs, but still the same number of welders.
NAF does not agree that we cannot use our own welders, and we refer to all the jobs that constantly arise that must be carried out by certified welders.
It may be necessary to use hired personnel for larger projects, but we also definitely see a need to have our own welders. We have submitted our best arguments to the company and are now awaiting their feedback. We will update as soon as we have news on this case.
 
Hydraulics - higher salary
This case is by no means dead, even though not much has happened for a long time. We still believe that hydraulics should have a higher salary, to match other positions in the technical department, so we have now taken up the case again.
The recent time has not been entirely optimal for negotiations, we have had major cases such as the merger with Noble, the transfer of the company to Odfjell, and the court case about quarantine. All of which, of course, does not exactly benefit the negotiation situation towards the company.
Everyone probably knows the story, but in short, we have previously tried numerous negotiations locally, we have had the case in the "job position committee" we have tried to get the other local clubs to support our case through our NR-forum (here the biggest challenge was probably that all the mechanics in the other companies are still placed in salary group C) and we have also tried our best at all the main negotiations for many years.
Now we have brought the case up again. We believe that the time is right to go back to the company. We are back where we started, but now with new management in the company and a new HR to discuss with.
We have come through 2024 reasonably well, where there was otherwise a high risk of dismissals and lawsuits, and we have no other major pending cases against the company, apart from the case about the right to go ashore according to 3.7.
Therefore, at the last monthly meeting, we presented and argued with everything that we have gathered in this very long case. However, the company has not yet commented on this.
 
The competence pool.
At the last monthly meeting, we started negotiations on the size of the competence pool, generally for all positions in technical, deck and drilling.
The negotiations will take place continuously until we can say that we have a competence pool that reflects the requirements in all positions, and what we can require in accordance with the rules in relation to the number of employees and the present sick leave. Initially, we required more floorhands into the pool.
Since May 31, 2024, when we signed the agreement that 25 employees would be transferred to Odfjell Technology, we have had to accept a lot of use of temporary employees. This is because we also had to make an agreement on a temporary competence pool, which was established to prevent too many changes in the individual crews, in connection with the company transfer. This agreement expired on December 31, 2024. All of this has meant that our normal competence pool has not been optimally composed, but that was the price we had to pay to avoid layoffs. And that was absolutely the main objective for us.
 
Anniversary
We received many questions about what happens to our anniversary bonus, as we are now changing from the current Maersk practice to Noble's anniversary practice.
We have asked the company for some better information that we can publish here.
 
3.7 - right to go ashore
We continue to receive questions from the lawyers, who are now in the process of preparing the summons to the Labor Court.
We will inform more, as soon as we have news on the case.
 
Safety meetings on Integrator
We have been informed that management has once again switched to only holding safety meetings in English language. We have therefore asked the company to rectify this.
 
Workday
Many are telling us that they don't have their correct employment date in Workday. The company says they are in the process of updating all employee profiles. So this should be resolved soon.
 
NAF Board Meeting and Annual Meeting
The last board meeting for the old NAF board was held in Stockholm on January 23, followed by the Annual Meeting on January 24-25.
Erik Evensgaard, Hilde Finnesand Egeland and Randi Mellegaard informed and answered questions from all the board and shop stewards who attended the annual meeting.
In addition to the major regular topics such as salary requirements for this year's coming negotiations, and the action plan that AU will continue to work on, there were also many individual questions that we have now collected and will take up with the company.
This was a great annual meeting, with many good discussions and inputs, and we thank everyone who participated for the great participation and involvement.
 

The others who share the deputy chairmanship are Jørn B Hansen and Frode Sell.
Frode Larsen continues as chairman, Bår Inge Pedersen continues as association secretary.
 
The annual meeting of NAF was held in Stockholm on 24-25 January 2025.
 
The new NAF board constituted itself, and the following tasks are distributed:
 
• Frode Larsen: Chairman - NR-Forum - salary negotiations.
• Jørn B. Hansen (1st deputy): Deputy chairman - S-AMU - medical follow-up.
• Frode Sell: Deputy chairman offshore.
• Ulrik Vassgård: Deputy chairman offshore - Apprenticeship manager.
• Bår Inge Pedersen: Association secretary - NR-Forum - salary negotiations - medical follow-up.
• Odd Richard Kollstad: Insurance representative.
• Odd Jacobsen: Active board member.
• Tom Eirik Hansen Finance manager - training insurance.
• Eirik Gjemble: Social representative - Pension Norway.
• Glenn Andersen: Pension Norway
• Glenn Gulbrandsen: Study representative - deputy S-AMU.
• Henrik Eiersted, (2nd deputy): Pension DK
 

Frode Larsen, Ulrik Vassgård, Odd Richard Kollstad, Frode Sell, and Tom Eirik Hansen will be elected to the association's board for two years.

 

Jørn B. Hansen will be the 1st alternate and Henrik Eiersted will be the 2nd alternate. Alternates will be elected to the board for one year at a time.

 

See the election protocol here.

The contract situation
We had the first monthly meeting of the year with the company on January 9. There was not much new information that they could provide, other than that we have stability in staffing this year, and that they are working with all possibilities to get more rigs back to Norway. There is good faith that we will get bigger in 2026.
 
The quarantine case.
As earlier informed, unfortunately we lost the case for compensation in the Labor Court. Everyone who has raised a claim should now have been notified by email from STYRKE.
NAF finds this highly unfair, and we have therefore once again taken up with the company, that we believe that regardless of the court's decision, they should give with some kind of financial compensation, for those of our members who spent far too many of their earned off-days, in a quarantine hotel, as a result of restrictions imposed by the authorities or the company, during the Covid-19 pandemic in the years 2020 to 2022.
The company fully understands the claim, but does not feel obliged to compensate.
 
3.7 right to go ashore
A very long-standing case, which will hopefully be resolved soon.
The dispute protocol between LO and NR (the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions and the Norwegian Shipowners' Association) has been signed, but we are still waiting for a date in the Labor Court.
 
International employees on Norwegian contracts.
Not much has happened in the negotiations over Christmas and New Year, but as previously informed, it's only details that we need to discuss before we hopefully can sign a good agreement.
 
Apprentices in the Electrical Department.
The company continues the good dialogue they have with MAROOP (Maritime Training Office) and new meetings have been agreed already from the beginning of the year. We will inform you more as soon as we have news on the matter.
 
Temporary Competence Pool - after Inspirer
This agreement has now expired. The company has previously stated that it could mean around 5-7 shifts to the competence pool. Most of those affected by this have probably been informed by now. We hope that this does not cause major inconvenience to our members, but this agreement was absolutely necessary for us to avoid layoffs last year.
 
NAF Annual Meeting 2025
The annual meeting will be held in Stockholm on January 24-25. 
Our NAF board meeting will be held the day before, on January 23. 
We are looking forward to some good and constructive days, with all the board and local shop stewards who will join.
The wage and salary settlement this year is an interim settlement, so the focus will mainly be on salaries.
 

Member of NAF/STYRKE and living abroad.
After we unfortunately lost our case for compensation of quarantine, we experience that the discussion is coming up again, about what NAF and STYRKE do for those of their members who live abroad.
To give our input to that debate, we would like to summarize a little about what we have actually done, especially for those who live outside Norway.
 
The quarantine case.
Unfortunately, we lost, but we tried. Since we persuaded STYRKE to start the case back in September 2022, they have spent huge resources, and millions of kroner on this case. They have had the best case workers and lawyers to run the case, because they had a goal of winning this case, which they have called very unfair. And they have never considered to not pursuing the case, for the reason that it mainly only applied to members living abroad.
 
We in NAF have heard the word discrimination many times. But it’s not STYRKE or NAF that has discriminated, when someone who was in quarantine was compensated for it, while others were not compensated. - All based on which country they traveled from and based on the authorities very often hastily made rules, which caused this very unfair discrimination.
Those who have discriminated, are the authorities with their too hasty created rules, NR (Norwegian Shipping Association) and MDN who refused to negotiate compensation with us in NAF, probably because they were dictated by NR, but we cannot prove that, only strongly suspect.
 
Unfortunately, we see someone who no longer wants to support our union, who has spent so many resources on this case. This annoys us, it surprises us, and we don’t really understand why.
To try to weaken our union that has supported the members case all the way through, will only make one part to win, and that winner are the real sinner here, namely those who refused to compensate for the quarantine.
We understand 100% that you are dissatisfied with the verdict. We absolutely are too, but we would like to appeal to you to choose to support our union, that at least tried to make a difference. Our union will support you, regardless of which country your mailbox is placed in.
 
What else do NAF and STYRKE do for members who live outside Norway?
As mentioned, we will very much like to give some examples of some of the work we have done in the past, to also support our members with addresses outside Norway.
 
Pension for members living abroad.
At the salary main negotiations in 2012, we raised the pension for residents abroad from 9% to 15%.
This took place in the negotiating room for us in STYRKE, and NAF were of course very active in supporting this, because we have a large proportion of our members who live outside Norway.
It is now 12 years ago, and for an employee in salary group C6, the 6% alone today means an annual additional savings of approximately NOK 52,000, - 
With returns, this has given a pretty good boost to the pension savings over the past 12 years, for those who do not live in Norway.
 
Tax on returns on pension.
As a result of the increased pension, our returns became so large that it became a challenge for some to pay the annual tax on returns.
We therefore made an agreement with the company that they would allow you to withdraw money from your pension savings to cover the additional tax. This was by no means easy to achieve, and the company had to use its external tax advisors, before they after many discussions, finally agreed to this.
 
The tax agreement (compensation for additional tax when working abroad)
Here, it was especially residents of Denmark who got into problems, as they had to pay tax to Denmark during shipyard stays. We managed to sort this out by including in our "work abroad" agreement that the company compensate with the amount that everyone was over-taxed with, compared to what they otherwise should have paid in Norway, for the same income. The amount was doubled up, because the compensation was taxed again.
No one else in our branch has managed to come up with that kind of agreement before, and many were surprised that we managed to make it.
 
Unemployment insurance in Denmark for those laid off in Norway
Many of our members who were unfortunately laid off during the previous down manning situations, ran into major challenges with the Danish labor unions, that not wanting to payout unemployment benefits to those who had worked in Norway for 5 years or more.
It was the Danish labor unions who interpreted the EEA rules incorrectly. And we ran into very big challenges in convincing them about it.
It is far from all case workers in the Danish unions, who even bother to listen to what a small local club in Norway thinks about the EEA rules. But finally, after many emails and many conversations, we convinced them that our dismissed members were entitled to unemployment benefits from the first day, regardless of how long they had worked in Norway.
When you are permanently resident in Denmark and you work the rotation in Norway that we do, then you are not considered as a "Danish expatriate". Then you are considered as an "other worker than a cross-border worker" and thus the 5-year rule does not apply.
Initially, it was "DEF" (the trade union for electricians) and "Dansk Metal" (the trade union for metal workers) that finally agreed with us in NAF, and then we could use it as the convincing arguments up against the other Danish labor unions.
Later, we only had to remind them of the rules occasionally. Some labor unions are still trying to deny their new members their rights, but we will of course still help, because it concerns former members of ours.
 
General information about pension and social rights for people living abroad.
This can be a kind of a jungle to navigate in, but we do our best to keep you informed, and much of it has been about the challenges we have had with the Danish unemployment funds, as described above.
 
DMO-certificate for residents abroad
Just another example of a case that only concerns residents abroad. You must have an address in Norway to be able to register for the theory exam and practical test for the certificate. Styrke is still working on the case, and we will follow up.
 
Insurance
All insurances you have as a member of Styrke also apply to foreign members. And a few years ago, we also made the lawyer insurance work for members living in Denmark and Sweden.
 
LO (The National Organization in Norway)
Why is it also beneficial for residents living abroad to be a member of LO?
It’s quite simple to answer that question, because regardless of whether you are a supporter of LO or not, we cannot avoid LO if we shall continue with exploration drilling in Norway.
We can through STYRKE and further up in the LO system, put pressure on the government, to continue with expansions and exploration drilling on the Norwegian shelf.
LO has more than 1,000,000 members and is by far the biggest power factor that we have, and the government must listen to LO.
These are not just "empty words". It’s a fact. and it’s fully documented that LO had planned to recommend a stop date for exploration drilling in Norway, but we got this twisted around.
At the latest LO conference in 2022, NAF contributed significantly when Frode Larsen went up to the podium and talked for our case. A lot was listened to him, also among the more critical members. And after this, LO decided that at this time, there should not be a stop date for exploration drilling. 
NAF could also have chosen not to participate in the conference, either for political or other reasons. But then the conference would probably have set a stop date for exploration drilling.
Therefore, it is very important that we have access to influence where such important decisions are made. And this applies especially to LO, where we can make a big difference. Therefore we hope that our members will continue to support this, for the sake of our own future.
 
If anyone thinks they haven't received help from NAF or STYRKE in a case?
NAF has always had a large proportion of our members living abroad, and it has always been very important to us to treat everyone equally, and we want to continue to do so. Also, we have taken the lead in getting the other clubs to treat everyone equally.
If any of our foreign members don't think that they have received the help they are entitled to, we will very much like to hear from you.
 

The quarantine case:
Unfortunately, we lost in the Labor Court on 11 December. Briefly explained, it was NHO (Næringslivets Hovedorganisasjon) that sued us, and the Labor Court did not find that our claims could be covered by our collective agreement.
The judgment in the labor Court is final and cannot be appealed. Styrke has assessed the judgment carefully, but after this, they unfortunately do not find it possible to continue the cases in ordinary courts. More detailed information should have been sent out to everyone who was a part of the case.
STYRKE has used very large resources, and they have had the best lawyers and case managers on the case. We therefore have no faith that anyone else could have done this better than them. They have done everything they could to win this case. Unfortunately, we just have to admit that the legal system does not find it unfair that our members had to spend so much of their free time coming to work, and in many cases, at the same time that others were fully compensated for their time spend in quarantine, due to different rules on entry.
The company would have had great challenges keeping the rigs running if so many people had not spent their free time in quarantine. But they would not meet our claims, and all attempts to negotiate locally were rejected.
At the Main Negotiations in 2022, we tried to get a text into the collective agreement that would reinforce the clarity that our employers cannot just take our free time without compensating. At the time, we were only one vote away from going on strike for this. But it is possible that we will have to try again at the upcoming main negotiations. That said, we have always believed that the collective agreement should cover this, and it was also a significant part of what Styrke took legal action on, but the Labor Court unfortunately did not agree.
 
3.7 right to go ashore
The dispute protocol between LO and NR (Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions and the Norwegian Shipowners' Association) has now been signed, and the next step is the Labor Court. We are awaiting a date for that.
 
Temporary competence-pool - after Inspirer
This temporary competence pool was created to avoid too many changes in the individual crews, as the result of the company transfer to Inspirer. And it was also part of the whole plan to avoid layoffs in 2024.
The agreement expires on December 31, 2024. This means that some will be affected by some minor changes on the crews that the company have to do now, in order to comply with our agreements, that employees with the longest seniority should have the greatest predictability. It will be approximately 5-7 shifts to the competency pool that HR will have to make. We hope that this will not cause too much inconvenience to our members.
 
The contract situation
Not much new to write about. We can only be happy that despite the previous decline, there is now stability in the manning, and that there are no “white spaces” planned for next year either. We look forward to 2026 and have good faith that we will be bigger in NDN. In any case, the company states that 2026 looks very promising, and that they are working on all fronts to get more rigs into Norway.
 
International employees on Norwegian contracts.
We are continuing with the negotiations. Only the small details are being discussed now, so we have great confidence that we can sign an agreement very soon.
 
Apprentices in the Electrical Engineering Department.
The company is in good dialogue with MAROOP (Maritime Training Office). They are working on some clarifications, and what requirements are made for NDN as a training company. We see good advantages in this, and hope that we can turn this into reality.
 
The position of Safety Officer will be changed to 3C-Coach.
The 3C coach position is advertised both internally and externally.  As previously written here, the company agrees with us that the salary for 3C-Coach will remain the same as for the position of Safety Manager in salary group A1.
 
Taxation of treatment insurance
Several people have asked how we will be taxed on our new treatment insurance. The answer is that we will be taxed on the price of the insurance, but not on the value of the treatments. The taxation will be visible on the “A-melding”
The company has informed us of the following annual prices:
Euro accident - approx. NOK  2,688,- per year (all residents in Scandinavia)
BUPA UK – GBP 588,- per year (all residents in the UK)
BUPA International -GBP 843,- per year (all residents outside Scandinavia and the UK)
 
If any should wonder why the insurance is more expensive for those living outside Scandinavia, the answer from the company is that this was the best they could get, and that BUPA is a recognized and good insurance company.

AU, the NAF-board and all the local shop stewards wish you all a Merry Christmas. 
 

The board asked Anders Blom to resign as KHVO, this due to distrust in the board and is justified by major cooperation problems on November 8th.

The board then initiated the process for a new appointment, which resulted in 6 interviews with very good current candidates. The choice fell on Frank Fosse as the new KHVO. We informed the company of this and they recognized our appointment.

NAF and the company agreed on the personal conditions and both parties were ready to sign the agreement. Then the company was contacted by the Norwegian Marine Industry Authority (Havtil) who then believed that we could not dismiss a KHVO according to the Working Environment Act (AML). A meeting was held on December 13th, 2024, where the company explained its position and we explained the process surrounding the dismissal of the KHVO and that a new one had been selected.
Havtil's response was a "notice of order" that they order the company to deal with the elected KHVO during the election period of 2 years starting from February 2024. This means that if the company does not do as Havtil says, the company will receive an order.
The company elected on December 19 and accepted the order.

The club has had its say, NAF deals with Frank Fosse as KHVO.
 
NAF believes that we have the full right to appoint multiple KHVOs in the company, this is stated in the Basic Agreement's clause 10-8. Here it says: In companies where there are multiple chief safety representatives, one or more coordinating chief safety representatives shall be elected.
 
We have notified the company that we will request a meeting with the Norwegian Shipowners' Association (NR) and STYRKE on the matter. For us, it appears crystal clear, we have the right to appoint multiple KHVOs. The question is perhaps who will take on this role with freed up time on shore.

The company has chosen to comply with Havtil's notice of order and instead take the conflict internally. We believe that the company had a clear opportunity to challenge this order, but the fear of receiving a notice was too great. Just a reminder that the company has acknowledged our appointment of Frank Fosse to Havtil, and that the process surrounding the removal was accepted and everything was done correctly according to AML.

We have the impression that different actors have different opinions on the matter. The authorities, the company's employer organization, legal expertise and employee organizations.

All in all, this is just sad. We just want the person who is going to coordinate one of the most important things in the company, which is safety representative organization, to have trust.
 

-We are disappointed and take note of the ruling, says Karianne Rettedal, head of the legal department at Forbundet Styrke.

-We are disappointed that the Labour Court did not find that our claim can be covered under the collective agreement. We will carefully review the ruling and assess whether it has consequences for the claims pending in the ordinary courts, says lawyer Karianne Rettedal.

Read more here

 

If you have not received this e-mail, first see if it has ended up in the "spam filter", then contact NAF at post@nafsiden.no

Use your voting right, good luck.

Some information after the NAF-board meeting on 14-15 Nov.
In week 46 we held a board meeting in NAF, and as usual we discussed the issues that are most relevant right now.
Here is a short update:
 
The quarantine case
The labor court case on quarantine compensation during the corona pandemic began in Oslo on 18 November.
STYRKE writes this on their website:
It is NHO and Offshore Norway that have sued LO and STYRKE because the employers want a judgment in the Labor Court that goes against the union's demand for compensation for imposed quarantine during the corona pandemic.
We state that the employment agreements in conjunction with the collective agreements provide a basis for compensation for the lost free time our members had when they had to sit in quarantine at the employer's order before they had to go to work offshore, says Karianne Rettedal.
Read more about the case here:
https://styrke.no/nyhet/karantenesaken-i-arbeidsretten-har-startet/
(the article is not yet translated to UK)
 
International employees on Norwegian contract
The final details of the protocol are being discussed. This should be a good agreement that we have fought for in many years. It will surely contribute to our current international employees, to get better predictability and belonging in Noble Drilling Norge as.
 
Temporary contracts
Over the past year, we have received many concerns about the company’s use of temporary contracts, combined with a competence pool that has not been sufficient.
As previously informed, we were to ensure that there were vacant job positions in the company, if someone had reserved themself against being transferred to Odfjell.
Now later in the year, our agreement on the "transfer of enterprise"-protocol to Odfjell has meant that the competence-pool is not entirely optimally composed. 
We just had to accept this order to avoid layoffs, and this has been our main goal from the start of this year. Everyone should still have a job.
The agreement did not come by itself, but through a good cooperation between NAF and the Odfjell club, we managed to put enough pressure on both companies, that we were finally able to sign a protocol on May 31, that ensured that no one would lose their job.
So everything has had a connection, but our current priority now is of course to do what we can to optimize the competence pool, l and thus reduce the use of temporary workers.
 
Training management system.
Switch to Skills VX and Noble Global Training Matrix. We are finding that this continues to present a number of challenges.
Some challenges are being resolved and new ones are emerging. The company states that they are working continuously to resolve the issues. We are following up on the matter.
 
Information for bereaved relatives
At the last annual meeting, we agreed that NAF should prepare some information that can help bereaved relatives to get an overview of pensions, insurance, contact persons and everything else we can think of in this regard.
If the situation arises, the company will always contact the person who is registered as the next of kin, but we see that in addition to this, there may be a need for a general information that can help bereaved to get a full overview. We imagine that the information can be in a folder that everyone in the family knows about, where all necessary information has already been collected, including, for example, wills and more.
We are working on this, and expect to post the information after the new annual meeting in January 2025.
 
Apprentices
We are receiving feedback about that our apprentices are well looked after on the rigs, which is of course very positive to hear, but we have two challenges that we have taken up. 
One is that we would rather not see apprentices very often being the first to be put off the chopper due to overweight, and the other challenge is that we hear that there are plans for apprentices on Invincible, that they shall not to travel out on the same day together with their regular crew.
We do not find this appropriate, and we have taken both points up with the company.
 
Apprentices in the technical department
NAF and the company have agreed to look at opportunities for training technical personnel in the electrical profession. The company has therefore already started up the dialogue with MAROPP (Maritime Training Office) and we await the results of this.
 
The contract situation
We don't have much new to write about here other than that, stability in manning for a long time to come, must be the most positive thing we can come up with.
The company states that they are of course working with all the possibilities that arise, and that there is still a good expectation that we will get more rigs into Norway, but the time horizon is not just around the corner.
 
Employee participation onshore/offshore
The NAF-board would like to take more ownership together with the Vo-organization offshore. We must have a discussion at every meeting, and we would like to discuss individual matters that come from the rigs.
 
Crew visits at the heliport
Until now this year, we have had close to 40 meetings at the heliport with crews travelling out. It is important for us to meet as many of our members as possible, and when we talk together at the heliport, we often get a lot of good input of cases that we can take up with the company and find solutions for.
 
Treatment insurance:
Are now in place for everyone, and the company has sent out information. We believe that this will be good, but if anyone experiences that insurance does not meet expectations, we would love to hear about it. 
There is a lot of new here, and some things may need to be corrected.
 
The safety Officer position will be changed to 3C-coach
NAF has been in dialogue with those who are affected by this in their current positions, and it is generally received positively.
The company agrees with us that the salary for 3C-coach will be the same as for the position of safety manager in salary group A1
The position has not yet been advertised.
 
Dispute about Section 3.7 - Right to go ashore (Integrator)
We have been in continuous dialogue with STYRKE and the legal department in LO, so that they can clarify the final details before the case can go to the labor court.
A new meeting will be held on November 26, and we will inform you more as soon as we have news about the case.
 
NAF Annual Meeting 2025
The annual meeting will be held in Stockholm on January 24-25. Invitations have been sent to all the shop stewards.
The NAF board meeting will be held the day before.
 

The board of Noble Ansattes Forening appointed at a board meeting on November 19, 2024 Frank Fosse as Koordinerende Hovedverneombud in Noble Drilling Norge as until the annual meeting of NAF 2026.
A total of 6 people were interviewed, all candidates have received feedback after the decision on November 19.
 

Monthly meeting with the company.
Monthly meeting with the company was held on 29 October.
Below is something about what was discussed.
 
The contract situation:
Not much new has happened since last.
Integrator is on Fenris, with expected duration until summer 2025. 
Invincible is on Fallstaff. After that, it will return to AkerBP.
As written earlier, there will be no major "white-space" for none of the two XLE rigs in the next three years.


 
The treatment insurance
The treatment insurance Euro Accident has now been launched for residents in Scandinavia.
Those who live in the UK, will get BUPA-UK, which will be launched on 1 November.
Those who live outside Scandinavia or the UK, will get BUPA-International. This will also be launched on November 1.
We will update with more info in the near future.
 
International employees on Norwegian contract.
We are still discussing the final details, and we are looking forward to finalizing a good agreement as soon as possible.
 
Apprentices in the technical department
The company has had a meeting with MAROPP (Maritime Training Office) where they have discussed the possibilities for training apprentices in the electrical field.
 
The Safety Officer position is changed to 3C-coach.
The company plans to change the position of our safety officers to newly created positions as 3C-coaches.
This is determined at the head office, and it also means that 3 employees will be needed as 3C coaches on each rig. The company also states that the positions will be advertised internally and externally.
This will also change some of their work routines and who they must report to.
The company agrees with us that the salary for 3C coaches is paid in the same salary group (A1)
We will continue the dialogue about this, and we are in contact with those who will be affected by this.
 
The quarantine case
A new date for the case in the Labor Court is set for 18-22. November 2024. This just takes a long time, but we have to say that the legal department in STYRKE is doing a very great job in this.
https://styrke.no/nyhet/ny-utsettelse-av-karantenesaken-i-arbeidsretten/ 
For those who, for various reasons, are no longer members of STYRKE:
Many residents abroad, who are no longer employed in Norway, and have been deregistered from STYRKE for various reasons, are currently receiving mails from the legal department, about their continued involvement in the quarantine case.
We have been in contact with STYRKE, and the legal department confirms that they have the full overview, and that it still applies that those who become members in a Danish union, or those in the UK who joined RMT, or any Norwegian sister federations, are still a part of the case.
Members who have resigned from STYRKE and do not fall in under the above mentioned. may be given the opportunity to be a member again, and pay in arrears in order to continue to be part of the case.
 
Next NAF board meeting:
Will be held at the Clarion Energy Hotel on November 14-15
We will inform more after the meeting.
 
Visits at the Heliport:
We continue to come to the heliport as often as we can, and we have had close to 40 departure-meetings at the heliport this year.
 

The new permanent employee representatives are:
Place 1: Frode Larsen
Place 2: Eddie Nees
Place 3: Bår Inge Pedersen
 
Deputy representatives:
Deputy 1: Jarl Reidar Pedersen
Deputy 2: Dagfinn Askvik
Deputy 3: Odd Richard Kollstad
 
Congratulations to everyone on the election.
 

All members will today receive an email explaining the nomination process. In short, it has previously been possible to nominate members by writing them up on lists that hang on board each unit. Now you can only nominate by sending an e-mail to the club:

post@nafsiden.no

Our website will be continuously updated on who has been nominated. If you see a name on this list, you do not need to submit a nomination for the same person.

If there are members who think they have not received the e-mail as mentioned above, we ask them to contact NAF at post@mafsiden.no and we will sort this out.

The election itself starts on 1 December.

Health insurance/treatment insurance
Health insurance (also called treatment insurance from Euro Accident) is then in place for those who then reside in Norway, Denmark and Sweden. Work is now underway to get BUPA in place for everyone else in our company. BUPA probably knows a lot of people and this must be a very good offer for those who then live outside the countries covered by Euro Accident.
This has taken a long time, many will probably say, because it has been a long time since we first informed that we were in dialogue with the company about such insurance, the first time in August 2022. This is not about who was the first or last to take this up with the company, it must be the result that counts here..
NAF thinks it's great that others have also had this high on their agenda and we now hope that the BUPA scheme will be in place for all the others as quickly as possible. Until that happens, the Light Blue prescription must be used.
There are still some clarifications we need to have, the employee portal needs to be updated and we need to look at what has been sent out to all the employees.
We have received confirmation that the age limit is not 67, it is set at 70.
Another good clarification is that there are 12 physical treatments per rolling year, not 6 as stated in what was sent out. Of these, 12 can be treated, of which 5 can be pressure wave treatment.
 
Board election in Noble Drilling Norge AS
NAF again encourages everyone who has not voted to exercise their right to vote.
Of course, we hope that you will vote on the list that NAF has sent.
Good choice.
 
3.7 Right to go ashore at leisure.
NAF has attended a meeting with Styrke og Lo lawyer Håkon Angell.
After the meeting, there were many questions, these have been answered and I now hope that everything has been clarified. We have not yet received a date for when this matter will come up, everything seems to take a long time a day, regrettably.
 
S-AMU
Just a few key words from the meeting held on 24 September:
Invincible at Fallstaff, 40 days at dry well, if not about 80. Then back to AkerBP
Integrator at Fenris, expected duration until summer 2025
Other projects:
Repsol has a program of 200 + 100 days starting in late summer 2025. Clarifications will come during the autumn.
The MPV project, Innovator in 2026, this is still something that can become a reality.
 
It is said in the meeting that as it looks now, one should not worry about "White-space" for the 2 rigs that are in operation for the next 3 years.
That has to be the best news of the day.
 
Board meeting NAF
Was held on 17-18. September in Stavanger.
 
Monthly meeting
The monthly meeting with the company was otherwise held on 16 September.
 
International employees
We await the final proposal for a protocol for those with international appointments. This will be signed in the near future. How these appointments in Noble Drilling Norge AS will be handled, we will return with more information.
 
Apprentices in the technical department
We have also taken this up again and the company is now in contact with the training office for maritime subjects. NAF assists in this matter.
 
TMS
The company states that systems have been established and that errors have been found in Skills. A lot of work has been put into this matter and there are major improvements.
 
Heliport meetings
We will continue with future meetings when this can be done.
 
Travel policy, once again
During the last monthly meetings, NAF has discussed a lot with the company about how this can be resolved. We have a protocol on this, but it does not cover everything. The 3-hour rule after arrival at the heliport presents challenges, but we believe that this can be solved.
 

The board election for the company Noble Drilling Norge AS starts today, 10 September.
The election takes place electronically through SurveyMonkey.
 
We encourage you to vote for our list, which consists of:
 
1 plass: Frode Larsen                               Elektriker
2 plass: Bår Inge Pedersen                     Rig.Adm.
3 plass: Odd Richard Kollstad                 Maintenance Engineer
4 plass: Tom Eirik Hansen                       Assisterende Driller
5 plass: Ståle Engen                                 Assisterende Kranfører
6 plass: Henrik Eiersted                          Kranfører
 
This election concerns employee representatives to the board of Noble Drilling Norge as. There are 3 people who want a place at the board table and we ask you to vote on the list that NAF has sent.
 
 
Good luck with the election!
 

Pay slip
There are still problems with payslips. We are informed by Payroll that Crowdstrike broke down. In short, Crowdstrike is a web/cloud-based antivirus program that the company uses.
We are also informed by Payroll that notice has been given to IT in Denmark several times and that they are prioritizing our case and sorting it out, as they did for the month of June.
 
International employees
We had a monthly meeting with the company on Tuesday 13 August and will now be sent a new proposal for minutes. We completely agree on the main lines and expect to sign this in the near future. We know there are many who have waited a long time for this, so this should be good.
 
Apprentices
There was a start with 12 new apprentices on Monday 12 August. 12 great guys who will now start their apprenticeship with us. NAF introduced itself and explained our role and what we could do for them. We can inform you with great pleasure that all 12 have now chosen to register with us. Welcome them out there.
 
The cabins
Frode Sell has now started running this and all you have to do is register to express your interest.
Here is a link to news about cabins: 
https://www.nafsiden.no/home/ndn-offshore-cabins
 
Health insurance
Not quite in place yet, but we know that work is being done to get the last formalities in place.
Another issue is that the company sent out an infomail on 3 June where the SupportLinc Employee Assistance Program (EPA) was introduced. This is something that applies to everyone at Noble. SupportLinc offers expert guidance to help you and your family address and resolve everyday issues.
There is a web portal and mobile app to contact them.
http://supportlinc.com/
 
3.7 Right to go ashore at leisure.
The case continues. We have just given Robert De Vries in IE&FLT(STYRKE) some clarifying information which will be forwarded to LO lawyer Håkon Angell. We do not know much more than that there will be meetings between IE&FLT and LO in the near future.
We will keep you updated.
 
 
Heliport meetings
Also this week we have been to the heliport and met many nice members. It may appear that the agreement with Odfjell has provided a certain peace of mind and that having a job versus the uncertainty of whether one should take legal action against Odfjell/Repsol/Noble is most important. Unfortunately, there were a few relegations, but everyone who was a permanent employee on the day Odfjell took over has kept a job. Without having spoken to everyone, we must thank you for the understanding shown here both from those who are on permanent crew but not least those who have a long seniority and are in their own competence pool, even though most have long enough seniority to be able have gone in a fixed 2-4 rotation.
 
DNO and Flagstaff
It has then been announced from DNO that there will be a Sikorsky S-92 helicopter for this contract. This means that all new announced flight times should be ignored. The company is in contact with DNO to find out how this should be resolved so that everyone can book their journeys.
 

This has been written by IE&FLT, freely translated by NAF.
 
Claims for quarantine compensation will be dealt with in the Labor Court and ordinary courts this autumn.
 
- Our claim for compensation for imposed quarantine stay in connection with going offshore will be processed in the autumn both in the ordinary courts as an ordinary wage claim and by the Labor Court for the understanding of the collective agreement, explains Karianne Rettedal, lawyer and head of the legal department.
 
IE&FLT believes that it is the employer's circumstances that have meant that some people had to sit isolated in quarantine for large parts of their time off during the corona pandemic.
 
- The employer has managed the free time, organized the journey and required the individual to attend the quarantine. This intervention in the agreed free time is due to the employer's order and is their risk. The quarantine and restrictions placed an extraordinary burden on these members and their families. It follows from the employment contract and collective agreements that lost free time must be compensated, says Rettedal.
 
In the first trial, against Transocean in December 2023, the district court found that there was no basis for the claim in the employment agreement or collective agreement. This case has been appealed and will be heard by the Court of Appeal in the last week of October.
- We believe the district court's judgment is wrong. The employer has imposed quarantine obligations on the individual in advance of the working periods, and lost free time must be compensated.
 
NHO has also brought the case before the Labor Court with the claim that compensation cannot be anchored in the collective agreement. The labor court will deal with this collective bargaining dispute on 9-16. September.
 
In total, IE&FLT has 678 claims for quarantine compensation in the conciliation council. Most of these have now been agreed to be put on hold pending the legal processing of the pilot cases.
- The agreements to put the cases on hold mean that we do not bring claims before the District Court as of now, but the claims are preserved and do not expire while the courts and the Labor Court deal with the cases that have been brought. We will have to decide on the way forward after the decisions in these cases are made, Rettedal explains.
 
Here is a link to IE&FLT's website
 

We are pleased to inform you that 2 welfare cabins will now be available for employees offshore.
NAF's repeated proposals for funds for cabins have now become a reality, very good! Both cabins are located at Hovden in Setesdal (https://hovden.com), with roughly the same distance from south/east/west and the middle of southern Norway.
Anyone wishing to rent the cabins must register here:
https://app.cabinweb.no/no/login/company/noble-drilling
Each request is approved by the cabin board. You can then book a cabin from 12 August 2024.
Christmas/New Year, winter holidays and Easter there will be a draw, which the cabinweb site takes care of.
When you are registered as a user on cabinweb, you will find a lot of practical information about the cabins.
In case of problems with logging in or any questions, contact Frode Sell by e-mail: frode.sell@gmail.com
 

Salary in July
Due to holiday processing and leave, this creates challenges in the payroll department in terms of what can be added to the salary we receive at the end of July.
The company states that travel bills and course compensation will not be paid in July.
This means that travel bills submitted before 10 July will not be paid until the salary we receive in August.
 
Paycheck
There are several people who have not received their paycheck for the month of May, and it turns out that there are some who have had problems with this for several of the months in 2024.
We are informed that this has to do with our private email accounts. Gmail and Hotmail are examples of this. Whether this can be resolved from the company's side with their firewall settings is not known, but work is being done on the matter. There are a lot of us who use private e-mail accounts against the company, so they just have to fix this :-)
 
International employees and Norwegian contracts
NAF will try to complete this in September and we look forward to finally having this in place. It has been a long road, but it turns out that you can achieve a lot by pushing and at the same time arguing for why this is important.
 
Health insurance
Then this is approved. Years of negotiations have finally paid off.
The company commends us for the work we at NAF have done in recent years to obtain such insurance.
This means that we will finally get this in place during the autumn.
This has also been a long process, but once again the company has met us and agreed with our argument.
 
Company cabins
During this spring and summer, NAF negotiated with the company to get back the cabins that were removed as a good many years ago. We have been promised one cabin per rig as the situation is now.
This is of course something that will be available to everyone in the company who is employed offshore and there will be a Cabin Board that will administer this.
 
Travel policy, again
We have again taken up the problems that have come in. This concerns orders ahead of time and not least the 3-hour rule after arrival at the heliport. The company will look a bit more into how far in time you have to book travel and from when these three hours after arrival at the heliport will apply.
There are rumors that people have been told to book 4 months in advance, and that these trips will actually be very expensive.
When it comes to this with the after-arrival heliport, we claim that if you arrive on land at 23.00 in the evening, you have the right to go home on the first flight, for example at 07.00. Here, the company may have meant that it can be for up to 3 hours after 07.00 that should apply. We believe that these 3 hours were used up from 11pm to 2am and that the employee should have the right to travel on the first flight if they so wish.
 
Pension for those covered by the onshore agreement
It is the case that those employed in the office are covered by the same defined contribution pension scheme as us offshore, if you have the same organization number in the company for all the employees.
This is how it is with us and it means that those on land will also get the 4/15 scheme.
This means that 4% of salary up to 7.1G must be paid in.
This increase then comes in addition to the guarantee of a minimum of 5.2%.
 
Heliport meetings
NAF has been to a lot of meetings recently and after the agreement on Inspirer was signed by Noble and Odfjell, it is liberating to finally be able to explain what has happened before, during and after the process.
In any case, many are now happy that there has been a clarification and that everyone who is now a permanent employee actually has a job on the remaining rigs. So it is that we have great understanding for those who have stood by and been temporarily employed for a long time. We hope for more work on one more rig so that these can also become permanent employees.
 
Inspirer
Yesterday, Tuesday 18.06.2024, the deadline expired to be able to reserve against being included over to Odfjell. In practice, such a reservation would mean that you had no work at Noble Drilling Norge AS and that you would then only have a right to re-employment for 12 months. This means that it will be a new era for the 25 who will then go over to Odfjell and we wish everyone the best of luck.
 
Temporary competence pool
We have started negotiations with the company about a temporary competence pool for those who are not transferred to INV and ING in vacant positions. As we see it, this will only apply to 10-12 people who were associated with Inspirer.
These will then be allowed to keep their approximate rotation, with a fixed departure day on Wednesday, plus/minus one day. This means that they know which week they will be traveling out, but this can then be on either Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. You can only travel to INV and ING and we hope that those who now get this rotation can live with it for a given period and that exactly this way of doing this is part of the big picture to get place an agreement with the company which means that none of those who are permanently employed today will lose their jobs.
It is not optimal for those who have a long seniority and believe that they are entitled to a fixed 2-4 rotation, but this agreement will be limited in time for those concerned, and this will then be evaluated continuously.
Everything is connected here, as few changes as possible in exactly the phase you are in now on both rigs that are left.
 
3.7 Right to disembark at leisure, ING
A little update on this matter. Forbundet STYRKE (IE) has now had the case handed over to LO legal. This means that the case will then be prepared for employment law.
We update continuously.
 
 
With these words, AU/the Board of NAF wishes everyone a good summer.
 

Don't believe everything you hear or read, someone will always and will always take credit for things they never did. That's how it will always be. In the context of trade unions, there are probably no exceptions either.
 
The facts and what actually happened, seen from our point of view, can be taken for granted.
 
On 17 January, it was announced that Odfjell will take over the contract for Inspirer. The same day we were in contact with our mother club in Odfjell, the collaboration was established.
We quickly found out that Odfjell did not envisage taking very many people with them, they were only supposed to carry out maintenance, they said. A maximum of 12 people were relevant, typically personnel who were employed within the technical department and, somewhat surprisingly, managers within drilling (is it maintenance?).

We have been to countless meetings with the company, Odfjell, IE and some independent lawyers. The only thing that has been in our heads since 17 January was that no one had to lose their job and that the Act on the transfer of business should be followed.
 
The number 12 is also used in other contexts, but Odfjell was completely determined on these 12, the matter was completely locked.

It went against court cases and a lot of uncertainty right up until the month of May. We could risk that all 82 (at least our members) would have to take legal action against Odfjell. A decision would perhaps be made in the spring of 2025 at the earliest. And what would they do in the meantime? They had no right to remain at Noble, such is the Act on the Transfer of Business. Should they go to NAV then, with the challenge this had created? Then we had only one choice, we had to go to the Stavanger District Court and demand "the right to stand in position " until the court decision was finally clarified. Note the word "clarified". If the trial that was first mentioned had ended in an appeal from one of the parties, this could have taken years at worst. "The right to stand in position" means simply explained. The parent company has an obligation to pay, the employee has an obligation to work. Who is the parent company here is unclear.
 
The good collaboration with the IE club in Odfjell began to produce results. We had frequent meetings and we managed to get Noble and Odfjell to talk again. We probably think that the scenarios presented to both companies made them think twice. A pile of lawsuits and uncertainty is not healthy for any company, not even ours.
 
What hurts in such matters is that you cannot tell what happens from day to day. All these 128 days are finally over.
 

We can also say with 100% certainty that this would not have happened without us in NAF and the Odfjell club in IE having negotiated in the back room and got the companies back to the table. Both NAF and the Odfjell club saw the risk both companies would have to take if this were to end up in a court case about the transfer of business.

It is very important to clarify that NAF had NOTHING to do with the selection of people or positions, but we contributed to Odfjell taking 25 people instead of 12. It also means that we get a significant pool of expertise in Noble, which is not absolutely optimal according to the company. The alternative was for us to go to court and demand that everyone who was not to be part of the business transfer should "right to stand in position", something that the Stavanger District Court had to decide on first. This could cause the company large expenses, as such a court case could arise in 10-12 months in the worst case. Then everyone (potentially 82 people) would have been entitled to full salary pending this trial, if the District Court had agreed with us.

So what happened last Friday?
The company then contacted everyone who was going to transfer to Odfjell and explained this. A meeting was then held for those at Inspirer at 17.00 and 18.00 on the same day, where the company informed roughly what was in the protocol/agreement.
 
We are not going into the technicalities or anything else now, as I said, we have been absolutely clear that if we were to be part of an agreement, no one would lose their job. We have now managed that.
In the meeting that took place on Friday, the company did not hide the role NAF had in this either, and was completely clear that this had not been possible. Without our contribution, the companies would not have reached a protocol of agreement.

Then you can read on Facebook (for those who are on those pages...) that it can look like others have contributed to a large extent, and that there has been collaboration across the clubs in the company. So that is not true. We don't know what others have done, but nobody else can take credit for the fact that no one lost their job this time. It is important to clarify that after the first meetings with Odfjell, all dialogue between the companies stopped. This is where we come into the picture and through talks with the IE club in Odfjell, the parties got to meet again, then with very clear hopes that this would lead to an agreement, when the number 25 was accepted, and then the companies could start the negotiations on who the 25 should be.

Of course, we think it is sad that we are losing many good colleagues to Odfjell, but we know their IE club very well, and are absolutely sure that everyone who is going to transfer will be treated well and in accordance with the applicable rules and agreements. It must be remembered that when the principles for a business transfer are at the bottom, everyone gets their rights such as seniority, salary, position etc.

There are many who have now been temporary employees, they have held on and these unfortunately face an uncertain future. We must be able to say that it is primarily those who are permanent employees of Noble that we must look after. We have achieved our goal, which was that if we were to agree on an agreement, this should mean that none of those who were permanently employed would lose their jobs. The company knows this very well.

A lawsuit is not something you just threaten.
We had the process notice ready, if the outcome had not suited us.
We had a lawyer ready for this case.
We had done what we had to for our members.

Then it is also appropriate to praise the company for going with the solution that we outlined, and getting this agreement with Odfjell in place.
 

Below we have commented on points agreed with the Shipping Association during this year's salary settlement for offshore employees.
 
• General supplement of NOK 43,000
 
• For the group of individually paid employees, a minimum limit of 5.3% is given, however a minimum of NOK 43,000
 
• We have increased the rate on the contribution pension from 3/15 to 4/15, i.e. a 1% increase on the contribution pension up to 7.1G. Value of NOK 8,805
 
Total frame of NOK 51,805, which is NOK 1,736 higher than the settlement at OBF (Operator, Drilling and Catering staff on the shelf, permanent installation).
 
 
• 3.4
In case of deviation from the work schedule, the increase is from NOK 550 per day to NOK 850 per day. day. (increase of 54.5%)
 
• 6.1
Cabin sharing is increased to NOK 1,035 per day. (increase of 8.8%)
 
• 6.3
Mask supplement is increased to NOK 31.50 (increase of 5%)
 
• 6.5
Increased mud addition to NOK 109 low rate and NOK 133 high rate. (increase of 4.8/4.7%)
 
• 6.5
The dirt and discomfort supplement was increased to NOK 23 per hour. (increase of 8.7%)
 
• 6.5
 Double injection system is increased to NOK 133, service is increased to NOK 6. per hour. (increase of 4.7/9.1%)
 
• 6.6
The smoke diver supplement is doubled to NOK 1,000 per month (100% increase)
 
• 6.10
Cleaning of the infected area will be increased to NOK 575 per person. wash down. (increase of 4.5%)
 
• 6.11
Sewage surcharge is increased to NOK 575 per shift. Previously, this was compensated with an hourly wage of NOK 30.
 
• 7
Night allowance is increased to NOK 107.50 (increased by NOK 3,650 per year for someone who works half the journey at night). (increase of 4.9%)
 
• 8
Meetings and consultations are given a minimum of 6 hours for physical meetings and a minimum of 2 hours for online meetings. The hours are compensated with overtime.
 
• 9.7
Change for temporary employees. The text changes to:
"For temporary employees who have worked in the company for a minimum of one year (1,460 hours) during the last 24 months, the company will cover course fees in connection with repetition of basic safety training, first aid training, mandatory emergency preparedness courses for the position(s) in question, as well as cover medical fees at renewal of health certificate."
 
With this sentence, restrictions are placed on how long the annual work can be used, but the company must pay for the required preparedness course for the position(s) in question.
 
• 12
Public holiday allowance is increased to NOK 2,300 per day. (increase of 1.1%)
 
• 13.2
Strengthened the irregularity point so that you have to stay overnight after 8 hours of waiting, if there is no confirmed departure within 2 hours.
 
• 13.2
The right to a meal at the heliport is increased from NOK 135 to NOK 160 and from NOK 175 to NOK 210. (increase of 18.5/20%)
 
• The preferential right of 2 years is extended until June 2026.
 
 
If you only look at salary and pension, each group will get this as a percentage increase.
We have not taken into account any of the supplements (eg: the night supplement estimated at 0.29%).
 
• Salary group A1, there is a rise of 5.76%
• Salary group A there is a lift of 5.79%
• Salary group B, there is a rise of 6.06%
• Salary group C, there is a rise of 6.2%
• Salary group D, there is a rise of 6.54%
• Salary group E, there is a rise of 6.81%
 

 
On Friday (May 31st) at 17.00, Noble will hold a meeting for all Noble employees on board Inspirer.
Of course, NAF will also be present, see the notice below.
 
 
“We would like to invite Inspirer crews to a teams meeting with a status on the Inspirer situation, where it will be possible to ask questions.
The meeting is volunteer to attend. We will conduct a meeting in Norwegian from 17:00 – 18:00 and same meeting will be held in English from 18:00 – 19:00
English speaking can log on from 18:00.”
 

At 06.00 on Friday 24 May we agreed on this year's salary settlement.
For more information, please refer to IE&FLT's website:
https://industrienergi.no/nyhet/enighet-i-forhandlingene-pa-flyteriggavtalen/

Today, the wage settlement for those who work offshore started.
The negotiating committee is gathered in Oslo and the plan is to see if we reach an agreement within the next few days.
From NAF, Frode Larsen and Bår Inge Pedersen are represented.
It is not allowed to inform while we are negotiating, but we will update as soon as the negotiations are concluded.
 

We have had a monthly meeting with the company this week.
Much of the time towards HR is now spent on finding solutions for Inspirer. This means that we also have some cases that have not been resolved where we are waiting for a response from the company.
 
Salary settlement 2024
Next week, spring's most beautiful adventure begins, or the salary settlement as it is also called. Bår Inge Pedersen and Frode Larsen from AU represent NAF at the negotiations. We have submitted our demands to IE and everything that we have gathered about at the collective bargaining conference in which all the clubs participated will be handed over to the employers on Wednesday 22 May. Updates will come continuously.
 
Inspirer
As I said, we repeat our overall goal in this matter, which has been to save jobs, that everyone should have someone to go to. We fully understand that the uncertainty that currently prevails affects permanent employees and those on other contracts, but we can assure you that work is being done to put solutions in place. We have written about the transfer of business several times and the uncertainty linked to this. We can assure you that we are in dialogue with all parties in this matter, the company, the Odfjell club in IE, IE central as well as lawyers both within and outside IE. Getting a solution in place is a high priority. We hope for a clarification soon.
Otherwise, there are rumors on the rigs that Noble and Odfjell have agreed on a solution and that it will now be up to the unions... You shouldn't believe everything you hear, but what we can say is that everyone should have a job and that it must then be part of the solution.
 
Travel Policy
There have been some inquiries about that. There is point 2 about this with the 3 hours that the members are asking about.
The answer is that you cannot request business tickets on the return journey if there are cheaper tickets within the next 3 hours. It also means that if only the expensive tickets are available within this time period, then you should get these, you should not have to wait beyond the 3 hours just because it is to save money and you will get home much later as a result of that the company will then not order an expensive available ticket within the first 3 hours.
A shared taxi from the heliport to the hotel that is pre-paid is apparently difficult to get. Here you just have to post it and write it on the travel bill. It is also necessary to present receipts for public transport, so that is said.
Another reminder of section 13.1 of our collective agreement, which states that employees with travel expenses over NOK 500 for a return trip from home to the heliport can receive a travel advance equivalent to twice the price for the return trip.
 
Health insurance
This is still being worked on and we have high hopes that this will arrive during the summer/autumn.
 
Diploma for foreign members
We have described this matter very well in the past. We have said that this is now at ministry level and it would take time before a clarification could be made. A small update this time is that we have a new minister of knowledge in the current government, and that this is now on her table. IE has done a good job here of arguing that a solution to this must be found, so that one does not have to have a Norwegian residential address in order to be able to take a vocational certificate in Norway.
 
Norwegian contacts for international employees
Here we can only state that we await our input and the company will include these in the proposal for protocol as soon as possible.
 
Wage settlement for the land employees
This is now finished and we used the settlement in Frontfaget as the basis. We got what we required and can say we are satisfied.
This means that all members are guaranteed a minimum of 5.2%.
 

The rigs and contract  situations.
Integrator
In full operation and everything is going well. It is possible that the scope will be shortened a little, which could lead to a coming shorter "white-space". But if that were to happen, an agreement with AkerBP on staffing, similar to previous agreements, will most likely be made again.
 
Invincible 
Some operational challenges may cause some delays.
 
Inspirer.
The absolute biggest challenge we have this year. We fully understand that many are worried and want more information.
We have had many meetings with the company including the legal department, and we have had many meetings with our advisers at IE&FLT, who support us in this matter.
We firmly believe that this is a transfer of enterprise, but at this stage we have still not succeeded in reaching an agreement with Odfjell Technology.
For us at NAF, it’s our most important task to ensure that as many as possible can be kept in work, but the law here is unfortunately not so straightforward.
The company states that they will call in for a Teams meeting, probably next week, for everyone at Inspirer. Here it will be possible to ask questions, and us from NAF will of course also be present.
 
Contracts in general:
The company is bidding for several tenders for shorter contracts with different operators for next year. These are projects in relatively deep water and with difficult conditions. But we may find ourselves in a situation with a lack of available rigs in Norway in 2025, so it is being discussed whether Innovator could be the solution for this. Or possibly Intrepid if it can be released from the UK sector.
There is a previous agreement with Harbor Energy UK that Interceptor can replace Intrepid in the UK around the turn of the year, but due to unpredictable tax challenges in the UK, this plan has been put on hold for a while, but it can hopefully be finally decided later on the year, if the exchange will take place.
 
NAF board meeting.
We have held a board meeting on April 10 to 11. As usual, there was a lot of good inputs, which we are now working on.
 
Floorhands with MPD course?
We get questions about whether a new floorhand position should be created?
It will not happen, and the company states the following:
Some floorhands who can take over as AD, also get an MPD course which they must have in order to take over as AD at Integrator in the future. 
They are still floorhands with a floorhand's salary, only holding an extra course. So no one to be called Lead Floorhand.
There will also be a number of HLO Floorhands on board the Integrator, but the same here – only holding an extra course.
 
Safety meetings at Invincible.
There have been challenges with someone having to get up early to attend a security meeting. First it was already at 4:45 pm. Later it was changed to 5:30 pm. 
This is of course not acceptable, but the company states that the problem should now have been solved, and that rig safety meetings are now held at a time chosen by the crew on board. If not, we'd like to hear about it.
 
The health insurance.
As we have previously announced, we are quite close to making an agreement. But it takes some time to get all the details in place.
 
Norwegian contracts for international employees
As previously announced, the first official meeting has been held and we have started negotiating the protocol. This is something that we will achieve, but it takes time to fully agree in all the details.
 
Safety glasses and PC glasses.
We encourage you to obtain a price quote for safety and PC glasses before ordering.
The company does not cover amounts in excess of what appears on the order forms, unless you have special needs, and if it have been agreed in advance.
The company basically believes that NOK 5,000 is enough. for PC glasses and NOK 6,500. for safety glasses must be able to cover the general needs also outside Norway.
 
The quarantine case.
A date for the appeal has not yet been set.
We remind you that if you live in Denmark and have to sign up with a trade union/Danish social security fund, then IE&FLT expects you to choose an LO-union, in order to continue to be part of the matter.
Residents of the UK can alternatively join RMT, with which IE&FLT has a cooperation agreement.
 
The company has moved the date of the latest input to wages and travel expenses.
NAF was informed that the date for the latest input for salary and travel expenses, has now been moved from the 15th to the 10th of the month. NAF have not agreed to this, it was simply carried out. We cannot say whether other unions have agreed.
 
NAF employee advice in connection with sick leave.
It seems that there is a lot of uncertainty about this, with NAF having to follow up and advise in connection with sickness absence. Of course, we have a great understanding of this, so we would like to, based on the questions we have received, explain a little about how harmless this is.
 
NAF shall not give medical advices.
We shall in no way be a substitute for MedHelp (with which the company no longer has an agreement) and we shall in no way give medical advices.
If you need medical advice, then it shall be the company doctor or other professionals you must talk to.
 
It is voluntary if you want to talk to us.
It will be completely voluntary if you want this conversation with us. You will be contacted, and if you do not wish to speak to us, you can simply say no and ask to speak to someone from HR instead.
Incidentally, it is only planned to take place at the beginning of the sick period. For long-term sick leave, the company will take over as usual regardless.
 
What does the law say?
The law stipulates that people on sick leave must be offered advice and follow-up. And it is the employer's overall responsibility to provide medical follow-up in accordance with the guidelines in the law.
The law also states that shop stewards and the security service must be involved in the process.
So that we contact those on sick leave, is really just an early involvement of us as union representatives.
https://www.nav.no/samarbeidspartner/tillitsvalgt-verneombud 
 
It will not take any resources from NAF
This work shall be done in addition to our tasks in NAF. And we only see it as a great advantage, if NAF can do more for everyone, by accommodating and advising at the start of a sick leave.
This is something that we already have a lot of experience with, because we often get involved in long-term medical sick leaves regardless, and because many cases regardless very often end up in a dialogue between us and the company.
 
Could a conflict of interest arise?
No...It won't..
NAF is 100% aware of which hat we are wearing. We exist for our members, and to contribute by ensuring that sick follow-up routines are in accordance with the regulations, and at the same time advise based on our experience with the collective agreement, the working environment act, social rights, sick leave regulations, insurances, and not least the upcoming health insurance, with more, will not lead to a conflict of interest.
Should disagreements arise in a case, we are still fully a trade union for our members and we have to deal with the same rules regardless.
 
What changes does this mean?
No other changes than that NAF, on behalf of the company, will make the first contact with those on sick leave for follow-up interviews, as well as offer advice. 
The questions we want to ask are the same as the company is obliged to ask for anyway. We just do it for them, and then we can offer our advice at the same time.
Everything else with statistics and follow-up on long-term sick leaves etc.. will continue completely unchanged with further follow-up from the company.
As mentioned, this is completely harmless, and we only see it as an advantage for everyone.

 

Sick leave follow-up
In recent months, NAF has been in dialogue with the company to, if possible, reach an agreement where NAF uses resources to contact those who have called in sick. It is thought that the working committee will distribute this task among themselves and that the time spent on this is estimated to be around 50% of the position. The idea is that we contact the person who has called in sick, tell them who they are and try to establish a dialogue using some standardized dialogue questions. We have already signed a document where everything said in these conversations is confidential. This "work assignment" is something similar to what we already do today, hold dialogue and answer questions that those on sick leave have.

Some are probably worried that we might mix up our roles. One as a trade union representative and one from the HR department in Noble. Is there one thing we have learned after many years onshore in the roles we have had, DON'T mix the roles! Nor will we do that in the future.

We are not in place with any agreement yet. We look at the company's procedures regarding sick leave and we have come up with suggestions for what we believe are improvements. We try to make the dialogue with those who are ill something more than a conversation about; "When will you be discharged?". We believe this is an advantage for all those employed in the company, whether you are employed onshore or offshore. We will try to make our joint workplace a more inclusive place to be employed, a company that follows up its employees in a positive way. But in any case, such an agreement is not going to be permanent, it will be evaluated on repeated occasions.
 
 
How do we get in touch?
One of us will take contact by phone, but if you don't want to talk to us, you can just say no. But we hope that anyone can see the advantage in the advice we will give, which we already have many years of experience with, such as insurance cases, social rights across national borders, tariff-related cases, legal matters and more..
We will of course also take the opportunity to provide guidance in the new health insurance which we quite soon have finished negotiating, and we can actually help to ensure that those on sick leave get the help they have right to.
Everything will of course be confidential, as always when we talk about this sort of thing with our members.

Then there is the question whether we as AU will be better for the members if we have half a position more offshore?
To that, we must say that we per today has a constituted AU of five people, where two of them (next leaders in NAF) work full-time offshore, and we are in close contact with them all the time.
Furthermore, we have the NAF board that we very often involve, also in between the four regular board meetings per year.
And then we are lucky enough to have a lot of skilled shop stewards who also report in to us, and give their opinions on what we should prioritise.
This is really a lot of people from offshore who get involved, and who come with good advices about what we shall prioritize.
So if AU would rather provide half a position more offshore, we think that this cannot actually be an advantage for anyone. This will only provide less capacity for AU onshore.
We are actually quite busy all the time, and the fact that three people share half a position at the office, means that we can more easily distribute meetings and tasks between the three of us. The time to do sickleave follow up, we will ofcourse find between all the other task.
A good example could be that we have once again received an inquiry about heavy workloads for electricians. We will of course have to look to this again, but we will not get better at negotiating with the company about getting more electricians offshore, by working as electricians ourself. This must take place on land, and with inputs from those who are working offshore. And we would anyway never be able to cover all types of positions offshore, even if it was required.. That's why we have board members and shop stewards + two next leaders from AU offshore.

Some members also ask us questions about whether we are getting too close to the company.
As written before – we do not mix the roles. But we do not get better agreements and protocols for our members by actively trying to remove ourselves from the company either.
If we had been on a constant collision course with the company, we would never have gotten many of the good agreements we hold today, and still use to day. Agreements that  we are not entitled to get at all (and for that reason many other local clubs under NR do not have them at all - they envy us for having them), such as the Tax Agreement for work abroad, right to make draw from PFA pension to pay tax, NDN crewing on shipyard stays both in Norway and abroad, and much more than that.
The point here is that good cooperation with the office, leads to better agreements in the long run, we have proven that over many years. But that doesn't mean we won't go into battle when needed. We were the first in the entire NR-area to claim millions for unjustified quarantine (this was one of the first things we could present to the new management when we became Noble Drilling Norway, and it probably didn't bring us "closer to the company").
Furthermore, we are generally always the ones who claim for the most in all tariff negotiations. And we were strongly involved when the pension for foreigners was increased from 8 to 15% for years ago. (that increase has given a much better pension for all who are living abroad) and we can continue to write much more. But the point is that we always want to put our members first, and it would of course be a shame if anyone were to have doubts about this.
This agreement can bring us even closer to the members, in the form of good advice and dialogue with those on sick leave. This arrangement here will be an advantage both for AU, and thus also an advantage for all our members. And if not, then we will stop the project again.
 
Have a nice and happy Easter everyone!
 

Hi all.
A little info before Easter. It has been busy times with a lot going on and that's how it should be. Remember to include one of us as a copy when you send in an email to post@nafsiden.no, this makes it easier for us and you get a faster response. Most of the time is spent on case management. The wage settlement of the Federal Confederation and Norwegian Industry is in full swing and this will affect the spring wage settlement, through the so-called Frontfaget.
Just after Easter, Bår and Frode will travel to a collective bargaining conference in Oslo, where all the clubs covered by our collective agreement will agree on our demands, which we will give to the Norwegian Shipping Association. The annual meeting in NAF had a good review and has submitted our demands to IE&FLT and we will fight to ensure that as many of our demands as possible are sent to our counterparty.
Otherwise, it is very nice to meet you at the heliport. Many questions come when we are there and that's how it should be. It is clear that Inspirer is something that preoccupies most people, which is of course completely understandable. In any case, what can be said is that NAF and the Company have the same goal, to save as many jobs as possible. The next meeting between Odfjell and Noble's representatives, from the management and all the trade unions, is tomorrow.
Otherwise, there is a board meeting in NAF 10-11.04.2024 in Stavanger
Happy Easter to all of you from us at NAF
 
3.7 Right to go ashore at leisure
IE&FLT has now received the protocol from the dispute meeting we had with the Norwegian Shipping Association and IE&FLT is now starting to prepare a case for LO. The proceedings are very slow when you have to go through a dispute meeting and then the case has to go to LO's legal department. We will provide more information as soon as we know more.
 
Changes to job titles offshore
The company could inform that Noble in Houston will change several of our job titles offshore. This is something that we really see no reason for as our positions have been through the right bodies and are approved with their salary placements. All our positions are approved by the permanent positions committee, which consists of representatives from the Norwegian Shipowners' Association, IE&FLT, DSO and SAFE.
The first is that Floorhand will now become Floorman. This is completely out of the question to accept as this title is not gender neutral and is, in our opinion, discriminatory. The Floorman title must have been in use for quite some time in COW and possibly elsewhere.
Next to come was Enigne Mechanic which they would change to Motorman. On our matrix, this is a completely different position and is salaried in group D. Our Engine Mech is salaried in group A and thus cannot be used either. This is not being introduced and Motorman is not gender neutral either.
The last one they want to change is Logistics Coordinator to Materials Coordinator. This will then only be a name change and will not change anything about the position, either in terms of tasks or salary. NAF does not see a big problem if this changes, but would like feedback on any disadvantages.
As I said, we have had a monthly meeting with the company about this and made a direct request that Floorman be removed from all documents throughout Noble and that the name we use, Floorhand, be introduced throughout the company.
NAF otherwise encourages Noble centrally to use gender-neutral names for all positions in the company.
 
Health insurance
As I said, NAF has worked for a long time to get this in place and we have good faith that this will be in place. It is important to say that even though we have had this on our agenda for a long time, it is the case that you have to have the management of the company with you, so that this is taken further in the system and gets its approvals and money is set aside.
 
International employees
As I said, the first official meeting has been held and we have begun drafting a protocol. The first draft that we received from the company has now been commented on by us and we will send our input to HR. We pretty much agree on the main lines, but there are several people who have their say before we get to signing. The company has informed us that for those who are then waiting for harmonization with the rest of the world in terms of wages in other currencies and bonuses, it is the case that Norway will be a separate area that is covered by a standard wage agreement and cannot have a differentiated remuneration with different solutions in the same tariff area. We are a Norwegian company that will have Norwegian wages and working conditions, and of course Norwegian employment.
This will be a historic agreement that we have had on our agenda since the early 2000s and will ensure our international/senior employees predictability and belonging to the Norwegian company Noble Drilling Norge AS.
 
Apprentices
Departure for these must now be arranged after repeated reminders. As we understand it, all 1st-year apprentices must travel out together with their drilling crew from April 2024. This has been a major problem right from the start with the last intake of apprentices in autumn 2023. NAF has been very clear that it is very unfortunate that an apprentice then visits several different crews and does not get the security and continuity to get a good apprenticeship.
 
Intrepid and Interceptor
We also get a lot of questions about these rigs, Interceptor will be in dry dock in Norway and there will be an exchange with Intrepid who works for Harbor Energy on the UK shelf.
We know that there is a reserved dry dock at Hanøytangen (outside Bergen) this year should they decide to take the Interceptor in there. We have not yet clarified whether the rig will then be manned by employees from Noble Drilling Norge AS. There is an agreement with Harbor Energy UK that Intrepid and Interceptor can switch places.
Then all that remains is to find work for Intrepid in Norway, which we know is being worked on intensively.
 
Inspirer
As I said, here you just have to be patient. As we have written weekly, work is being done at full blast from all sides. There have been several meetings this week. We will of course update you continuously.
 

The first information meeting between Odfjell Technology and Noble Drilling Norge AS was held yesterday, where all the union clubs also could participate.
Odfjell briefly presented the contract between Repsol and Odfjell to the employee representatives from both companies.
Odfjell also went through the first proposal for a protocol between the companies.
NAF took note of this information.
A new meeting has been set up at the end of next week.
As we said, our main goal is to work for, that as many as possible shall have a job to go to when this is finished. We made that very clear in the meeting.
 

Meeting activity in the next few weeks
After Repsol has signed an extension of the contract with Noble Drilling Norway until 30 June 2024, there will be a lot of meeting activity in the coming weeks. This week we have had a meeting with the company and IE&FLT with legal assistance. We continue with preparatory meetings with the club in Odfjell. On Monday 11 March we have our first joint meeting with Odfjell.
We will provide more information as soon as possible.
 

NAF has received several inquiries from members who are concerned because of the tragic helicopter accident outside Sotra.
This is a terrible accident, but we as a local trade union must deal with information provided by IE&FLT  and the company. And then we also have to deal with what the Luftfartstilsynet and Havarikommisjonen decide. We are following the case closely, via the media and other channels.
The latest update is a link which is:
Similar message from the Oil and Gas companies on the Norwegian continental shelf: AkerBP 
Equinor
 

The contract situation
Invincible and Integrator are in full drilling mode and will remain so for the rest of the year. The outlook further looks good.
As for Inspirer, we are pretty sure that the contract with Repsol will be extended until June this year. This includes all 93 Noble employees who are on board today. As soon as we know anything about this business transfer, we will inform you thoroughly. We just have to ask for your patience, but we also believe that the company must provide information.
 
International employees
We have agreed on Tuesday this week that we will start official negotiations on 5 March. The goal is for all employees in the positions OIM, DSL, TSL, TP and MSL to become employees of Noble Drilling Norge as, i.e. the same company as the rest of us. Will provide more information after the meeting has been held.
 
Health insurance
We believe we are very close to implementing health insurance for all employees in the company.
 
First aid team offshore
The head office in the USA has decided that all units themselves must have their own employees in first aid teams, this also applies in Norway. Catering personnel have this task today.
NAF has requested employee participation. A meeting about the EPA will be held next month.
 
Rig safety meeting Invincible
NAF has learned that you must attend the rig safety meeting at 4.45pm, this is not tenable and must be rectified immediately.
 
Apprentices
We have required our apprentices to travel with the rest of the drilling crew. First-year apprentices will soon be ready for the drill deck, so it is only natural that they will also travel with their colleagues.
 

Here there are family considerations, predictability and the fact that many are very tired of feeling that you follow almost a fixed 3-3 arrangement.

NAF has been asked what we can do.

NAF has been in contact with the operation in our company as well as the IE club in Repsol. They have weekly meetings with their company about this.

We know that the shortage of parts is great throughout Europe and the war in Ukraine has a clear effect on this. What we also know is that Repsol has changed its helicopter supplier from CHC to Bristow. They believe this has made the situation much better. NAF has been informed that the contract with Bristow is not a permanent helicopter, but that they have bought "slot" times for departure. This probably means that you then buy yourself a period of time for the helicopter to travel. We have no knowledge of how this works in practice. We do not believe that we are in any way badly treated by Repsol, but we are a service company and there may be operational priorities in relation to who is going in and out. It is probably the case that not everything is a lack of parts, the weather has probably also helped to reinforce this lately.

Changing helicopter companies and the issue of crew change has a high priority at Repsol, which our company follows up on.

Repsol and Noble Drilling Norge AS are resoundingly aware that safety comes first.
 

The new NAF board 2024
 
Some changes in the board of NAF.
The annual meeting was held in Vilnius on 2-3 February 2024.
 
- Frode Larsen: Leder, hel stilling på land, NR-Forum,
lønnsforhandlinger offshore, Interim AMU, vara S-AMU, sykeoppfølgning,
 
- Jørn B. Hansen: Nestleder, hel stilling på land, lønnsforhandlinger
offshore, S AMU, sykeoppfølgning,
 
- Frode Sell: Nestleder offshore
 
- Bår Inge Pedersen: Forenings sekretær, NR-Forum, hel stilling på
land, lønnsforhandlinger land/offshore, sykeoppfølgning, 
 
- Odd Richard Kollstad: Forsikrings tillitsvalgt, nestleder offshore. Ansvarlig individuell avlønning. 
 
- Odd Jacobsen: Aktivt styremedlem.
 
- Ulrik Vassgård Ungdomstillitsvalgt, lærlingsansvarlig, 
 
- Tom Eirik Hansen Økonomiansvarlig, opplæring forsikring
 
- Eirik Gjemble: Pensjon Norge, Sosialt tillitsvalgt
 
- Glenn Andersen: Pensjon Norge, aktivt styremedlem.
 
- Glenn Guldbrandsen: Aktivt styremedlem.
 
- Ståle Engen, 1 vara: Studie tillitsvalgt
 
- Henrik Eiersted, 2.vara Aktivt styremedlem, Pensjon DK


Board meetings were also held during the annual meeting.
The new board has appointed Anders Blom as KHVO.
 

Today it was announced who will take over the contract at Inspirer.
Odfjell Technology has been awarded the contract for YME with Repsol Norge AS. This does not change anything about the contract that we have with 3 months' notice. It has probably also been said that there is a "Hard Stop" on 29 April if an extension is not agreed upon until the drilling for this time is finished. This is not something that we have been able to confirm.
NAF has already been in contact with the local IE club in Odfjell and will have close contact with them in the future. This is a large club with very good experience when it comes to change of enterprise 

The way forward now, must we get back to. The companies must now start to find a plan for how this will take place and then we will participate in these negotiations at the level we should.
Change of enterprise and the rules surrounding this must be followed, we must ensure that our members are looked after.

Many things that need to be clarified, we need to have more information with the company.

We will keep you updated.
 

Ståle Engen and Henrik Eiersted will be the 1st and 2nd deputy members of the board, respectively.

 
Congratulations to all of them.
 
The protocol can be found here:
 

NAF will again have to come up with a clarification, as others clearly know how we think and know what we do.
This is about 3.7 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement and deals with the right to go ashore at leisure, (Right to disembark) last chapter.
The company's claim that we are under contract and that this does not entitle us to compensation when the rig is in the Åmøyfjord.
"The provisions in this point do not apply where the facility is under contract and the operator requires full staffing for emergency reasons."

Here we disagree with the company and claim that this only applies when the unit is to be moved.

But what does this help when another union clearly knows better?
We was sent a message where we can read other people's interpretation of how we have handled this situation. We therefore have to comment on this.

In the protocol from Intergrator in Åmøyfjorden on 11 September 2023, we only refer to the changes that are not to apply in the collective agreement. In this case, NAF was completely clear that 3.7 of the collective agreement would be handled in the same way as when Invincible was in Åmøyfjorden last time and that those who were entitled to compensation should have it. How other unions can allow themselves to say that we have not had this up with the company, but were forced to create a disagreement as a result of others having found out that it was not in their protocol, proves how little they know and can about this.

On 24/09/2023, we brought this up with the company for the first time. We then received an email from one of our shop stewards who had then been informed by OIM that they would not sign time sheets with demands for compensation in accordance with 3.7. Already then, we informed the company that we were going to take this up with IE,  and we informed about this on the website on 06.10.2023.
Our interpretation of 3.7 has been sent to the company and at the request of the Norwegian Shipowners' Association (NR), they have chosen to dispute this. What other trade unions have as an argument is really very unimportant to us. So it is that when a dispute has been signed by both parties, it is sent to the respective organizations (NR and IE) so that they look at it, BEFORE you possibly have to go to court to get a solution. The fact that NAF has also not answered emails from another trade union is probably connected to the fact that we were united in a trade union and could have continued with it.

It is more surprising that there is a reference to a conversation with the Rig Manager and another club leader that the compensation could be negotiated and that all the unions could sit down around the same table to find a solution to this. NAF has spoken to the Rig Manager, and he does not recognize this. By that we mean that he is completely clear that this was not something he could make any agreement about.

You cannot negotiate terms that is worse than what is in the collective agreement, it is a BREACH OF BARGAINS and in this context you can either agree or disagree. That this should then be an abused opportunity can be left to other people's opinion, we do not make agreements that conflict with the collective agreement.

Then it is also the case that NAF does not allow ourself to be pressured by the threat of layoffs or dismissals if someone were to choose to place the rigs somewhere other than in Norway as a result of the company having to follow the tariff. That the wording in 3.7 fits best if the rigs are located ashore is basically not our problem, the companies and NR themselves can put forward a demand during the main negotiations in the summer and then we can take it from there.

Organizational or Trade union fight is good, but come on, rather write about what you achieve, not what you think others don't do and in any case, we won't find ourselves in untruths and factual errors.
 

THE CONTRACT AND THE STAFFING SITUATION

INSPIRER
The company has not yet heard from REPSOL, so it is still uncertain what will happen in the nearest future. 
The notice period for the contract is 3 months, but it will end at 27 of April at the latest, unless otherwise agreed.
Unfortunately, we now know that we will not get the new contract with REPSOL, but we will of course demand "change of enterprise" according to the rules in AML, for as many as possible, in order to minimize the number of possible terminations.
We do not yet know how many that may be affected by this.

INTEGRATOR
Are expected to be ready to leave the Åmøyfjord during the Christmas days, if the weather conditions allow it. 
The contract the rig will start on, is for Harbour Energy, and is planned to last somewhere between 30 to 80 days. After this the rig will then go back to drill for AkerBP, with start-up on Alvheim Deep in April.
We may risk a gap between the two contracts, but it has already been confirmed that if that is the case, we will enter the Åmøyfjord again, with the same conditions as we now have with AkerBP.
After Alvheim Deep, the rig will continue for the next job on Fenris, that will last into 2025.

INVINCIBLE
Continues as planned for AkerBP. The company states that a "letter of intent" has been made for drilling of a single well for another drilling company. This can reduce the expected "whitespace" in 2024 down to approximately 1.5 to 3 months, but with possibilities for the gap to be closed completely. We thus have fairly stable programs for both Invincible and Integrator into 2025.

INTREPID
Are on contract in the UK until December 2024, for Harbor Energy with accommodation and drilling services. The company would like the rig to then return to Norway in 2025. Therefore, if Harbor Energy or other operators in the UK should be interested in longer contracts in the UK (what there are indications of), then they will consider offering Interceptor instead.
The company says that they are looking at everything that can be actual on the Norwegian shelf, and that they are in dialogue with operators other than those mentioned here. But in general, we (after Inspirer) probably have to deal with two XLE rigs on contract in 2024.
 
NAF conference for shop stewards
NAF held a conference for all shop stewards at the Quality Hotel Pond on 29-30 November. We thank you very much for the large turnout. The meeting gave us many good conversations and inputs.
Claus Backman was visiting us and had a good presentation about the general situation, as well as he answered questions from the shop stewards.
It came out that some at Inspirer doesn't quite feel like a fully integrated part of Noble Drilling. The company has subsequently taken care of this, and they state that they will arrange heliport meetings, as well as they will ensure that all relevant information sent to crews in Noble, is also sent to them on Inspirer.

The quarantine case:
As already informed, the first trial did not go as hoped. We were present in court, and we must say that IE did a fantastic good job, both during the presentation of the case and in witness statements.
As IE writes, they must now review the verdict, and are considering an appeal.
https://www.nafsiden.no/hjem/nyheter-fra-ie-flt   (this article is not yet translated)

The collective agreement point 3.7 – The right to go ashore in leisure time
NAF still believes that those who must stay on board the rig for emergency reasons, and those who cannot come ashore due to lack of boat transport, must be compensated with NOK 50 per hour in their leisure time.
The company does not agree, and we have therefore signed a dispute protocol which has been sent to IE. So now we are waiting for a decision.

Health insurance
NAF has again had a meeting with the company about this.
It has been a struggle for many years that we now hope to get a clarification on.
The company hopes to take a decision shortly. Regardless of the outcome, NAF wants the Steering Group for Pensions and Insurance in the company to meet to discuss this.

International employees
NAF has notified the company that we will now resume negotiations on Norwegian employment for all our international employees. We have waited a little longer in this case to see if there were any major changes when a year had passed on 3 October.
Everything is as before, and NAF will demand that everyone who now has an LOA (letter of assignment) to Norway must transfer to Norwegian contracts.
NAF is also going to make arrangements for a leading department in our local trade union, so that everyone who now has an LOA and is employed in Norway, can have their own forum together with us in NAF, where they choose their own leader and have their own shop stewards.
Here we have to change something in the articles of association, and this will be done at the annual meeting, the first weekend in February 2024.
 
AU, the board and all union representatives wish you all a very Merry Christmas!
 

If you have not received this e-mail, first see if it has ended up in the "spam filter", then contact NAF at post@nafsiden.no

Use your voting right, good luck.

KHVO will be appointed for the next 2 years.

This happens when the new board meets in connection with the annual meeting of NAF Febuary 2024.

Employees who may be interested in this position are asked to contact NAF (post@nafsiden.no) by 18 January 2024.
 

What does Industri Energi do in LO? 
(LO - The National Organization in Norway)

There are many different opinions about LO.
But one thing is certain: If we choose to stand outside, then we also choose to stand outside political influence.
Another thing is also very certain: If IE/NAF had stood outside the LO congress in June 2022, then the LO congress would most likely have recommended an end date for the search for oil.
But luckily that didn't happen. Because IE/NAF was not outside, we were inside, and the LO assembly listened to Frode Larsen's speech, which with great clarity convinced a majority in the congress of the importance of continuing to look for oil, and thus a LO resolution on continued development of the oil industry.

Quote from Frode Alvheim – Head of Industri Energi:
Frode Larsen's speech made a strong impression on the congress and was important in getting a unanimous decision that we must develop, not liquidate, the oil industry. 
Read excerpts from the LO congress here: 
Link to the oil decision here: https://industrienergi.no/nyhet/et-godt-oljekompromiss-pa-kongressen/
 
LO is huge and therefore the government must listen to LO.
If all the NR-clubs were to choose to stand outside LO, it would not weaken LO significantly. They would still be huge with close to 1.000.000 members (approx. 18% of the entire Norwegian population). The difference would just be that the NR-clubs would no longer be able to influence what LO should think about the oil industry.
NAF will continue to be the club that participates in the political pressure that will help to secure our jobs in the future. There will be more LO congresses in the future, and NR will be there where we can influence the decisions.

About party political support:
Let it be said again, Industri Energi is a non-partisan union, and our articles of association also clearly state that NAF shall be independent of party politics, and therefore we cannot grant money to political parties. But as an LO-union, we will indirectly give support to political parties. This support is calculated to be around NOK 10,- per year per member. This is the price we must pay to gain the political influence, that shall contribute to securing our jobs in the future. We must stand together on this, regardless of political positions.


Below you will find extracts from articles relating to the LO Congress in 2022. Unfortunately, this has not been translated.

Fra hjemmesiden til Industri Energi
LO står sterkt og samlet etter kongressen
JUNI 3, 2022  ATLE ESPEN HELGESEN
Frode Alfheim, forbundsleder i Industri Energi, mener at LO står fjellstøtt etter kongressen.
Etter en uke med faglige og politiske diskusjoner på kongressen står LO sterkt og samlet om alle de viktige sakene som preger samfunnet og norsk arbeidsliv.
– Med så klare vedtak som kongressen klarte å stå sammen om, så står LO nå fram med en helhetlig politikk for alle deler av samfunnet. Ingen andre arbeidstakerorganisasjoner er i nærheten av å ha den tyngden og bredden som LO har. Det bør et samlet norsk arbeidsliv være glad for, sier Frode Alfheim.
Han mener LO framstår som en fjellstø organisasjon etter kongressen.
Han er også glad for at vår egen Are Tomasgard ble gjenvalgt i LO-ledelsen.

Og jeg er mektig stolt av Industri Energi sin delegasjon på kongressen. Forbundet vårt har blitt lagt skikkelig merke til. Delegatene våre har vært aktive på talerstolen og tatt opp mange viktige saker, med stort engasjement.

Alfheim trekker spesielt fram Per Øistein Kivijarvi (Kronos Titan) sitt innlegg om psykisk helse, ungdomsrepresentantene og ikke minst Frode Larsen (Maersk Drilling) sitt følelsesladde innlegg om arbeidsplassene i oljeindustrien.
Frode Larsen holdt et sterkt innlegg om oljearbeidsplasser på kongressen.
-Frode Larsens innlegg gjorde sterkt inntrykk på kongressen og var viktig for å få et enstemmig vedtak om at vi skal utvikle, ikke avvikle oljeindustrien, sier Alfheim.
 

Her er link til Frifagbevegelse:
https://frifagbevegelse.no/magasinet-industri-energi/lo-samlet-seg-om-oljepolitikken-6.158.881217.06094ba74b
 
LO-kongressen 2022
LO samlet seg om oljepolitikken
Frode Larsen er tillitsvalgt for ansatte som driver oljeleting. Fra talerstolen på LO-kongressen holdt han et innlegg som gjorde inntrykk.
Flere store LO-forbund hadde varslet «oljekamp» i forkant av kongressen.
Delegat 206, hovedtillitsvalgt Frode Larsen i Industri Energi-klubben i Maersk Drilling, reiste til Oslo for å tale sine medlemmers sak og sikre at LO skal jobbe for å «utvikle, ikke avvikle» olje- og gassnæringen.
 
– Mange snakker om leteboring-stans. Et vedtak på Stortinget vil med umiddelbar virkning kaste 10.000 borerigg-arbeidere direkte ut i arbeidsledighet, og veldig mange på land vil også miste jobben sin, sa Larsen fra talerstolen.

https://frifagbevegelse.no/loaktuelt/noe-av-olja-ma-bli-liggende-krever-to-loforbund-tillitsvalgt-steffen-er-forferdelig-skuffa-6.158.879027.c3d68a75ad?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=mie310522

– Vi er ikke klare
Frode Larsen, klubbleder i Maersk Drilling Norge AS og forbundsstyremedlem i Industri Energi, vil heller ikke ha noen brems i oljeletingen. Han vil ikke fjerne formuleringen om å utvikle oljesektoren.

– Jeg står veldig støtt på å «utvikle ikke avvikle». Vi er ikke klare enda. Vi må ta denne omstillingen, men kan ikke starte før alt ligger til rette for det, sier han, og legger til:

– Det er mye vi må gjøre før vi kan si at vi ikke trenger fossil energi lenger.

Om det skulle bli mindre oljeleting framover, vil Larsen merke det umiddelbart, ettersom de driver leteboring.

– Om vi ikke leter, ryker jobbene våre. Vi er førstelinja. Jeg ser ingen kompromisser her. Jeg er her for å forsvare formuleringen om at vi skal utvikle og ikke avvikle oljenæringen, sier han.

 

Course compensation for those with temporary employments.
Many dismissed workers who have been working on 6-week contracts for a long time, have now been given temporary employment until March 2024, due to pressure from NAF.
NAF has also addressed the problem that those, who are now temporary employees, are normally not get paid for the mandatory safety refresher courses that they must have to travel offshore.
The company agrees with NAF that these people shall have their courses compensated. The company specifies that this shall not set a precedent for the future, but we are very pleased that this is now in place.
Those who have been made redundant need us as a company, but it's the case that Noble Drilling Norge AS also needs them to get the jobs done.
 
The contracts and the personnel situation
It looks positive for Integrator, which has guaranteed activity from now on and further into 2025, and for Invincible, the last whitespace for 2024 can maybe be completely closed.
The situation with Inspirer is still unresolved, and we do not yet know who will get the new contract with Repsol for the staffing. This is expected to be clarified soon.
 
The collective agreement point 3.7 – The right to go ashore in leisure time
NAF still believes that those who must stay on board the rig for emergency reasons, and those who cannot come ashore due to lack of boat transport, must be compensated with DKK 50 per hour in their leisure time.
It is possible that others will think different because the company has not yet given feedback on what they want to do in this case. This means that they have not decided whether they will either compensate, or whether they will go for a dispute protocol on the disagreement.
NAF has been completely clear in our opinion of the case since September, and we are ready to dispute this if the company does not agree with us.
 
Subsidy for PC and safety glasses.
After NAF took it up with the company, the subsidy for PC and safety glasses has now been increased by DKK 1,500.
NDN will now refund the cost of PC glasses against presentation of supporting documentation up to NOK 5.000.
NDN will now refund the cost of safety glasses against presentation of supporting documentation up to NOK 6.500.
Order forms are available here and here.
 
Health insurance:
We are still discussing this point, but we expect to be able to come up with new information on the matter very soon.
 
Helicopter transport to Integrator on the coming Harbour Energy contract (start 1 Jan 2024)
Harbor Energy Norway now informs to NAF that, as previously stated, it will not be necessary to use the weekend days for crew change.
They confirm to us that they have just been offered helicopter transport on weekdays.
The challenge arose due to the general lack of spare parts for helicopters, and Harbor Energy Norway has previously been in contact with us regarding this, but now fortunately a good solution came up.
 

It's now around three years and nine months ago since the first of our members had to sit in quarantine without being compensated, but finally the cases are coming to court.
We regret that it should take so long time, but these are difficult cases that have not been tried in the legal systems before. 

At the same time, the company has been unwavering in our many attempts to make a local agreement on quarantine imposed by the authorities, but no other local clubs clearly did not get any local agreement for compensation either.

We also tried to get a text about quarantine into the collective agreement at the main salary negotiations in 2022, but we were the only ones who brought this case into the negotiations. 
We voted to go on strike for the matter, but we did not get a majority. This vote only took place between the IE clubs in the very last minutes of the negotiations. 
 
At the same time, the LO lawyers had assessed the case for a very long time, and when in September 2022 they finally came up with the answer that we had all been waiting for, we at NAF were in no way satisfied at all. The LO lawyers found the case of quarantine imposed by the authorities to be "difficult to win."

NAF therefore called Industri Energi to a crisis meeting, and this meeting was the start of what we see now. This meeting became the reason for why Industri Energi is now taking the case to court on behalf of all their members, who have sent their individual claims to the different companies where they are employed.
This applies to 139 NAF members and a total of 678 IE members, from a total of 46 different companies. The total financial claims are just under NOK. 500 million.
This has become a very extensive case and Industri Energi states that since October 2022, around 25 employees in legal, organization, IT, working life and communication have worked on the cases.
 
NAF will be present in the court on 20 November when the pilot case starts. This will be against the rig company Transocean. Industri Energi had its reasons for choosing Transocean, and we point out that it makes no difference to our members.
Of course, we cannot say in advance what the outcome will be, but Karianne Rettedal, head of the legal department at Industri Energi, has previously stated that they are ready to go all the way.
NAF has a great confidence that the case is in the best hands, and we really hope that a legal verdict will finally come, that will bring justice for all our members who have spent their precious free time in quarantine for an unreasonable amount of time.
We must of course also be prepared for that a judgment can be appealed to the higher courts.
 
We have seen no signs that any other Union or local clubs have been ready to go to trial on this, so we do not believe that the case would have reached the legal system at all, without the meetings we held with Industri Energi in 2022. This is justified also with the fact that (on that time) there were only approximately 5 months until the first quarantine cases would begin to expire on the time limit.
One thing we were very clear about, if Industri Energi had not decided to pursue the case, then we in NAF would have done it ourselves, with the funds we would be able to procure for the purpose, we owed that to our members. 
But Industri Energi agreed in that the case should be pursued, regardless of whether LO found it difficult. They understood the situation and chose to put themselves at the head of all this.
We are now hoping for the best and will update as soon as we receive news on the matter.
 

There will be no unwanted white space in the first quarter of 2024, between Integrator's contract with Harbor Energy and it's returning to the upcoming AkerBP agreements,

NAF was present at the office in Stavanger, when the bell was rung to celebrate the fact that an agreement has been made with AkerBP to close any white space after we have finished drilling for Harbor Energy.
The contract with an exploration well for Harbor Energy starts immediately after the turn of the year, and will last for 30 to 80 days.
The contract for AkerBP on Alvheim Deep starts in April 2024 (followed by Fenris which are running into 2025)
And it is the gap here in between that has now been confirmed closed with possible project work in the Åmøyfjord again. All depending on how long time there will be before starting up at Alvheim Deep.
Integrator has then zero white spaces in 2024. 

At the same time, the company is working seriously to close the last 3-4 months of white space for Invincible.

We have nothing new about the staffing on Inspirer, but NAF will of course be a very active part of a possible future transition process, and we are following this very closely.
 

Contract and the staffing situation
We refer to the newsletter that NDN sent out on October 17, 2023. 
The newsletter contains both good news but also less good news. 
The fact that Repsol has chosen a new operator for future contracts on Inspirer is of course not good news. 
If the company cannot offer continued employment to everyone, NAF will of course take the lead in demanding a "change of enterprise" to allowing our members, who might be affected by this, the opportunity to demand transition to the new contractor, in accordance with AML § 16.
We are following the situation closely, and we will discuss the total staffing on an ongoing basis with the company.

About the better news
We have all heard the company say many times that “next year will be difficult, but then later everything will be better again” We have probably heard this so many times that many of us may not believe it anymore. 
But the information that the company just sent out, indicates that 2025 can be the year when we will become bigger again. The company writes that they are confident that we will win new contracts, and based on the information we have been given, we feel more confident too for 2025. 
In the meantime, we must go through 2024, when fortunately, it looks like the company may succeed in reducing the whitespace for Invincible down to 3-4 months, or maybe even make the gap disappearing completely. 
At the same time, we have Integrator, which is guaranteed activity through 2024 and further into 2025. 
Our focus for 2024 shall be to ensure that as many of our members as possible keep their jobs, and if a “change of enterprise” are becoming a reality, then it must be included in our work to secure a job for as many as possible. This will be our highest priority.
 
NAF rig visit
We have visited Integrator in Åmøyfjord on October 9-10 and again on October 16 to 17.
We had many good dialogues with our members, and we got a lot of good input to move forward with. Thanks to everyone we met. We are planning to come on board again on October 30 to 31. 
We will also continue our visits to the heliport.
 
The tariff agreement point 3.7 - The right to go ashore during leisure time
NAF still believe that those who need to stay on board the rig for readiness reasons, and also those who cannot come ashore due to lack of boat transport, must be compensated with NOK 50,- per hour in their leisure time.
The company does not agree. The disagreement concerns the interpretation of the last paragraph under point 3.7 "The regulations of this section do not apply when the unit is under contract and the operator for reasons of readiness demand complete crew”
If we cannot come to an agreement with the company, we will dispute this.
 
Health insurance
We just had our monthly meeting with companies, and this topic was discussed again,
The company has not made a final decision, but they are investigating the possibilities and obtaining offers.
 
Smoke diving test (VO2max test)
As we previously informed about, for those who have challenges with running and lifting at the same time, or for anyone who for some reason don't like to take the test on the treadmill offshore, can use an alternative option (VO2max test) which is approved as part of the smoke diver test according to "Offshore Norway" (formerly Norwegian Oil & Gas) guidelines.
The VO2max test is a direct measurement of maximum oxygen uptake. 
Employees who can document that they have measured over 35 ml x kg-¹ x min-¹ on a direct test in the last 3 months have passed the test.
The company states that they will approve the VO2max test, but because they offer a free test on the rig, they will not compensate those who choose this second option.
 
Use of private phones for "On-the-go"work devices
NAF do not think that it can be right that anyone shall need to use his/her own private phone, because some programs on the work device, needs to be opened with the authenticator app.  
The company will look into other possibilities.
 
Subsidy for safety glasses
NAF has asked the company to adjust the subsidy for safety glasses so that it matches today's prices.
The company will look into this.
 
Conference for shop stewards and NAF board meeting
We plan to hold a conference for shop stewards from 29 to 30 November and a NAF board meeting from 30 November to 1 December. For shop stewards who are offshore on the given dates, we will try to find solutions in collaboration with HR. More information including registration are sent out.
 

Dear Colleagues, October 17th 2023

I'm reaching out through this newsletter to provide you with an update on our contract situation for our operations in Norway.

As you are aware, 2024 is shaping up to be a challenging year. The anticipated upswing in activity, as forecasted by analysts a year ago, has experienced delays. However, it's worth noting that we are witnessing a significant increase in activity outside of Norway as an indicator of what is to come.

Looking ahead to 2025 and beyond, we have established dialogues with several companies planning projects in Norway that is suited to our units, and we are committed to maintaining our competitive position in this regard. I`m confident that we will be awarded work in this space.

Our partnership with AkerBP has proven to be a success for all stakeholders, with both Noble Invincible and Noble Integrator consistently delivering stellar performance.
This not only keeps AkerBP satisfied but also allows us to keep our rigs active in Aamoyfjorden during shorter idle periods, creating a win-win situation.

As part of this alliance, we are also committed to optimizing our competencies for various projects, including HPHT/MPD and other requirements, this will lead to some adjustments in crew compositions.

Noble Invincible (Alliance contract with AkerBP until 2027):

2023: Ongoing work for AkerBP
Potential white space starting in May 2024, AkerBP is actively working to minimize this window, and as it stands, it may be reduced to 3-4 months. We are exploring all options to close this gap, including the possibility of Aamoyfjorden during a brief idle period.

Noble Integrator (Alliance contract with AkerBP until 2027):

2023: Contracted with AkerBP performing projects in Aamoyfjorden.
2024: Exploration well for Harbour Energy, followed by a direct continuation for AkerBP on Alvheim Deep, then Fenris extending into 2025.

Inspirer Manning (Repsol, Yme):

The current drilling program is estimated to be finished in February 2024.
Noble has offered to extend the current contract, which expires in April 2024. However, Repsol has chosen to change contractors, and the identity of the new contractor remains undisclosed. Ongoing discussions with Repsol are aimed at exploring whether this transition process will include a change of enterprise, allowing our crew members the opportunity to transition to the new contractor.
Once Repsol announces the new contractor, we will initiate discussions, including Noble union representatives from the start.

I wish I could provide more definitive information in this newsletter, especially regarding the Inspirer manning and the white space for Invincible. These processes take time, and I want to prevent any rumors by sharing the current status. More updates will follow in this space.

Lastly, I want to express my sincere gratitude to all of you for the outstanding performance delivered over the past year. Please remain focused and, above all, stay safe.

Kind regards,

Erik Evensgaard

Operations Manager Norway

Health insurance
Then we are made aware that it may appear that it is others and the company who are driving this when we had a joint meeting with a 3rd party who ran the Employee Focus Group, (Employee Benefits Survey Phase 2: Focus Group, Norway) , a survey on behalf of Noble Drilling to reduce sickness absence.

Let it be absolutely clear that when we put forward all our views on what needs to be done to reduce sickness absence, it was our points that were noted down and others agreed with us. This is not who said what, it is what you get from results in the end. Remember that those who had this survey can do nothing other than bring forward the views that everyone came up with and pass this on to the client.

We know this, NAF was there with 6 representatives in the meeting.

 

Through its representation on the board of Noble Drilling Norge, NAF has also given clear notice that we expect health insurance to be in place. Then we speak directly with Claus Bachmann and chairman of the board of Noble Drilling Norge AS, Marius Dahl.

We know this too, we were there.

We listed all of our suggestions that we raised at the "Emplyee Focus Group" meeting in the August info, but we'll do it again:

• The company must offer health insurance that covers most aspects of health.

• Give all employees e.g. travel insurance, extended accident insurance, etc.

• Offer psychological help.

• Dental health insurance.

• Offer financial advice for personal finances.

• Reintroduce cabins for rent for all employees.

• Offer free/reduced price at health studio.

• Offer training clothes/footwear at a reduced price

• Give all employees a summer/Christmas present, something of quality.

• All newsletters must be translated into Scandinavian.

• Continue the "bonus" for those with a long time in the company (25/40 years).

• Better pension scheme for onshore employees.

• Make arrangements for employees who have/may have reading/writing difficulties (dyslexia).

Incidentally, NAF has been doing this for a long time, here is a bit of history in the case:

NAF sees health insurance as a very important staff benefit, and we have therefore discussed it with the company at length. Back in August 2022, however, we had not agreed with the company, and because we came too close to the merger with Noble Drilling, the company wanted to postpone the matter.

 

This was taken into the minutes on 16/08/2022
The company does not see that we can do anything about the insurance scheme at the present time. Suggest this be put on hold until we know how the insurance set-up/agreements are planned in the new company.

When the new company became a reality, we resumed negotiations with NDN, and for a period the matter became part of the sick leave project. This project is now nearing completion and negotiations are once again back in our forum.

In the meantime, we have been in contact with some insurance companies, and we have discussed the possibilities of how this can be arranged, so that everyone is covered equally, regardless of which country you live in.

We have a new meeting with the company next week, and we will inform more when there is new information.

 

NAF is in dialogue with the company about what deals with the collective agreement point 3.7, Right to disembark. This is a complicated point and has its origin in section 46 of the Seamen's Act.

NAF has asked the company to check this with its organisation, the Norwegian Shipping Association, and hopes that they will agree with our interpretation of this.

We believe that 3.7. The right to go ashore should not be governed by whether one is on a contract as it is read and asserted. NAF believes that the operator must document why this is for emergency reasons and NAF believes that this cannot be claimed unless this is in connection with the installation being moved.

This is a right that the individual has and in any case, those who have an emergency and cannot go ashore in their spare time must have been compensated.

Then this comes with the fact that there is no boat available for everyone else, which NAF believes should be compensated in the same way as when Invincible was in the Åmøyfjord last time.

We will update as soon as we receive a response from the company.

The staffing situation
We are fully aware that the company has recently made use of temporary workers and a lot of overtime, despite the fact that former employees are queuing up to be re-employed.

This is ofcourse something we are discussing with the company, and we expect that they will soon get an overview of how many employees our operators (AkerBP and Repsol) will need in the near future. As soon as the company has received the full overview, we will start negotiating the total manning on the individual rig in addition to the competence pool.

 

Integrator in Åmøyfjorden
NAF has negotiated a protocol for the manning of Integrator during the stay in the Åmøyfjorden.

Only the extra positions (Rig admin. and Roustabout) will be moved from the rig, the rest will be kept on board for the entire period. It is expected to man up with drilling crew in November.

Read the entire protocol here: 

 

NAF Board meeting.
NAF held a board meeting at Clarion Energy on 6-7 September.

In addition to the various matters on the agenda and the action plan, we had many good discussions and there was a lot of good input from the board members, including the following:

 

"3C Observation system"
Asst. KHVO gave us a presentation of the new system for treating of near miss reports, which is called "3C Observation system."

The system is still so new that we do not know all aspects of it yet. But here are probably some things that we will look further into, such as e.g., the lack of possibility to report anonymously.

 

Smoke diver test
For those who have challenges with running and lifting at the same time, there is an alternative option that is approved as part of the smoke diving test according to "Offshore Norway's" (formerly Norwegian Oil & Gas) guidelines.

The test is a direct measurement of maximum oxygen uptake.

People who have documentation that they have measured over 35 ml x kg-¹ x min-¹ on a direct test in the last 3 months have passed the test.

The company will check how it can possibly be implemented with us. We will follow up on the matter.

 

Sick leave
We have received questions about why people living abroad, must submit a diagnosis to NAV on sick leave for less than 16 days. The company responds as follows to this:

NAV requires a diagnosis for a sick leave to be approved regardless of the length of the sick leave. In order for the company to advance sick pay, you must provide an approved sick leave.

For residents living in the UK, a diagnosis is always included with the sick report.

The company also informs that, as part of the ongoing project for sickness absence in the company, they have terminated their contract with MedHelp at the end of October 2023. Until then, Medhelp shall be used as normally.

 

MOB boat training
We have received inquiries from some of our members who are concerned about participating in MOB boat training offshore. This is justified by the fact that the boat is located 70 meters above sea level, and that there are no railings nor any other form of security when boarding, or during lowering/raising the boat.

In short, the concerns are that some do not find it justifiable to carry out the practical exercise offshore.

The company does not see that there is an alternative with training on land that meets the regulations, and they therefore find it necessary to carry out the training as practical exercises offshore, to meet the current regulations.

They further inform that it will lead to a personnel case if the practical part of the exercise is refused to be carried out by the employee.

 

Unions organizational fight offshore
NAF does not see anything wrong with an organizational fight being between the clubs offshore, but we will strongly encourage it to take place in a respectful and decent manner.

 

Heliport meetings and rig visits
We are currently trying to meet most of our members at the heliport on departure.

We will of course also prioritize rig visits on Integrator when it is in the Åmøyfjorden.

 

Election of local shop stewards
We encourage the teams that have not yet elected a local union representative to carry out elections and report back to us.

We are planning to hold a shop steward conference at the end of November.

 

New apprentices
6 new apprentices will soon come offshore. Welcome them and help them through the challenges they may face.

We have contacted the company to find out when they will be leaving, and we will try to get their local shop stewards to welcome them already at the heliport if they are leaving at the same time.

 

The quarantine cases
It is now about a year since NAF called IE into a crisis meeting, because LO's lawyers announced after an excessively long case processing time that they found the matter of quarantine imposed by the authorities to be "difficult to win".

We found this message completely unacceptable and after a series of intense meetings with IE, they decided to pursue the case with their own lawyers, despite LO finding it difficult.

This was a major milestone for us at NAF and for the entire industry, which soon followed in our footsteps.

Since then, the working group at IE has done a great job of collecting and preparing all the requirements that have come in, which have all been sent individually to the company.

Now a date has finally been set for the first pilot case.

Karianne Rettedal, head of the legal department at Industri Energi states that the first pilot case is scheduled for Sør-Rogaland district court on 20-24. November.

https://industrienergi.no/nyhet/the-date-is-now-set-for-the-first-trial-on-quarantine-compensation/

139 NAF members and a total of 678 IE members have submitted claims for compensation.

It is important to mention that it makes no difference to our case that the pilot cases are run against other companies than Noble, even the fact that it started with us.

 

For those who have raised a claim but are no longer employed
IE states that they expect those who are out of the company for various reasons to continue their membership with IE, as long as the case is ongoing. 

However, this does not apply to foreigners who must register with another trade union/a social security fund in order to receive support.

Residents of the UK can alternatively register with RMT, with whom IE has a cooperation agreement. In that case, the individual must notify IE about that. (Refer to the quarantine case)

For those who choose to continue their membership with IE, take contact to member services to agree on possible reduced fee. 

If you are in doubt, contact us at NAF.

Salary negotiations on land
As mentioned in previous information, the Stavanger office was only overtaken from Houston in this settlement. NAF did not agree with either the outcome or how this was done. There were no real negotiations and we cannot have it that way.
NAF drew up a protocol of disagreement on this and announced that this was going to be taken up centrally.
NAF demanded that our members should have a minimum of 5.2%, i.e. far above what the management in Houston had just set.
We have now received a clarification on this and we were told last week that our claim had been met and that of course not only our members, but EVERYONE in the office would receive 5.2%. Here you can see the advantage of being organised, the advantage of having a club behind you when such things happen. You just have to sign up.
 
 
New members
During the summer, we gained 10 new members.
 
 
Norwegian contracts for international employees
Negotiation meeting number 2 was held on 12 June. The DSO did not meet and the company put further negotiations on hold until after the meeting with the DSO week 25.
What happened in that meeting between DSO and the company is unclear.
NAF has respected that the company will now await further negotiations on the basis that they would like the majority of those who currently have international contracts to switch to Norwegian contracts.
NAF otherwise believes that it must not be a majority that must be decisive and has informed the company that we will consider going to legal action on behalf of our members to achieve this.
 
If NAF had the majority alone of those with international employment and who want Norwegian contracts, then we would have gone to the company and got this in place, without having to threaten legal action.
The discussions were well under way and this is a unique opportunity for our international employees to have a predictable employment relationship and a secure framework.
 
On 1 July, everyone who was employed in Guernsey was transferred to Danish employment, when the company probably realized that the way they were employed in Guernsey would violate Norwegian law under the new rules. Having said that, the company could have just given all these Norwegian contracts….
 
 
Meeting with the "Employee Focus Group"
NAF, together with other employees in the company, was called to a video meeting with a consulting firm in Houston to be presented with the results of the survey about "how are you doing" in Noble. At the same time, we were able to make suggestions for improvements that we thought should be made, here are some of the suggestions:
• The company must offer health insurance that covers most aspects of health.
• Give all employees e.g. travel insurance, extended accident insurance, etc.
• Offer psychological help.
• Dental health insurance.
• Offer financial advice for personal finances.
• Reintroduce cabins for rent for all employees.
• Offer free/reduced price at health studio.
• Offer training clothes/footwear at a reduced price
• Give all employees a summer/Christmas present, something of quality.
• All newsletters must be translated into Scandinavian.
• Continue the "bonus" for those with a long time in the company (25/40 years).
• Better pension scheme for onshore employees.
• Make arrangements for employees who have/may have reading/writing difficulties (dyslexia).
 
Right to regain previous position
Do I have the right to get back a previous position, after a downsizing?
The answer is no.
You are not entitled to get your old position, or rather a higher position back.
When you go out on your first trip after we have had a downsizing, you accept the new position you have been given and then everyone is really on the same page.
Having said that, the company tries as far as is practically possible to give the position back to those who have held them previously.
Nor is there any reason for them to give it to someone who hasn't had it.
We have not had many cases where someone has believed that they have been passed over, but there are no rules or rights attached to getting their old position back.
 
Another issue that has also been discussed outside is what rights you have if you are a company shop steward. These are then those who sit on the board of their local club.
You have one right that stands out, and that is that in the event of layoffs, these must be considered to have the longest seniority in their position. (ref HA§ 7.12 and 7.2)
In the event of dismissals, the company's shop stewards, replacement shop stewards and Vo/HVO have no special protection other than that under otherwise similar conditions as an employee on the same day, went out on the rig on the same day, the trade union can demand that the person then holding the position must be offered a job instead of the is not a shop steward or a safety representative.
 
Use of the Norwegian language
The issue surrounding the use of the Norwegian language was again discussed. NAF believes that all information is now only available in English and that this is very unfortunate and that regulations are being used.
Information that is considered important, and that is relevant to employment, and/or safety-critical, should be in Norwegian and English.
NAF has submitted the article "Norwegian language is the first choice" from Ptil. The Norwegian language MUST be used to the greatest extent possible in the petroleum business. This applies both in writing and orally. If you choose to use another language, the employer MUST document that the Norwegian language is NOT appropriate, and that it does not compromise safety.
 

Here is a link to the new salary tables

After a long day of mediation, an agreement was reached in Oslo.

In short:

- 6.5% salary supplement

- 6.5% minimum limit, however minimum 5.2% for individually paid employees

The night supplement is increased by 5.50 to 102.50 per hour.

The public holiday allowance is increased by NOK 75 to NOK 2,275 per day.

 

Here is the meeting book from the Riksmekleren
Here is lnkt to IE´s homepage

The negotiations in connection with this year's salary settlement are now for mediation in Oslo. The mediation has until midnight today, Wednesday 28 June. The law says that we cannot inform before the mediation is finished. We will therefore not inform before the meeting is over.

NAF is now preparing for a possible strike. The shipowners made an offer that was too low, we submitted a counterclaim, then the shipowners broke.

If an agreement is not reached by midnight, the night of Thursday 29 June, there will be a strike. The strike is then a fact at Noble Integrator. At the same time, 11 other units/locations in our area will be taken out on strike on the NCS.

 

What does this mean for those of you who are on board, or will be on board, if the strike is implemented?

First of all, the rig must be shut down. How this is to be done must be clear and handed over to IE if the strike becomes a fact. It is NDN and AkerBP (Operator) who will hand over the "shutdown procedure".

A security crew must then be established on board.

A local safety manning protocol for each individual unit must be drawn up at any time, this can be found here: The final name of who is included in the safety manning has not yet been determined, but seniority in position on board the rig is the triggering factor. The second criteria is that everyone has the qualifications for specific emergency response functions.

Those who are not part of the safety crew on board will have to risk traveling onshore. Then the company can/will probably think that you are no longer earning a salary, so you are on strike.

So what do I do then, apparently I have to go home?

Industri Energi gives you line support which is currently NOK 223,- per hour during the hours you were actually supposed to work. This is a tax-free payment. NAF is considering whether to provide strike support, but this has not yet been decided.

If you are not part of the safety crew on board and are not traveling for work, then the above applies. In other words, you get strike support from Industri Energi and any strike support is additionally provided from NAF.

Those who are part of the safety crew on board will maintain their salary.

Then it should be mentioned. Normally in the case of strikes offshore, the employer pays wages to all those who were not entitled to wages if an agreement is reached when the parties meet and agree during the strike, i.e. wages are paid in arrears.

We will have a direct dialogue with every single member on board Integrator if the strike becomes a fact.

In connection with this year's salary settlement, the company has sent out a conditional notice of layoffs.
As is known, no agreement was reached during this year's salary negotiations for those who work offshore, therefore the parties must meet at the Riksmekleren, which we will do on 28 June. The meeting takes place at the Riksmeklers office in Oslo.

Every year we end up in the same situation, a conditional notice of layoff is sent out. We have, on average, found ourselves in that situation almost twice every year for the last 10-15 years.

Here is a link to the memo the company has sent.

 

Today there was a breach in the salary settlement for offshore employees.

The settlement is then transferred to the national mediator. We are awaiting a date for mediation.

For more information, please refer to IE's website: https://industrienergi.no/nyhet/mellomoppgjoret-2023-brudd-i-lonnsforhandlingene-pa-flyteriggavtalen/

Today, the wage settlement for those who work offshore started.
The negotiating committee is gathered in Oslo and the plan is to see if we reach an agreement within the next few days.
From NAF, Frode Larsen, Jørn B Hansen and Bår Inge Pedersen are represented.

It is not allowed to inform while we are negotiating, but we will update as soon as the negotiations are concluded.

Norwegian contracts
NAF and DSO in Noble had their first meeting on 16 May. The aim is that those with international contracts get a Norwegian contract. This applies to the positions OIM, MSL, STP, TP and TSL.

Challenges from the company and the employees' representatives were highlighted. All parties now go their separate ways with possible clarifications until the next meeting, which is scheduled to take place on 12 June.

Sick leave project
NAF has had a meeting with consultants who work at the firm Buhr. These have been given a mandate to survey all factors surrounding the high level of sickness absence. NAF has proposed a number of changes that should be considered. Some of these changes include introducing health insurance for all employees, reassessing the "light blue prescription", offering travel insurance to everyone (including leisure time), expanding accident insurance, offering financial advice for personal finances, discounted prices for gym/training clothes, great Christmas/ summer gifts, offer psychological help, grant subsidies so that cabins/apartments can be offered at greatly reduced prices for all employees.

NAF also asked them to look into follow-up of those who are called in sick. The routines if you fall ill must also be better communicated. Are there physical barriers that must also be worked on. The social factors are important, you have to feel good at work.

Personal information to an unknown address in the USA
Some employees in Norway have received an email from an agent requesting that personal information/copy of passport be sent to an unknown address. This includes new registration of the rigs in the Marshall Islands.

The company will prepare information for the employees.

NAF asks all employees who do not feel comfortable sending such information to wait for information from the company.

Apprentices
6 new apprentices have agreed to start their apprenticeship with us from mid-August.

Wage regulation onshore employees
NAF has signed a disagreement protocol regarding wage regulation for those who work onshore. The offer, which was not actually an offer, is far too low. Real negotiations have not been carried out, NAF believes. Then we have to wait and see what the Norwegian Shipping Association/IE does next in this case.

Salary negotiations offshore
The negotiations start in Oslo on Tuesday 23 May at 11.00. This includes everyone who works offshore. This is an interim settlement and we are then negotiating about finances, not technical provisions in the collective agreement.

 

Updated 16 May
After today's meeting on 16 May, the company states that it will prepare information for the employees. You choose whether you want to send the requested information or wait for information from the company.


NAF has received several inquiries after receiving a specific e-mail.

An email has been sent to employees from an agent company called "RelyOn Nutec". They ask that various personal information, photos and copies of passports be sent. NAF finds this strange and has asked the company for more information.

NAF does not think that confidential information should be sent to an agent with an unknown e-mail address without it being announced in advance by the company. We fully understand members' skepticism about this.

We are in possession of information that this concerns information that will be needed after the rigs in Noble change their flag state to the Marshall Islands.

We will consider the feedback from the company and in any case have this as an agenda item at next week's monthly meeting.

We update.

IE is now carrying out a member survey and you will receive an email from:

Gellert Keresztes <undersokelse.industrienergi@vardehartmark.no>

Please take part, you can actually win an electric bicycle.

Here's what's in the email.

 

Dear member,

As a member of Industri Energi, you are invited to participate in Industri Energi's member survey 2023.

The purpose of the survey is to get concrete feedback from you as a member. Your input will be very valuable to us in our work to further develop and improve the membership offer.

The survey will take approx. 15 minutes, and as a thank you you have the opportunity to win one of five electric bicycles.

The survey is anonymous, and all responses are treated confidentially. Completing the survey is voluntary.

Click on the link below to give your feedback.

Thank you for participating. Together we are strong.

Sincerely, Industri Energi

 

As before, NAF has informed that we now require Norwegian employment for our members with international contracts. This has been an important issue for us for a long time.

NAF has had a monthly meeting this week with the company and they confirmed that they will now have negotiations about this, which will happen in the near future.

 

NAF requires that our members who are international employees must also have predictability in relation to being able to keep their workplace in Norway and not that it is the coincidence of which rig one is on that should be decisive.

 

 

We have called for members who have had to leave Norway as a result of layoffs in the past in order to be able to pursue a case, but the exposure that would have entailed has probably made it difficult to get anyone to stand up against the company.

This time we have members who will do this if necessary. Here lies our Connection Agreement in the pot and it must then be assessed whether it should be terminated. This agreement regulates, among other things, these international contracts

NAF believes that now is a favorable time and hopes that we will be able to get a protocol regulating this. There will be several things that need to be clarified such as seniority, new hires, entry into force etc.

The tax agreement for those who have worked outside Norway

We remind you that those who have worked outside Norway in 2022 and who have paid a higher tax abroad than they otherwise would have paid to the Norwegian tax, can now make use of the Tax Agreement as described in the following protocols from 2022:

Reacher rigmove to DK.

Intrepid stacking in DK.

Invincible yardstay & stacking in DK.

Invincible rigmove from Grenaa to Norway.

Intrepid rigmove to UK.

 

If you wish to make use of this offer, KPMG will, in agreement with the company, make the calculations, but you yourself are responsible for settling your tax with the countries where you have worked and are thus liable to tax, and based on this document that you have paid a higher tax abroad than if you had worked similarly in Norway.

You must submit your completed annual tax returns in both countries to which you have paid tax, and for the Danes it may also be necessary to submit the spouse's annual tax return, in the event that the spouse has lost tax deductions as a result.

You must also comply with the deadlines that are set.

We are aware that it is a lot of work and challenges to be taxed in two countries and to have everything documented and submitted to KPMG. But this deal is, despite all the trouble, quite good and quite unique. Compensation for higher paid tax abroad is not something that we are entitled to in the collective agreement, and we are not aware of any other clubs that have negotiated a similar agreement in the NR area. We made the Tax Agreement for the first time in 2011 for those who accompanied Guardian to Hirtshals , and many have subsequently made use of it. The agreement has been corrected many times and appears today in a more simplified version. Below is the text from the Grenaa protocol.

 

The company will acknowledge changes in personal tax conditions for employees resulting from short assignments at the end of the stay at shipyard in Grenaa, Denmark. As regards to personal tax, the individual employee shall not be put in a worse position than if he or she worked in Norway. If it turns out that MDN employees who have worked in Grenaa or participated in the sea passage will be tax liable to Denmark, they will be offered tax assistance. This is subject to the necessary information and documents being shared with the consultant MDN uses to make the necessary calculations in this connection, within the set deadlines.   

 

Tax across national borders is not always that simple, and we often experience that rules change and things do not go quite as planned. Therefore, if someone experiences something that may be valuable for other members to know, we would very much like to hear about it and share it here, so others can benefit from your experience.

 

Negative return on pension savings in 2022

Important info for those who have a pension savings where they pay tax on returns: 

For those who have a pension savings where they pay tax on returns: Remember to report the negative return for 2022 to Tax, to have the amount set off against tax on any later positive returns.

In Denmark, the deadline for reporting negative returns is on May 1, 2023 

Those who have their pension savings in PFA should have received a message from PFA in their inbox, with their saving and return statement included an explanation of how it is to be reported to tax. So check your inbox from PFA.. 

We do not fully know the tax rules for all countries and for all pension agreements. But of course we encourage everyone to check whether they can set off their losses from last year against later tax on profits. Get in touch if you have any doubts.

Members with International contract
NAF has claimed Norwegian employment for all our members with international contracts.

We are waiting to see how the company will react to this, so for that reason we cannot inform more right now.

 

Health insurance
We have asked the company to look into the possibility of getting health insurance for our members. This will be a great advantage, we therefore hope that we can make an agreement.

We will follow up on the matter at the upcoming meetings.

 

Rig visit on Invincible
We managed to visit Invincible in Åmøyfjorden five times, and thus we managed to meet with most of our members. But regardless of this we will also follow up with some heliport meetings.

We got many good inputs and had a lot of good discussions.

One of the biggest topics was of course the manning situation and how things will go on in future on the Norwegian shelf.

The company states that we have reasons to be optimistic, and that they have a good dialogue going on with the alliance with AkerBP about reducing the so-called coming "white spaces". This to prevent that we are not getting too long periods without contracts, that in worst cases can result in the need of down manning.

The company also states that they have a good dialogue with Repsol regarding extension of the contract for the manning of Inspirer.

Of course we must clearly point out that no new agreements have been signed yet, but as they say the dialogue is good and there is optimism.

In addition to this, the company is also working seriously on making agreements with several other operators in Norway. Hopefully we are looking forward to more stability.

 

NAF Info screens
We have installed info screens in both coffee shops on Invincible and sent out two screens to Integrator. We thank those who have helped with the mounting work and the technical solutions on Invincible and we will of course be very grateful to get similar help from the Integrator crew.

The screens are a supplement to the informations on the NAF site. Short news updates from NAF will be published here, as well as continuous updates from Norwegian, Danish and British news channels and whatever else we can come up with. We are of course open for feedback about what else we should publish on the screens.

In addition, you can download an APP so that you can access the news via your phone (follow instruction on the screen)

 

Salary negotiations
The negotiations are set to start on May 23.  

The annual meeting has already decided what we shall bring into the negotiations, and those claims have already been sent in.

But before the negotiations we will meet with the other clubs in NR-Forum in week 16 to discuss and to collate our claims.

For the sake of the negotiations, we cannot write what we will go for.

 

NAF Board meeting
The next meeting will be held at Hotel Clarion Energy on 3-4 May.

Industri Energi has received a claim for compensation for imposed quarantine for approximately 690 members against 83 businesses.

Some questions and ambiguities are still apparent in the cases we have received. Many of these questions have already been answered – Please check the designated website before contacting us.

Some reminders:

• For employees who have been transferred to a new employer as a result of the transfer of ownership of undertakings, claims must be made against the employer to whom you were transferred.

• In other cases, e.g. that you have quit or been dismissed after the quarantine, the claim must be directed against the company you were employed at at the time you were in quarantine.

• Medical quarantine, quarantine after leisure trips, and testing fall outside the scope of this case.

• Remember to claim the correct rate and number of hours (You must NOT use the overtime rate). See

  the (bottom of the) FAQ for clarifications.

  A task force in the union has sorted and collected all documentation and information over several months. We have taken out more than 300 compensation claims against aproxximately 26 businesses as of now. When a dispute arises regarding the employment relationship, one can freely choose the court of jurisdiction. We have combined the cases for joint consideration by the Stavanger Conciliation Council. A settlement complaint has therefore been sent – against each business – for the employees in this business.

  The primary purpose of the conciliation complaint is to have the claim brought in front of the cociliation council in order to interrupt the statute of limitations. The claims expire three years after the day the employee should have received their salary for the quarantine period. Thus, for many of you the claims will expire continuously from March/April 2023. Workshop stewards in the companies where a settlement complaint has been put forward to the conciliation council have received a copy of the claim, including a lists of names of the individuals included.

  We are receiving several inquiries regarding missing names from the lists sent to the conciliation council. The reason for this is probably that these cases lack documentation, which means that we cannot send a settlement complaint. Those concerned have received an e-mail from us directly.

  Those who wish to submit a claim for compensation must send us complete documentation to covidkompensasjon@industrienergi.no – Please include the case number in the subject field of the e-mail. For the sake of the proceedings, we must set a deadline for sending the requested documentation to 10 March 2023. We will bring remaining cases before the conciliation council during April 2023.

  Our aim is to put most of the settlement complaints on hold while we pursue a few cases before the district court. We have selected four businesses against which we will initiate so-called pilot cases. These will be dealt with outside the case complex outlined above and pursued separately. However, these four cases will also begin in the conciliation council.

  We will try to arrange a digital information meeting for those who have submitted claims as soon as practicable. In the meantime, we reiterate that those who want to pursue the claim must send us the requested documentation as quickly as possible – no later than March 10th.

  If you have any questions, you can contact us at covidkompensasjon@industrienergi.no – please use your assigned case number in all communication.

  Kind Regards

  Industri Energi

This is information for everyone who has made a claim in connection with the quarantine case.

The first 42 cases have now been forwarded to the Conciliation Council in Stavanger and IE continues to work with the rest of the cases in Noble Drilling Norge AS.

These 42 will now receive an email from NAF shortly.

We will then send emails continuously to ALL of you as soon as the cases have been processed, and IE has sent these to the Conciliation Council.

Anyone who has not submitted the missing information that IE has requested is now seriously running out of time.

Reference is otherwise made to the article on IE's website and the way forward in the matter.

https://industrienergi.no/nyhet/kravene-om-karantenekompensasjon-er-na-fremmet-for-retten/ 

 

 

NAF Annual Meeting 2023
The annual meeting was held in Stavanger on 10-11 February

21 shop stewards + KHVO participated.

We had many good discussions, and one of the main topics was, as planned, the upcoming salary negotiations, where the reduced purchasing power (the Norwegian Consumer price index) of course will be brought into the negotiations for a higher salary.

All Inputs from the annual meeting to the salary negotiations, will first of all be taken into the tariff conference in the NR-forum, which will be held in week 16. And then later on to the salary negotiations, which are set to start on May 23.

The salary group for the Hydraulics was also discussed. For the status of this case, we refer to the separate info on the Maf site. on February 10.

Our guests at the Annual Meeting:

Asle Reime from the "Working committee" in Industri Energi.

Claus Bachmann, Vice President Operations North Sea and Australia.

Claus introduced himself and talked about the state of the kingdom, the future for the company, and the importance of recognizing the good work that the offshore employees do. He was also a guest at the annual meeting dinner.

Joey Cawaja, Senior Vice President in Noble Drilling, was a guest at the annual meeting dinner.

Erik Evensgaard, Astrid Ivesdal and Hilde Finnesand answered questions and were also guests at the annual meeting dinner.

 

Quarantine and compensation
Everyone who has signed up for the matter, shall now have received a personal case number.

Here's the latest news from IE:

https://industrienergi.no/nyhet/kravene-om-karantenekompensasjon-er-na-fremmet-for-retten/

 

Important:

For members who have been notified from the Covid-group that there is still missing some documents, they must urgently reply to the e-mail and send what is missing, in order to get their case to the courts.

 

Rig visit on Invincible.

We visited Invincible in Åmøyfjorden on February 2, February 23 and we are planning the next visit on March 2.

This is both cozy, but at the same time also very important to take advantage of this good opportunity to meet most of our members on board.

We have received many good inputs and had many good discussions, and we look forward to more.

The upcoming salary negotiations are of course also an important topic. We are listening to everyone, but for the sake of the negotiations, we cannot publish which demands we will proceed with.

What happens to the rig contracts in the future is also one of the big topics. This is of course something that worries everyone a lot.

We know that the company is doing their very best to make new agreements for the rigs, but we still haven't received any confirmation for a signed agreement that can help to limit the "white space" on Integrator, or extend the staffing on Inspirer. We will follow up as soon as something new happens.

Those of you who have received an email about missing submitted information must now have this sent in.

IE says that the deadline is actually on Monday, but in any case as soon as possible.

The link is closed, so you must submit this by replying to an email from Industri Energi requesting missing information.

NOW IT IS URGENT, there is a lot happening next week.

 

Info from Coordinating Main Safety Delegate (CMSD), Anders Blom:

All!
I’m pleased to announce that all the six AoC that we had in Maersk Drilling Norge AS for operating Noble Intrepid, Noble Interceptor, Noble Invincible, Noble Integrator, Noble Reacher and Noble Innovator has been transferred to Noble Drilling Norge AS!

The PSA has also published that on their web side:
https://www.ptil.no/en/supervision/acknowledgements-of-compliance/

Thanks to everyone for helping out with maintaining the AoC!

Everyone who has registered for the case regarding compensation for quarantine via Industri Energi (IE) should now have received a case number.

If you have NOT received this case number, you must IMMEDIATELY send an email to the Covid group at this email address:

covidkompensasjon@industrienergi.no

You must do this by Friday 17 February 2023!

There are usually three ways we can go, in attempt to move the Hydraulics up in a higher salary group:
The employment committee, local negotiations, and the main salary negotiations.
In addition, at the main negotiations in 2022, however, we did open for a fourth option, which is the committee work that was adopted during the mediation. (More on that below)
We have already been in the "Positions committee" with the matter, we have tried local negotiations several times, and we have tried through the main negotiations several times, but unfortunately, we have met equal resistance everywhere.
We are therefore making this update on what we have done, and what we can do in the future.
At the same time, we also want to explain why it has not been successful, even though we have given this matter a very high priority for a very long time.
 

• The Position Committee.

NAF was in the position committee in December 2020, to try to convince the committee that the Hydraulics should move up in a higher salary group. We teamed up with the SAIPEM club to appear stronger.
 
We have previously submitted a joint and a very detailed report with our well-documented arguments which, among other things, contained the following points:
Greater requirements for competence.
Greater requirements for education - CETOP-II course, with more.
(NAF previously pushed very hard for the CETOP-II course to be included in the course matrix, to increase the required level of competence)
Comparison with other positions with the same responsibility and the same requirements for competence.
Far greater responsibility, especially regarding safety-related equipment.
And the very important fact that the Hydraulics are always standing alone with the challenges, and thus also alone with the responsibility.
(For more details on requirements for competence and responsibility, read further down)
 
However, no matter how good and how strong arguments we pushed into the case the committee already made it clear to us at the start of the meeting, that they would not approve to move up any position for an already fixed tariffed position.
In other words, if the job committee is to approve this, then we must come up with a completely new job description that proves that this new position has work areas that are completely outside of what can be expected from a hydraulic position. So not just a new title.
This cannot be done unless we do it in cooperation with the company, and they have repeatedly said clearly no to that.
It has also not been possible for us to be able to compare our Hydraulics position with an already higher ranked position such as e.g., a Subsea Engineer.
 

• Local negotiations with the company

Here it’s only possible to negotiate a salary increase for a job position if it has already been approved in advance by the position committee.
For example, when we negotiated the position of Operator Drilling up to salary group A, the position committee had already approved it in advance.
The company can invent new positions such as Operator Technical and Engine Mech, but this must be assessed and determined through the positions committee before we can negotiate locally.
The problem is that the company has completely refused to cooperate with us to create a new position for the Hydraulics, and therefore we do not have the option of going back to the position committee.
We have thus run into a solid concrete wall, both in terms of local negotiations and the positions committee.
 
Competence allowance:
A form of a compromising solution could also be to negotiate a competence allowance for the Hydraulics. After all, it would be better than nothing, but the company has completely rejected this.
 

• NR - Main salary negotiations.  (NR = Norwegian Shipowners Association)

We have already given this case a very high priority every time at the last five main negotiations, but we have not been able to obtain a majority among the delegates.
That's why we previously before the main negotiations in 2020, tried through NR-forum to create an alliance to get more clubs to vote for our proposal to raise the wages of the Hydraulics. But only the SAIPEM club was particularly interested in participating in this. 
A few other local clubs used as their main argument for not supporting this, that they found it difficult to defend it against their Mechanics, who are still in pay group C. And furthermore, they have their own cases to promote.
Our case therefore again failed to obtain a majority among the delegates.
 
It seems quite clear that it’s us in Noble Drilling who face the biggest challenges, because we are the only ones with all other job positions in the technical department placed in minimum salary group A. 
We are of course pleased that we have succeeded in getting so many technical positions up in higher salary groups, but of course it also makes the feeling of discrimination and injustice even greater for the Hydraulics. We truly understand this.
 
At the last Annual Meeting in 2022, it was decided that we should once again prioritize Hydraulics as our highest priority in the main negotiations, if it became possible to get any raises. But unfortunately, there we did not get any positions lifted at all, and we learned again that most other clubs do not have higher salaries for the Hydraulics at the top of their agenda.
 
There were 17 individual demands for raising different job positions in 2022.
Therefore, it was decided that a working committee should be set up to assess the salary system and salary group placement considering responsibility, competence, and qualification requirements.
 
This was written into the minutes of the main negotiations 2022:
 
Committee work adopted during the mediation in June 2022 (item 18)
Pay System Review Committee
 
The parties have discussed the organizations' requirements regarding skill additions and promotion of individual job categories, as well as a review of the exceptions for individually paid employees and categories of minimum wage rates. It has been agreed to set up a committee with representatives from NR, DSO, SAFE and Industri Energi which will assess the salary system and salary group placement considering responsibility, competence and qualification requirements seen in the light of developments since the previous job placement committee. The committee must also review exemptions and the system for individually paid employees.
The committee must issue a recommendation to the parties by the end of 2023 with a view to implementing any changes in the main settlement in 2024.
 

• Here is a partial extract of the case which was sent to the positions committee and which we also used in attempts at the local negotiations.

 
Greater requirements for competence:
It is expected that the Hydraulic Technician has, or acquires, the necessary competence on all hydraulic systems on board. This is a knowledge of specialized offshore equipment that is far beyond what is required to pass the normal certificate for the Hydraulics.
This necessary acquisition of competence must be done partly by courses/further training and partly with self-studies on board. At the same time, the technology on new types of drilling rigs has become far more advanced than before. And this also applies for the hydraulic systems.
 
It is our clear conviction that the technical challenges faced by hydraulics today are fully on par with those faced by electronic technicians and electricians.
 
Greater responsibility:
The hydraulic engineer reports to the Technical Manager, who has overall responsibility. But the Technical Manager is more than fully occupied with administrative tasks on a very busy offshore day. It’s therefore in no way possible for the Technical Manager to have full insight into the hydraulic systems. This means that the Hydraulic Technician stands alone with all the responsibility most of the time. (This also appears in the attached job descriptions)
 
It is expected that the Hydraulic Technician on his own can find all kinds of faults and repair them both safely and quickly. If more people are needed for the job, it’s also the Hydraulic Technician who shall lead the work.
All in all, it puts a lot of pressure and responsibility on the Hydraulics.
The responsibility is not lessened by the fact that many of the hydraulic functions are very important for safety in general. For example, his work area includes safety-related equipment such as cranes, personal lifting equipment, lifeboats, fire steamers, etc.
Furthermore, the Hydraulic Technician is responsible for maintaining the BOP and well control equipment, which is very essential for safety on board. This is specialized equipment that can only be found offshore, and mistakes can have fatal consequences.
 
It is our clear conviction that the Hydraulic Technician responsibilities and tasks are fully on the same level as other technical personnel who are paid in salary group A1. We therefore do not find it fair that they are still being placed in Salary Group B.
 

• So, what are our options now?

 
The Position Committee.
Is a very closed land without a collaboration with the company on a completely new type of position.
 
Local negotiations with the company:
The company believes that all the arguments we have presented for them in several discussions, are all natural developments in the position for the Hydraulics, and they will therefore not negotiate this with us. Nor will they help us create a new type of position for the Hydraulics.
Furthermore, they point out that the salary classification shall be taken during the main negotiations.
 
The main salary negotiations.
In the current situation with a company that does not want to negotiate with us, and a position committee that does not want to deal with the matter at all, the main salary negotiations is the only option right now.
NAF completely agrees that this matter must continue to be a high priority, and we feel quite certain in advance that the Annual Meeting will support this.
 
The working committee:
The committee which was adopted during the main negotiations in 2022.
We hope that the working committee can come up with some good solutions to solve all the challenges we have regarding the salary groups.
 
We 100% agree that the Hydraulics shall be raised up in a higher salary group, and we will of course continue to work on this matter and take advantage of every possible opportunity that may arise.
If anyone has some new inputs on the matter, or just wants to discuss it with us, or whatever, please feel free to contact us.
 

The Covid group at Industri Energi is currently reviewing all the submitted documents and expects to be done with this very soon. This means that everyone should receive an email with their individual case number before Monday February 6. 

The email has been sent, or will be sent from the Covid group with this text in the subject field «SaksøktSelskap AS – FirstnameMember LastnameMember [IE2023-12345]»

 

If you against expectations, should not have received the email before this day (also check the spam filter) you must
AFTER February 6 (NOT BEFORE) send an email to the covid group covidkompensasjon@industrienergi.no with the text "CASE NUMBER MISSING" in the subject field.

Your case number must be used in all future correspondence about your case.

 

The staffing situation and temporary layoffs.
A combination of a delayed rig move for Invincible and a slightly greater need for manning during the stay in Åmøyfjorden, has reduced the planned temporary layoffs somewhat, but unfortunately this could not be avoided for everyone. 

The delay of the Invincible rigmove has caused many to have more days offshore than originally planned. Those days must first be taken off before any temporary layoff period can start, and if so, you will be on full salary from the company for the first 45 of the temporary layoff, before you may have to switch over to support from NAV. This means that many will not need to apply for support from NAV.

Regarding the AkerBP alliance, we must say that it's very good that the alliance was just extended for 5 new years, but 2023 can still be a year with major challenges and unwanted gaps between the contracts.

The company informs that they are negotiating with both AkerBP, Equinor and several others in their best attempt to close the gaps between the planned contracts, and furthermore we would like to have more rigs back to Norway. 

There is also ongoing communications with Repsol about further extensions on Inspirer after April 28.

 

The merger
We do not have much news about the merger, but as previously written here we are very satisfied that NAF have made an agreement which ensures that our previous agreements and protocols are continued.

 

Members with international contracts
As previously mentioned, NAF believes that the current situation gives us a unique opportunity to make an agreement that regulates the employment conditions for those with international contracts. Therefore, this is being prioritized now.
We have started discussions with the company and we are planning a new meeting as soon as possible.

 

Rig visit to Åmøyfjorden 
We are planning a visit to Invincible, initially on February 2.

Annual meeting in NAF
We will hold our annual meeting in Stavanger on February 10-11.
All shop stewards are invited as delegates.
There will be guests both from the company and from Industri Energi.
A major topic at the Annual Meeting will certainly be the coming salary negotiations, which by the way will start on May 22
Our board meeting is held the day before the annual meeting.

 

Quarantine and compensation.
The cases regarding compensation for quarantine imposed by authorities and the company, are now being processed by the Covid-19 group at Industri Energi.
We hope that everyone who has chosen to get involved in the case has submitted the documentation that the group has requested.
NAF is following the case through our contacts at IE, but we do not have access to the submitted documents, so if anyone has questions about their case, they can contact the Covid group.

Many members have asked us why it took so long to get here.
The answer is that we simply had to wait for the LO lawyers to decide what they wanted to do, and when their conclusion finally came in September 2022, we were not at all satisfied. The LO lawyers found the case of quarantine imposed by the authorities to be "difficult to win".
We found this completely unacceptable to all those who had waited for so long, and this was the sentence that made us urgently call in IE to a meeting.
IE saw the problem, and in cooperation with them we very quickly got the current plan in motion, where the cases were taken over by IE and run as individual claims against the company instead of a joint case against the government.

After this was published, close to 650 members under IE from 90 different companies have now joined the case.
We are aware that the waiting time was far too long, but of course we are also very satisfied that the matter has finally been started.

Here is the latest about the case from IE

https://industrienergi.no/nyhet/industri-energi-krever-karantenekompensasjon-for-naer-650-medlemmer-i-90-selskaper/

 

Other quarantine related cases

Reported sick during the quarantine period
The case concerning those who were sick in the Quarantine period and for that reason was deducted from the salary, or had to owe offshore days to the company, or those who did not get their rightful leave according to 14.1 a-b-c.
The cases we have received have been solved by settlement with the company, and those affected have been compensated.

 

Claim for compensation for Covid-19 home tests
There is nothing news, but the case has been reported as a dispute on a general basis to Industri Energi

 

Aker BP imposed leisure quarantine - effective from 24 June 2021
There is nothing news, but also this case has been reported as a dispute on a general basis to Industri Energi

For those who have recently received an e-mail from the Tax Administration in Norway who have a d-number, typically people who live outside Norway, NAF has received a message from the company that you can do the following.
 
Make a color copy of your passport and send it by e-mail to the company. 
The address is:
MDN-payroll@noblecorp.com
 
The company will then arrange the rest with the Norwegian Tax Administration.
 
The company also states that the tax withholding for the month of January will be the same as that used in 2022 if you have not been able to identify yourself to the Tax Authority before the salary is run this month.
 

 

Lars Reber will be the 1st substitute.

There is a tie for the 2nd item, this applies to Eirik Gjemble and Alf Erik Andreassen. It will then be up to the annual meeting to draw lots during the annual meeting. All deputies are elected for one year.

Bår Inge Pedersen, Odd Jacobsen, Ståle Lønne Engen, Henrik Eiersted were not up for election. They still have one year left in their term.

Congratulations to all of them and thank you for so many standing for election.

The protocol can be found here: https://www.mafsiden.no/protokoller

Continuation of agreements
NAF signed "Continuation of agreements between MDN and MAF NOBLE DRILLING NORGE AS (NDN) NOBLE ANSATTES FORENING (NAF)" on 22 December 2022.

The agreement is important because it ensures that all agreements and protocols we had locally between Maersk Drilling Norge as and Maersk Ansattes Forening are continued between NDN and NAF.

To put it simply; all the agreements and protocols we had will remain as before.

 

Agreement regarding preferential rights
Today we signed the "Agreement regarding preferential rights in Noble Drilling Norge AS".

This signing is important for all those who were made redundant in spring 2022.

According to the collective agreement, you only have the right to reinstatement from the time you had your last day of pay after receiving notice of dismissal.

Now NAF and NDN have agreed that everyone who is entitled to reinstatement and who was dismissed in spring 2022 has priority right until 14 December 2024.

 

Both agreements can be found here: https://www.mafsiden.no/protokoller

 

The translations of these agreements are not yet complete but will be posted online as soon as they are completed.

 

NAF will pay the dues for all temporary laid-off members, so you don't have to do anything yourself. This will apply to everyone who receives social security from NAV.

We have received questions about how to keep your membership when you are made temporary laid-off. It is the case that as long as you are on salary from NDN, i.e. the 45 days that are the employer's period, you will be withdrawn from the company and then pay the normal dues. Then it is that if you have to transfer to social security from NAV, you get a reduced contribution, but you also have to be sent an invoice from IE and pay this yourself.

NAF has decided today that we will pay the dues for everyone who is made temporary laid-off this time and has to transfer to social security from NAV.

Then you maintain all your rights and insurances.

It's not the big sums for the individual, but less of a worry for those who are then not offered temporary trips.

If you get a substitute tour, everything will be drawn through NDN.

The only thing you should NOT do is go to "My page" and register yourself as laid off. You will then receive a giro for payment.

We will review this with IE when the temporary laid-off are complete.

As a final piece of information, we can inform you that no payments will be made to the Pension Scheme for Seamen, PTS if you then receive social security from NAV.

AU and the Board wish you all a Merry Christmas and a very happy New Year.

The election committee states that on Monday evening there will be a reminder about the election to the board of NAF.
The reminder comes from SurveyMonkey with a link to how you can vote. The election committee asks everyone who has not received this email (who still hasn't voted) to check their settings themselves, check their spam filter and miscellaneous. If you are unable to vote due to these technical challenges, please contact us at this e-mail: post@nafsiden.no

Invincible is currently working on Ivar Aasen for AkerBP, where the operation is expected to be completed in the latter half of December. The rig will subsequently be moved to the Åmøyfjord outside Stavanger, where it will lie in storage until the next mission, which is scheduled to start in early April 2023. It is expected that the rig will be manned again in the latter half of March 2023.

It is planned with a rig crew of 22 (66 in total) plus catering, the remaining 87 will be temporarily laid off. NAF believes that there could have been fewer redundancies due to the short time between assignments, but understands that this is a compromise within the alliance.

We have been in discussion meetings with the company and we agree that no one will be laid off for longer than 12 weeks. This means that the company can make layoffs in stages. This means that those who have their workplace on board Invincible will be temporarily laid off if they are not part of the stacking crew, which numbers 22 (66 in total).
 

What does being temporarily laid off mean?
In short, the employer is required to give notice of redundancies 14 days before the redundancies are implemented. The employer is then obliged to pay ordinary wages for the first 45 days. After the employer period, you can apply for unemployment benefit via NAV.

We agree that the company should first ask the temporarily laid off if they wish to use other personnel who are permanently employed by Noble Drilling Norge AS(NDN).

Let's take an example:
You receive notice of temporary layoff on 6 December, then you will be laid off on 20 December at the earliest. A prerequisite for this is that you have completed your time off. The employer's salary obligation only starts when you have completed your leave. For the first 45 days after this, NDN pays ordinary wages. After that, NDN is exempt from the wage obligation, then you must apply to NAV for unemployment benefits.

If you travel to work during the employer's compulsory wage period, the days for which the company pays redundancy pay stop, and continue continuously after the end of the leave.
If you travel to work when you receive unemployment benefit from NAV, unemployment benefit ends and you can reapply for unemployment benefit when you have finished your leave.

We have learned in the protocol that NDN undertakes to take temporarily laid-off personnel back on salary from the first departure after staffing up in March, however no one shall be temporarily laid-off for longer than 12 weeks. Normally, it will be the case that the person who has been on temporary layoff the longest will return to work first.
 
 
Temporary stacking mode in Stavanger
The rig will lie in the Åmøy fjord just outside Stavanger. The crew on board will be around 22 plus catering. The positions and numbers are here:
3 OIM, 3 DSL, 6 Tourpusher, 3 TSL, 3 Maintenance Engineer, 3 MSL, 6 Roughneck, 6 Crane Opr, 3 Assistant Crane Opr, 6 Roustabout, 6 Operator Technical, 3 Engine Mech, 3 ET, 3 Electrician, 3 Hydraulic , 3 Medics and 3 Logistics Coordinators. This amounts to 66 people in total.

The protocols you will find here: 

https://www.mafsiden.no/protocols

 

NAF reserves the right for errors in the English translation as this is directly from Google Translate with small adjustments.

Hi all
Now the offshore bags have been packed onshore and on their way to the rigs.
​It is the shop stewards who are responsible for the distribution on board to all members.
Then we hope you will be satisfied.

Board meeting and shop steward conference
Last week, a board meeting and shop steward conference was held in the Noble Employees' Association at Clarion Energy.

The vast majority of shop stewards and board members were present. The discussions and engagement were very good, and we were able to address many important things. It is reported that the mood on the rigs is good and it looks like the merger with Noble has gone well so far. Having said that, there was a lot of uncertainty, where the employees will go after Intrepid leaves, the crew will be split up, training etc.

Then we had a great visit from the office. Claus Bachmann, VP Operation North Sea and Australia and Erik Evensgård, Operation Manager. Good info from them and many questions were asked from the participants.

We also had contributions from KHVO, Anders Blom and the challenges in the Safety Organization.

We had Fredrik Løfsgaard from Arctic on Teams and he went through insurance and pensions. We will also invite him to the annual meeting in February 2022 to go into this more thoroughly.

Under the condition of the rigs, we can mention some of the points:

- Temporary employment/hiring and overtime

- PULSE, lack of follow-up

- Wifi problems in some places

- At Inspirer, training in the permit system etc. (SAP is used there, among other things)

- Increased workload, fewer people

- Welcome on-board meetings, are these voluntary?

 

Members with international contracts
NAF has started discussing with the company that international positions should have local employment. They have not been willing to negotiate about this in the past.

This means in practice that if a member who had an international employment has been dismissed, then the person has had to go to court to claim that they should be employed in Norway. It has proven to be difficult to find anyone willing to take legal action against the company.

We have a Joining Agreement(Tilslutningsavtale) from 12 August 2004 which regulates this, and the agreement has not been renegotiated or changed since. There has only been an agreement that new rigs that have arrived in the period up to now should be covered by this agreement. NAF believes that we do not necessarily need to change it either, if we can find a solution with the company.

NAF believes that we now have a unique opportunity to create an agreement that will regulate employment conditions for those with international contracts.

Why shouldn't someone who is in management out on our rigs have the same predictability as someone who is in a junior position?? Why shouldn't the principle of seniority apply to them?

The creativity is great and the arguments many. It must be said that there are of course both "pros and cons" in this and we will have to come back with more about this later.

The company has heard our initial thoughts and we will put a lot off efforts into reaching an agreement.

 

Monthly meeting with the company
On 2022.11.11 we had a monthly meeting with the company.

Many had probably hoped, after being at the shop stewards' conference last week, that there would now be a clarification on what will happen when Invincible is to be published before it is released again for AkerBP in April 2023. There is a lot in this, and Many different solutions are being worked on. In any case, we could not enter into any discussions when the staffing is not ready.

NAF is waiting for what the company comes up with as a proposal for staffing and then they have to prove to us that any layoffs will be of a shorter duration than 12 weeks, if this is to be a permanent layoff. Here, the rules are straightforward considering that the employer must pay wages for the first 45 days, so the period that the employees must be on NAV is shorter.

The company calls in NAF when they are ready for discussions.

We will provide more information as soon as we have something.

 

Welcome onboard meetings, offshore
Here NAF will have a discussion on how these meetings are now used. They were volunteers in the past, and believe that they must give this a try.

 

Right of re-employment
Otherwise, we are working on an extended preferential right for those who were made redundant earlier this year. NAF is of the clear opinion that all those who were dismissed in March and worked on temporary contracts (6-week contracts), will receive very poor conditions with a view to re-employment within 2 years. To explain this, one can imagine that a person who was dismissed in March, had 2 months' notice, should then have finished and been paid from 01.06.22. Then the right to re-employment would apply from 01.06.22 and for 2 years until 01.06.24. Then it is the case that many have stayed on and worked right up until now as temps, a few have had their notice period extended, others have only had a single trip, etc., but still contributed to the rigs being in operation. Some have also quit completely because they haven't taken the chance to be a substitute. NAF is of the clear opinion that here the company must meet us and give ALL who were dismissed in March better conditions. We believe that the right to re-employment must apply from a date after Intrepid has left the Norwegian continental shelf, and for 2 years. A proposal would be that if Intrepid goes, for example on 01.12.22, then everyone should have a re-employment right from 14.12.22 to 14.12.24.

Offshore bags are coming
New bags with the new logo will be sent out shortly.

NAF reserves the right for errors in the English translation as this is directly from Google Translate with small adjustments.

 

Industri Energi (IE) sent an e-mail on Monday evening (21 November) to everyone who may be entitled to quarantine compensation. The e-mail should have been sent to everyone who has been a member in the period from March 2020. The e-mail address IE has used is the one to which you are registered in the member archive.
IE is now asking EVERYONE who wants to run such a case to register this with them, in an e-mail you should have received on Monday evening (November 21).
First, they check whether you qualify to join.
If it turns out that you have grounds to apply for compensation, you will receive information on how to proceed with making the claim.
 
NAF has today sent out an e-mail to everyone to make sure that everyone has received this information.
 
Here is a link to IE's website which explains in more detail:
https://industrienergi.no/covid-19-compensation/
 
All questions related to quarantine questions are answered by Industri Energi, here is the e-mail address where you can ask questions:
covidkompensasjon@industrienergi.no
 
 
Here is the address you should send to the company:
"The Dispute Act - compensation for passed quarantine before departure to workplace, cf. Disputes Act § 5-2", by 5 December to:
Noble Drilling Norge AS
w/ Claus Bachmann
claus.bachmann@maerskdrilling.com
 
If you have not received this e-mail from IE, you must immediately write an e-mail to IE and have it sent to you. You write to:
covidkompensasjon@industrienergi.no
 
NAF reserves the right for errors in the English translation as this is directly from Google Translate with small adjustments.
 

Merger, Maersk Drilling Norge AS and Noble Drilling Norge AS.
Have now had a meeting with the company and we can inform you that this was, in rough terms, only really a name change.

Noble Drilling Norge AS maintains the legal entity that Maersk Drilling Norge AS had, only with a new name.

Then the company and NAF believe that then all agreements will continue as before.
The company and NAF will draw up a separate protocol which states that all current protocols for MDN will be carried over into the new company, Noble Drilling Norge AS.

This then applies to protocols, the collective agreement's special agreements, employment contracts and not least the right to re-employment.

For those with international employment, these companies have also only changed their names. NAF otherwise has a clear opinion that we want local employment for our members.

 

Heliport visit

It has been incredibly positive and nice to meet so many members in recent weeks.

We were in Bergen and hoped to meet two crews that were going out and the two that then came in. Here it turned out that we only got to meet those who were going out due to helicopter problems.

We still have quite a few on Intrepid, but when that is said, we have almost visited all the crews that have exits/entrances in Stavanger.

 

Sick leave or leave during the quarantine period

In the first 8-9 months of the corona pandemic, the company maintained the right to withdraw wages, if you were either on sick leave or needed leave in accordance with clause 14.1 a, b or c of the collective agreement, during the imposed quarantine period. Alternatively, you could move on your own, or owe days to the company.

MAF has always believed that this practice was wrong, and if we still cannot reach an agreement with the company, we will dispute the cases that we have received.

In order to clarify how large the scope is, and to ensure that all those affected can participate in a possible case, we are asking everyone who in the period March 2020 to approx. November 2020 were either on sick leave or needed welfare leave during the imposed quarantine period, and for that reason either had their wages deducted or had to owe days to the company.

Answers are requested within 2 weeks to: jornbhansen@gmail.com

 

Board meeting and union election conference

Otherwise, we are looking forward to the first board meeting of the Noble Ansattes Forening and the first shop stewards' conference which will come in 3 weeks.

Well met.

 

Noble Ansattes Forening (NAF) in Industri Energi (IE) will shortly send out information to be completed for all members who have so far said "YES" to be involved in the cases.

IE is now working on the last details before this is sent out.

This also applies to those who have not said "YES", and who may be entitled to participate.

We have been made aware that some say that this is a case that will create a precedent and that this will apply to everyone in Noble Drilling Norge AS.

THIS IS NOT TRUE AND IS DIRECTLY WRONG.

This is a civil case from each member of Industri Energi and is not a collective action.

Other trade unions or unorganized persons have to run their own affairs.

More information will come soon.

The website will only be used for general information in this case.

03.10.22, the name Maersk Drilling Norge AS was changed to Noble Drilling Norge AS.

03.10.22 we also changed our name from Maersk Ansattes Forening (MAF) to Noble Ansattes Forening (NAF). New bags with a new logo etc. will be ordered . This will arrive soon. We will otherwise use the old email (post@mafsiden.no) until further notice.

Many of us know Claus Bachman, VP of Operations-North Sea and Australia, from before and he will , as most people know, be in the Stavanger office. The first impression of those who have visited us at our NAF office from the management in Houston, as well as Claus Bachman, is that we have every reason to believe we will archive our goals. They are very concerned about the employees and the great work you do offshore.

The first thing we will do is that we will assist the employee side in the office AMU to come up with inputs to what the organization in Norway should look like. The first meeting is on Wednesday 05.10.22 at 2.30 pm.

We will keep you continuously updated when new information comes to us.

We do not expect major changes for those employed offshore, but this will be clarified in the near future. We know there are many questions that need to be answered, about seniority and re-employment rights etc., these are the things that NAF takes as a matter of course, and will be clarified when we have own meetings on these topics.

You all can still meet us at the heliport, this week in Stavanger and next week we will travel to Bergen (outbound for crew 2 and inbound for crew 6 for Intrpid). The aim is to reach everyone, but we must attend many other meetings which mean that it will take some time before we have visited all the crew.

Otherwise, a board meeting and union elected conference are planned for 16-18 November. Invitations have been sent out.

PTS, the pension insurance for seamen

We have been contacted by several people who have probably received too high an excess in connection with the promotion from group 2 to group 1. The company has looked at the examples we have received and will correct this with the correct rates.

The amounts the individual had to pay themselves should be within the order of NOK 2,000, and up to approximately NOK 10,000.

If anyone has an amount over NOK 10,000, we ask them to contact MAF or the company.

 

Merger between NOBLE and Maersk

Both MAF and Vernetjenesten have put forward demands for employee participation in relation to this merger from day one. This has also been done by employee representatives on the board of MDN.

There have been some information meetings between employee representatives and MDN/MD, but the information has been very limited at this stage. Most of it has been possible to read through the information that has been available from MD and Noble.

The last meeting was last week where it was made absolutely clear to us that the information and participation we are requesting can only come after the merger date, which is set for 03.10.22. It was announced that there will be a transaction period of about a month, before we get to know how the organization will look to us who work in Norway.

It can be stated that Ptil has been informed that employee participation in this process has been far too poor.

 

Hire

You should be happy that Maersk Intrepid has got more work and that we now probably have work well into November, but it also means that 6-week contracts and some subletting will be the normal everyday life for many.

MAF can only explain once again that when the decision for the downsizing was made in March, this was then based on Maersk Intrepid being completed by April 2022 at the latest. The rest of the story is known.

 

Illness during the quarantine period

These are old matters, no less very important for those concerned. MAF has again raised this issue with the company, which then deals with sick leave during quarantine. MAF has argued for and has prepared a dispute on this. The company will look at this once more before we send this to IE. MAF has always claimed that no one should have any reduction in salary or should have to move their trips when they were on sick leave during the quarantine.

 

Heliport and hotel visits

In the last 3 weeks, we have met many members and others out at the heliport and in the hotels.

It has been good for many to ask us questions directly and we have been able to explain what is happening. It is very good that the members get to know what happens at board meetings and in the day-to-day operations. We are challenged by the fact that there is too little information and that we are not visible enough, and we hope that such visits can help to improve this. We haven't been able to be in Bergen and on the Maersk Intrepid yet but hope that we will be able to do this in the future. It is difficult to talk to everyone, other meetings and tasks prevent this, but we hope that we will get across many of the crews.

 

During the corona pandemic, the rig company Maersk Drilling Norge demanded that offshore employees who lived abroad had to complete the mandatory quarantine of 14 days in a hotel before departure. The company has always objected to compensating for the inconvenience this caused the employees.
 
- Our members were away from home and completely isolated for 14 days before going to work, without any form of compensation. It is completely unsustainable, says Frode Larsen, club leader in the Maersk Ansattes Forening (MAF).
 
Industri Energi and MAF believe that the employer's requirement to stay in quarantine outside the home in order to attend work, prior to the working period, cannot be imposed without compensation for this.
 
- The measure was very intrusive and burdensome for the individual. Industri Energi believes that those affected are entitled to compensation for this and is now considering legal action to pursue the wage claims, says Erling Holmefjord, Head of the Labor and Employment Department at IndustriEnergi
 
He points out that the employer is the closest to bearing the costs of the measures that were implemented.
 
Both MAF and Industri Energi acknowledge that the situation during the corona pandemic was extraordinary and there are few comparable situations. - At the same time, it is our clear opinion that it is the employer who must bear the costs of his orders, not the individual employee, says Erling Holmefjord
 
Can have a ripple effect for several people
Head of the cooperation committee for employees in floating rigs and drilling (NR-Forum), Bår Inge Pedersen, points out that there has been no hearing from employers about compensation during the salary negotiations.
 
- This case can have ripple effects for the entire offshore industry. Just within the NR area (floating rigs, jack-ups, catering and platform drilling) there may be around 700 people involved, says Pedersen.
 

There have been several reports that Industri Energi (IE) is more or less throwing in the towel and would sign long before the other two unions.

Here we probably need more than an ever so small correction.

Firstly, we see that the organizational battle that is unfolding is moving into a phase where lies abound on the rigs. In this information, we only deal with the salary settlement.

 

After there was a breakdown during the negotiations in May, we had to go to the National Ombudsman at the end of June.

MAF had 3 representatives in the mediation. Like all other mediations, we cannot publish anything about what is happening or what offers are coming up.

What we can say anyway was that we had clear demands and expectations that our demands had to be met. One of the main demands from MAF was this with an employer's right to be able to use the employees' free time in connection with e.g. a pandemic, quarantine or testing, and compensation for this. As far as we know, only IE had a requirement that this should be included in the collective agreement and compensated for.

This was included until the very end and when the national mediator came with the absolute last offer, this was taken away.

At the same time, two other clubs in IE also had demands that Norwegian Ship owners Association(NSA) did not want to meet either. MAF also believed that the percentage in the latest offer was too low.

We ended up having to vote on whether to take the offer or go on strike.

MAF and three other clubs voted against and with our representatives, we lost the vote by one! (1) voice. 

During this vote, something happens that everyone should notice.

SAFE and DSO were then ready in the hallway waiting for our delegation leader and wanted him to sign the offer. He actually had to go and ask them to wait a bit because we were in the middle of a very critical situation.

How can it be that some employees of Maersk Drilling Norge AS who were not there, can say that IE did not contribute to the salary settlement?

The three organizations negotiate in parallel, everyone gets the same offer, everyone can say either yes or no. As I said, we were very close to voting down the last offer the national mediator had made. Then you can't say that there was someone else who did more than others.

I have every respect for both SAFE and DSO during the mediation and there has not been a single word that SAFE or DSO did anything more than others. We know that there were hard discussions at both SAFE and DSO and that they had their disagreements, but that there too it was the majority in the delegation that then everyone must stand behind.

But let this be about what came out of this instead of trying to take credit for something that isn't there.

That this, in addition, then comes from people who were not there and that this is only put in a context to create discord and strife is then completely wrong and directly misleading.

We were there, we know.

 

The board election for the company Maersk Drilling Norge AS starts tomorrow, 1 September.

The election takes place electronically through SurveyMonkey.

We encourage you to vote for our list, which consists of:


1st place: Frode Larsen - Leader in MAF/Electrician
2nd place: Anders Blom - KHVO/Crane operator
3rd place: Bår Inge Pedersen - Association Secretary MAF/Rig Adm
4th place: Jørn B. Hansen - Deputy leader MAF/ET
5th place: Eirik Gjemble - Board member MAF/Crane operator
6th place: Tom Eirik Hansen - Board member MAF/Ass driller

This election concerns employee representatives to the board of Maersk Drilling Norge as. There are 3 people who want a place at the board table and we ask you to vote for the list that MAF adopted at its annual meeting earlier this year.


Good luck with your choice!
 

Two protocols have been signed today

As regards the protocol for Invincible, there is an agreement on how the rig is to be manned before it is moved to the Norwegian sector with regard to staffing etc. The agreement has similarities with protocols we have drawn up previously under similar conditions. In short, the rig is being manned already today and conditions are like working on the Norwegian continental shelf.


As for the protocol for Intrepid, it also has similarities to what we have done previously. At worst, the rig is without a contract from the beginning of September. It is then moved to Grenå in Denmark without any form of contract and put into "strike mode". Norwegian conditions for those who are employed by MDN until the rig is removed by MDN employees. MAF has thought that we should put the rig in circulation in Norway.
It may be that some personnel are asked to work on board at the beginning of the circulation period in Denmark, the request will then be made in accordance with the agreement to work single trips outside the Norwegian sector but with Norwegian conditions. This will be voluntary for each individual.


Otherwise, it is enough to say that all these changes have been taken into account when we had downsizing this spring. There will be no new possible rounds of dismissal at the present time, as said, these were effected before the summer.


Here you will find the English version of the protocols
 

That 2022 should become a bad year, is absolutely confirmed now. And those who have been affected in the hardest way, are of course all those who now don't have a permanent job.

First some history. Back in March, the company presented us with a very detailed plan showing how many positions they should keep employed on each rig, month by month and during the various projects until October. This led to 124 redundancies.

We managed to postpone a large part of the redundancies by one month. This was an attempt to keep as many as possible employed on the day for the merger with Noble.

We had been assured that about 40 of Noble's third-party employees would not be permanently employed, and it was of course the plan that we should demand the right to re-employment for all dismissed into the "new company", this should happen based on the Norwegian rules for company mergers and seniority. 

However, IE's lawyers could not with a hundred percent certainty confirm that all the dismissed would have the right to reemployment into "the new company"  but we had a clear plan for claiming it. (This was also supported by the company and written into the minutes of the individual termination discussions)

Unfortunately, it seems that those jobs will not be relevant to us, because they are now planning to sell "Noble Lloyd Noble" to Shelf Drilling, if everything will be approved. 


The redundancies and thus the submitted manning plan are based on the fact that Intrepid does not have any contract after October, and the plan is also based on that Intrepid should have been stacked for a few months during this summer. This has created a higher need for manning than the original plan. And this is of course also a reason for why MAF now receives many inquiries from dismissed members who want to know more about their rights.

But with the current situation, where no new contracts have been signed, and where the company has not yet secured the options for extending manning on Inspirer, then we cannot go to the company and claim that they shall start to reemploy.

We therefore have to accept that the company right now is hiring on temporary contracts and has more use of overtime work than normal. It is not illegal what they are doing, because this is a temporary need for manning, and the basis for the initial redundancies is still unchanged when looking forward to October.

We have a big understanding for all the frustration this creates for many. We are following the situation all the time, and we will of course claim for re-employment as soon as we have the opportunity.


Some also ask if we can claim for "permittering" but also this will require that there is work at the other end. So at present time this is not possible.

We see a much higher use of third-party employed on Invincible in Grenaa, denmark. This is also a part of the company's original plan, and we must very strongly point out that MAF has no right at all to claim that Invincible shall be manned by MDN-employed during the yearstay. But of course we will prefer that the rig is only manned by MDN-employed, especially considering those who have now been laid off.




Quarantine and compensation
We have not received anything new from the lawyers at IE since we published the last update on the MAF page in May.  https://www.mafsiden.no/home/quarantine-issues-may-22

Last month we were asked to provide an estimate of how many days everyone has been in quarantine in total. We have made a rough calculation and sent it to Industri energi.

The lawyers are working on the case, but we clearly believe that it's still going too slowly.

We brought a number of quarantine related claims into the main negotiations, and again into the mediation. But sadly it was swept aways during the last minutes of the mediation.

Unfortunately, only MAF and one more club, also from Industri Energi, had brought quarantine related stuff into the negotiations, and therefore it was not possible to obtain a majority.

It is important to point out that if we had got something into the protokol, it would only have been valid for future situations.


Overtime trips are often canceled on the day of the agreed departure.
We have received many inquiries about this. HR are contacting employees and asking if they can travel out on extra trips on overtime payment.  But it happens very often that the day before departure they have found another solution, and the agreement has therefore been canceled.

The company is allowed to cancel agreed overtime, without compensating as long as the employee has not reached the place of departure(heliport). But when cancellations  happen so often as we now experience, then we think that we need to change some unwritten procedures for how HR are making agreements with the employees.

We have also received inquiries from some who have been out on their normal trips, and have been asked to stay on board for a longer time. The agreements have been confirmed, the travel plans have been changed and in addition many have also changed or canceled private agreements at home. Then later HR canceled the agreement.

If HR wants to use this practice, then we believe that they at least have to make it clear to each individual when it's a request for overtime and not a confirmation.

We have discussed the case with the company but have not yet reached an agreement.


"Nordea Liv" Pension saving (This maybe only relevant for the Danish)
This case started with inquiries from several members who thought they had been cheated for a "Vesta" pension saving (later taken over by "Nordea Liv")

Based on the feedback we have received, we can now state that this "Vesta" pension saving (today "Nordea liv") was a supplementary pension that employes from abroad received in the years from about 1990 to 1999, if they didn't already had a "PFA" or another pension saving for foreigners.

Until 1999, the criteria for getting the "PFA'' pension saving was controlled by the company. Some got the "PFA" pension already at the time of the transfer to Norway, and others only got it if they later after the transfer to Norway signed a contract with Maersk in Copenhagen for International employment. 

The "PFA "pension saving, became mandatory for all employees living in Denmark, after it was included in Appendix 4 to the agreement in 1999, that the company's total pension contributions must on average be the same per. foreign employed as for

the Norwegians.  (Those who lived in the UK got "Scottish Life" pension savings instead, or maybe other solutions)

We do not find reason to investigate further on this case, but we thank all the members who have blown the dust off their well-preserved documents from the 1990,s to contribute to the clarification.


MAF wishes all our members a good summer, hoping that the current manning situation will soon change for the better.

At full seniority in A1 and 6 years seniority, this is 4.58% plus about 5700.- at night, public holidays and holiday pay on this sum.
37000, - as a minimum is not a bad settlement, so it is said.



But there are several things we did not get. MAF does not agree that the limit for the individually paid was 3.7%, however a minimum of 37,000. This is and will be too low. We had a clear expectation of a minimum of 4.3%, which would reflect the latest bid from the broker.

So to the technical requirements.
MAF had a clear requirement that the employer had to pay if they demanded that one had to travel in their spare time to get to their place of departure earlier. This is clearly aimed at quarantine and testing, but there are also other situations that could then be closed.
Our demand was included until the last round, so we did not get it. What one must take into account in this is that only IE had this requirement and it was MAF and another club that fronted this.

When you then look at the problems that several other clubs have in both chapters 8 and 9.2, as well as 3.7% for the individually paid, this actually had to be voted on.

MAF voted against what then became the final outcome as this did not include our requirements.

3 other clubs also voted against this.

More info on what the settlement itself gave will come.

Have a nice summer.

An agreement was reached with the National Mediator in Oslo.

Here you will find more information from IE´'s website.

 

The negotiations in connection with this year's wage settlement are now for mediation in Oslo. The mediation has a deadline of 24.00 tomorrow Tuesday. The law states that we can not inform until the mediation is completed. We will therefore not provide information until the end of the meeting.

MAF was contacted by Industri Energi(IE) last week where it was asked how many nights you all had in connection with the quarantine since March 2020.

MAF has stipulated this in the first instance as this should only give an estimate of how many overnight stays there had been in our company.

Possibly it would be smart to get an overview yourself and have this clear, how many nights you have not received any compensation for.

We will be back with more info as soon as possible.
 

Frode Larsen, Jørn B Hansen and Bår Inge Pedersen travel to Grenå in Denmark on a rig visit for a few days. We know it's busy on board but we still hope to meet many faithful members.

Here is the speech that Frode delivered at the congress:

Honorable chairmen and members of Congress. 

Under item 3.9, Production, line 606 the following is stated: The petroleum industry must be developed as regards with jobs, climate objectives and the needs of our important trading partners. 

Here I would like to have a new line inserted, but I do not need it as this virtually covers everything we need. 

In plain text, this means that the petroleum industry must be developed and not phased out. 

I think the text already stated is very comprehensive and if it is interpreted correctly, it is quite strong.

 

Otherwise, l support everything that my good friends Eirik Birkeland and Ingard Haugeberg said in their speeches. Very good contributions that reflect our vulnerable industry.

 

Then l would like to thank IE, LO, NHO and the oil companies who stood together to establish the famous oil package in 2020. It saved many jobs and got several projects started.

Leave it that Erna Solberg today publicly admits a mistake in that connection, saying that the oil package was too favorable, because none of us could have predicted what Europe would look like 2 years later. 

When you also bearing in mind the LO Congress' strong statement, it probably does not suit the Conservative Party who at the time wanted to represent this attitude alone - to protect the oil industry. 

 

Much has been said about the oil price and the present situation in Europe and the rest of the world and I believe that we presently are not in position to set an end date for the Norwegian oil and gas production.

Our union is fully aware of what we think about this situation and with the input that Jørn Eggum presented in his speech, about the uncertainty about Europe's ability to resist Russia's blackmail and the power and energy crisis this may lead to, this is not the time for to set an end date for Norwegian oil and gas production.

 

But back to my industry and scope of trade. 

 

Many people talk about stopping the exploration. 

A decision by the Storting will, with immediate effect, throw 10,000 drilling rig workers directly into unemployment and the same goes for many workers onshore. In the long run, there are an awful lot of people who lose their jobs.

They have the best Basic Agreement in Norway, and one of the best of our Collective Agreements.

 

This one's burning like hell. Those who promote this proposal must take the consequences of the proposal very seriously. To stand here in all seriousness to actually think that our organized workplaces should be closed down, at a LO Congress, the biggest workshop scene of them all, is not only disappointing, it is directly painful to listen to. And then, in addition, allow themselves to point to all the "new" jobs for my union comrades that will probably be in line for us ..... Where are these jobs?

Dear Congress, make decisions that we may stand for. 

Develop not wind up. 

Dear Congress, please do not remove our jobs. 

Thank you for your attention.


Here is the speech that Frode delivered at the congress:

 

Our Frode is at the LO-congress. Here is an example of why it is important that we work on several fronts.

https://frifagbevegelse.no/loaktuelt/noe-av-olja-ma-bli-liggende-krever-to-loforbund-tillitsvalgt-steffen-er-forferdelig-skuffa-6.158.879027.c3d68a75ad?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=mie310522

The article has not been translated into English by the publisher.

The protocol took time to complete this time, but again managed to get the tax agreement valid for employees in the management as well.

This tax guarantee costs a lot and is therefore not something that comes by itself. MAF is the only club in the NR area which has a similar agreement for employees who work abroad and who can thus be affected by higher taxes. This agreement ensures full reimbursement for all.

The agreement can be found here: https://www.mafsiden.no/protocols

Here is a link to IE´'s website for more information.
 

Today, the wage settlement for those who work offshore started. The negotiating committee is gathered in Oslo and the plan is to see if we reach an agreement within the next few days. From MAF, Frode Larsen, Jørn B Hansen and Bår Inge Pedersen are represented.

It is not allowed to inform while we are negotiating, but we will update as soon as the negotiations are concluded.

Compensation for quarantine in general
At the end of 2021, LO leader Peggy Hessen Følsvik addressed NHO (Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise) to discuss an approach towards the authorities about public compensation schemes.
The inquiry resulted in a meeting where NHO emphasized that the member companies should be able to find solutions internally, and instructed NOG (Norwegian Oil and Gas) to take the initiative for a meeting with Industri Energi to reach an agreement on the process further.
 
The agreed meeting with Norwegian Oil and Gas on compensation for the quarantine took place on 24 March.Industri Energi gave an account of our clear view from the meeting between LO and NHO last autumn where the representatives from the management of LO and NHO agreed stated that NOG had to ensure that the member companies were held accountable in the quarantine case. This means that we can assume that those who have a place at the top of the food chain in the oil and gas industry on the Norwegian shelf will show responsibility when it comes to compensation for quarantine. This as an alternative to involving the authorities in the compensation issue. The representatives of Norwegian Oil and Gas assured us that they immediately will address responsibilities and expectations with their member companies. The parties agreed to meet again on April 7 to discuss the way forward.
 
IE info after the meeting on April 7
As agreed, a follow-up meeting was arranged with Norwegian Oil and Gas yesterday, 7 April. The representatives of the employers' association for, among other things, the operating companies could regretfully tell us that their member companies will not take responsibility for the government-imposed quarantine with subcontractors. From our side, it was naturally stated that based on the signals from NHO and LO, we neither can nor will accept this.We asked NOG to inform NHO about the outcome of the "clean-up" that the main organizations called for.Industry Energy will, from our side, inform the LO leader about the same. We are planning for a dialogue with LO over Easter.
 
MAF may otherwise inform that the matter was discussed at our Annual General Meeting on 18-19 March 2022. Here, a claim was raised that a wording be included in the Collective Agreement which restricts an employer's right to limit the leisure for their employees. This may involve quarantine, as an example. 
The claim was also promoted at NR’s collective bargaining conference on 20 April 2022.
 
 
Compensation for the imposed leisure time quarantine valid from 24 June 2021
The leisure time quarantine is also practiced for fully vaccinated personnel rigs operated by Maersk Drilling Norway contracted to work for AkerBP. This applies to personnel who come from "Countries with requirements for entry quarantine within the EU / EEA, including Switzerland and the United Kingdom (As specified in Appendix A of the Corona Regulations)".
 
MAF claims that personnel who are imposed leisure quarantine to be compensated with lost leisure time for the time they are not at work when they are on the rig.
The claim is applied from 24 June 2021, when version 27.0, "Departure instructions - Handling the corona situation" to AkerBP was applied.
 
The company believes that there is no basis for claiming compensation for the quarantine on board pursuant to the Collective Agreement. 
MAF has therefore prepared a dispute protocol with the company, with an intension to institute legal proceedings. 
 
Compensation for the imposed leisure time quarantine valid from 05 February 2022
AkerBP again introduced the leisure time quarantine on our facilities from 05.02.2022. This with reference to Departure Instructions version 33, point 4. 
MAF claims that personnel who are imposed leisure time quarantine to be compensated with lost leisure time for the time they are not at work when they are on the rig. 
The claim is made valid from 05 February 2022, when version 33.0, «Departure instructions - Handling of the corona situation» issued by AkerBP was asserted.
 
The company believes that the reason why the leisure time quarantine was introduced was to protect colleagues and reduce consequences / outbreaks on board and provide better conditions for mapping close contacts in the event of infection. The instruction was that one should not establish new close contacts outside working hours, hence refraining from using recreational services with a minimum use of common areas outside working hours and meals.
 
The company does not believe that there is a basis for claiming compensation for the quarantine on board pursuant to the Collective Agreement. 
MAF has therefore prepared a dispute protocol with the company, with with an intension to institute legal proceedings. 
 
 
Compensation for Corona test prior to departure. 
Here, we do not completely agree with Industri Energi when they believe that it should only be compensated pursuant to Clause 8 of the Collective Agreement, which states overtime rates for time spent, however, at a minimum of 4 overtime hours. We set the claim a little higher. In any case, Industri Energi has submitted a summons with the said claim in accordance with Clause 8 of the Collective Agreement and we must await the outcome of this. Industri Energi assumes that if they win a verdict on this, then we may use it to achieve the same result. 
The case is scheduled in the Labor Court on 28-29 April 2022.
 
26-04-2022 IE news - Settlement in the case of coronation test prior to business trip
The parties have reached a settlement in the claim for compensation for the time members have spent taking a coronation test in prior to work trips. 
The case concerned that oil workers in several companies were not allowed to test themselves at home before start traveling on their offshore hitch, but they were required to meet at the place of departure in advance, to test themselves there. 
Industri Energi / LO, Safe and their opposing party The Norwegian Shipowners' Association have agreed to resolve the dispute out of court. 
The parties agree that the employees of the defendant companies will be granted compensation with effect from 1 January 2021 for the inconvenience of having to meet ready for work earlier than normal, to take a corona test. The compensation corresponds to two hours of overtime pay per departure.
By this the dispute is considered resolved without the parties having taken a position on the underlying question of understanding the wording. At the same time, the parties agree to discuss a collective bargaining solution for the future, should it become relevant to reintroduce such testing. 
The notified labor law case is requested to be reconciled as a settlement.
 
MAF has discussed the settlement at the monthly meeting on 03.05.2022 
The company claims that the settlement between NR and the employee organizations (LO / SAFE) dated 25 April 2022 does not mean that employees who were quarantined by the authorities are granted compensation for meeting earlier before leaving for offshore for a covid test. 
The company does not see that this protocol should be applied to MDN employees, and further claims that MDN has provided a better compensation than what the settlement dictates.
 
In any case, MAF was not part of the case / settlement because we did not agree with IE. And we had better schemes. We are therefore considering disputing the case.
 
Claim for payment for home testing
MAF claims that our members receive the same compensation as the AkerBP employees have received for home testing in connection with going offshore. This was made valid from 15.12.21. As we see it, there is a requirement for 3 home tests. They receive 0.5 overtime hours for each test they take.
On April 11, MDN reported back that they would not compensate for home testing. MAF has therefore submitted a dispute to the company.
 
 
Illness during the quarantine period and the right to compassionate leave in accordance with Clause 14.1 a, b and c of the Collective Agreement
We have previously sent all the issues to Industri Energi, but they have not taken a position on them. We do not believe it may be right that we lose both collective and statutory rights to leave by having to be quarantined. 
We have tried with local agreements, but the only subject the company has given in to is that you may now report sick during the quarantine period, without them going to deduct from your salary, if due to illness, you have not been able to complete the necessary quarantine before departure. However, we must point out that this is only the practice that the company has chosen, and we have not reached an agreement on the same.
 
In addition to this, we continue to have challenges with compassionate leave in accordance with section 14.1 a, b and c of the Collective Agreement when they coincide with the quarantine period. 
This has also been discussed at our Annual General Meeting, and it is therefore presently a claim for the main settlement 2022 that we must work to get a text implemented to the Collective Agreement, which ensures that it will not have financial consequences if, due to justified leave, may not complete an imposed quarantine period before departure, and for that reason may not travel offshore at the scheduled time. 
The Claim was also promoted at NR’s collective bargaining conference on 20 April 2022.
 
Compensation for claims for quarantine or isolation on the return journey
The company states that this will typically be government-imposed quarantine (which must otherwise be handled by the local infection control office) and they therefore do not believe that they should compensate, even if the close contact or infection with corona has occurred at their installation. 
Industri Energi does not believe we may claim any compensation when it is imposed by the authorities and the company does not want to make a local agreement on compensation for this.
 
 
 
 

The follow up meeting with the Norsk olje og gass took place as planned yesterday, april 7th. The representatives from the employer’s organisation told us that their members did not want to take responsibility for compensating for the government enforced quaranteen periods in the subcontractor companies. It was upheld from our side that we neither can nor will accept this due to the signals given to us from LO and NHO. We told NOG to inform NHO about the outcome of this «cleanup» meeting which NHO themselves have encouraged us to have. Industri Energi will inform LO and will follow up with them past easter.

There is presently a lot of activity going on and we are receiving many inquiries related to   rotations, crew lists, Fredrikshavn and changes.
Intrepid were supposed to have arrived in Frederikshavn a long time ago. The fact that it has not arrived there means that the company has had to change all plans for where the personnel are supposed to be working from now on in April and onwards. The good thing about it is that more of the personnel laid off will retain their job a little longer.
The problems relate quite a lot on booked holidays, childcare and an otherwise general uncertainty. 
We may not say much other than that we have nothing to do with the manning and that we are all employed in MDN (so far), so the company has a clear right to move the employees around. We also know that the company are doing whatever they can do to prevent the employees from getting changes. In any case, there will be someone who must change rig and crew, but it is obvious that if there is someone for whom this turns out completely wrong, feel free to contact the company, there is a lot that may be arranged and changed.
 

Ongoing terminations and Merger with Noble. 
Two sides of the same matter. 
Too many have unfortunately received a notice of termination which applies from 1 April. MAF takes it for granted and expects that the preference right to re-employment will apply to the new company. The Legal department at Industri Energi has not yet been able to confirm all our rights, but this is something we prioritize highly and we see it as our most important task to secure the job for as many as possible.
Stoppage for hiring of hired personnel in Noble must be implemented.
Otherwise, we naturally keep a close eye on the company's use of overtime and temps. We will continuously make sure that as many people as possible have their notice period pushed forward, or even better, removed completely, if otherwise the need for manning changes.
 

AU had otherwise planned a rig visit in week 17 in Frederikshavn to Intrepid. No one may at the present time answer whether the rig will ever be alongside there, but there are neither no other plans known to us. The alternatives as we see it are to stay out on the field or to enter Norway. We just must wait and see. 
Otherwise, we will do our best to meet with members elsewhere (Invincible in Grenaa and elsewhere at hotels and heliports).
 

Otherwise, there are many open cases, quarantine and compensation take their toll. 
Regarding questions on compensation for the quarantine issues, a meeting has been agreed between IE and Norwegian Oil and Gas (NOG) on 07.04.22, to discuss the way forward. 
We are a little uncertain whether they will discuss both the government- and operator-imposed quarantine, but we know that NOG will take responsibility towards their member companies, ie the oil companies. 
Then it will be a question whether they will step up to share their profits with those who have worked a little further down the value chain.
In our aspect we think that it is in place with compensation when everyone in Equinor receives 10.2% of gross salary in bonus for last year.
1,300,000,000 will be paid out as a bonus, in this company only.
 
There will be new and updated info about the quarantine cases in general when we have received the latest news from the meeting between IE and NOG.
 
Other activity: 
-We have planned a new meeting of the Board on 04-05.05.22. 
-AU will attend a collective bargaining conference with all the other local branches on 20-21.04.22. 
In this matter we have got a clear mandate from the Annual General Meeting what we will claim. 
This year a main settlement will take place, ie that it is not just a question of money, but additionally the text of the Collective Agreement may also be changed. We bring along several good proposals for improvement.
 
Please feel free to mail members of AU directly: 
maf.frode@gmail.com
jornbhansen@gmail.com
baari.p@online.no
 
post@mafsiden.no may of course be used as well, but on this address we are not online all the time.
This email address was previously observed by our secretary who is no longer employed by MAF. 
Otherwise, you will find all the email addresses of members of the Board at www.mafsiden.no.  
 
News on mafsiden.no: 
At the Annual General Meeting we decided to send out an e-mail to all members when we have an update on mafsiden.no. The technical solution for this is under constrction. 
 
Wish all of you a happy Easter, both at sea and onshore. 
 

Here are links to IE´'s websites and Facebook:

https://industrienergi.no/nyhet/krever-kompensasjon-for-koronatest-pa-fritiden/


https://www.facebook.com/127013601165/posts/10159647695686166/

The announced meeting with the employer’s association Norsk olje og Gass took place 24th of March as planned. We made our opinions clear regarding the obligation put on the NOG members, by the leadership of both LO and NOG in the meeting between themselves last fall. These expectations are that we should be able to expect that the companies at the top of the food chain in the Norwegian oil and gas industy should show responsibility in this issue, as opposed to involving the authorities in the question of compensation.

NOG ensured that the responsibilities would be relayed to the members promtly and we agreed upon getting together on the 7th of April to discuss the way forward.

A very successful Annual General Meeting with a total of 25 shop stewards attending at the Clarion Hotel in Stavanger. 

4 guests were invited.

 Annual reports, accounts, incoming cases, etc. were processed accompanied by very good discussions and decisions.

 Here is a brief excerpt:
- Jakob Korsgaard informed about the state of the company.  
- Robert de Vries from IE presented an update on the MAF issues pending at IE.

- Language was a topic, MAF will always comply with the regulations. 

- MAF info on the web site. It was agreed to submit an email to all members when there had been a news update. 

- The quarantine issues. A good discussion at the meeting. We will post a full update on the status in a separate info containing a lot of information. Also, there probably  will be a meeting between the parties these days.  

- Action plan for 2022. Everyone attending probably agreed that the merger with Noble was the main topic. 

- Claims for wage settlement. Apart from the fact that we claim a general high percentage supplement. It is very important for MAF to promote the position 
Hydraulic to group A. New text to be inserted to avoid legal actions from employees,stating and clarify an employer's obligation to compensate and pay if they want to make use of our free time, whether this is offshore or onshore. 
Crane operator and AD are also positions we claim to be promoted in the matrix. 
A very good session was arranged with group work where a lot of proposals for wage the wage settlement were received. The MAF claims are submitted to Industri Energi.
We may not publish our claims for the wage settlement here, the claims will be processed through the IE Negotiation Committee before it is presented to the shipowners on 18 May.

It is with a heavy heart that we will now try to put into words what has taken place lately.
Many have written to us and asked for information, if we could not possibly come up with a progress plan, etc. It has been very difficult to inform, without at the same time having to tell that the present condition would virtually end up with mass redundancies.

Some history:
This autumn, after we finished the previous round of dismissals, we were aware that 2022 would be difficult in terms of contracts and activity.

What we were facing was that at that time we were promised that Invincible would have full manning during SPS and upgrading. No one mentioned anything about lay-off and Q4 in 2022 before it should have full manning. We were predicted that Intrepid would have a stay of about 3 months and MDN planned with individual rig lay-offs. The only challenge here was that we had to make the company aware that this must be of a duration of less than 12 weeks so that one could have individual rig lay-offs and not a full re-location of personnel. 

Reacher and Integrator were to exchange positions, there would then be a few more positions on Integrator. So, in overall we would manage well over the summer. The drilling on Inspirer would at least go on until October 2022, so there was time for the rig situation to change for the better.

In January, we were summoned to a meeting where we were told that Invincible would not have the type of crewing that we were envisioned. This changed everything, absolutely everything.

Then the personnel were to be moved around between the rigs, and we were then told that when Intrepid was to be docked alongside (of course in DK because we do not decide in Norway). Already at the end of January, the company would then have discussions on the matter this, but there was too little time. At this time, we knew nothing about the size of the crews on either Intrepid or Invincible alongside at the quay. February arrived, the company worked in high gear to find solutions / lists / crews and we were then called to a meeting on 21.02.22 to discuss the matter.

At the meeting, we were presented with a plan in which 135 were considered dismissed, 60 people with effect from 01.03.22, this due to long seniority. The rest in March. Damn ... This hurts.

45 people were to stay on board Intrepid in Frederikshavn, SPS on Invincible had received some manning, some on the Hybrid upgrade and the rig would actually be completely without Norwegian crew until Q4 when it was to return to Norway. 

We then had to see how this would look like in connection with what will happen in the future. Rig-wise lay-offs were claimed, which would be very confusing. Yes, we would have the dismissals postponed until 31.03.22, but in this case people would be laid-off and then be dismissed at the same time. Hard against hard, we claimed that all dismissals be postponed for a month and claimed that they be enforced from 31.03.22 at the earliest. We have achieved a Resource Pool of 40 persons. We are then down to about 350 employees left in Maersk Drilling Norge AS plus the Resource Pool.

A total of 135 people will be considered dismissed this time, people with more than 15 years of seniority in the company are now called to 15.1 meetings. MAF will of course assist all members who want assistance at these meetings. Just let us know when you are notified by the company about this. Otherwise, contact us if anything should be unclear.

Read the protocol, it is an incredibly complex situation where many people must have to change the rig, into an Extra competence pool for a period, back to the rig, and then not necessarily returning to where they started out. 

It is very confusing, but the company is also aware that there may be many who need a review and a more in-depth explanation. What we can say with certainty is that the company has done everything they can so that everyone could have predictability and that they have tried to move as few personnel as possible.

But there is more, of course there is. What about the merger between Maersk and Noble during all this? 

You may not get around this when you then see that we will end up with so many redundancies at the time for "closing" has been set. They're talking about July 1st, but this is not something you can relate to. Will this not provide jobs?

Does Noble not hire people in today? 

What about my seniority in a new company? 

What about my priority right for 2 years pursuant to the Collective Agreement? 

Will it apply in Noble? 

Etc ......

All of this we will have to revert to, but we may tell so much that everything that concerns the merger there is nothing to inform about yet. The Norwegian Competition Authority puts an end to everything. None of us may talk to "Noble in Norway" today if they will need personnel later on, etc. There is nothing more tell than what is said from the central parties in Town Halls from Jørn Madsen and co ..

We are not allowed to discuss anything at not our level, neither HR nor our boss Jakob Korsgaard can influence anything yet.

What we may say is that we claim, and the company agrees, that the preferential right is stated by the Collective Agreement, but legally we may not say with certainty that this will apply in the new company which will then be called Noble Corporation. Lawyers in IE are on the subject, and this is something MAF is going to fight for, rest assured.

What will take place ahead? 

What happens first is that everyone who is considered dismissed will be contacted by the company next week and then the 15.1 meetings will start from Monday 7 March. 

MAF will otherwise in a very short time come up with a timeline as we see the situation ahead. 

We Asks for understanding that we have not been able to inform about all of this previously.

You will find the protocol on mass redundancies here, and the agreement on yardstay for Intrepid here.
 

Since Monday this week, we have been in constant negotiations with MDN regarding a challenging situation we have found ourselves in.

We have to ask for even more patience and we expect a final clarification during tomorrow, Thursday 24 February. Then comes a complementary information from our side.

The agreement is similar to other agreements we have had before.

Here you will find all relevant protocols
 

AkerBP protection requirements for travel offshore 
AkerBp has informed that they will introduce protection requirements for everyone who travels offshore to their installations and rigs operated by them.

The protection requirement means the following pursuant to the Covid-19 regulation: 
1.    Has been fully vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2. 
2.    Has received the 1st jab of vaccine, lasting from 3 to 15 weeks after vaccination. 
3.    If approved laboratory method has tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, with duration from end of isolation to 12 months after test date

Both MAF and the company must comply with the law regarding this. The same applies to AkerBP, where Industri Energi has been strongly critical of the process they have used, without the involvement of either the local union branch or the safety service.

https://industrienergi.no/nyhet/kritisk-til-aker-bps-prosess-for-a-innfore-krav-om-koronavaksine/

At our monthly meeting the company informs that they will evaluate how this should be handled, and that they will have a further dialogue with us and the safety service.  

We believe that many questions and a lot of law must be clarified before such an initiative may be implemented, and we have, based on the joint Team’s meeting which was held with IndustriEnergi last week, subsequently received some legal advice from the group IndustriEnergi have established   to assess the subject in full.

Nothing in the law is completely black and white and there are many opinions and aspects. However, we see it as our most important task that all members are treated correctly, whether they appear fully vaccinated or whether they can document that they have had corona according to the Covid-19 regulation, or whether they do not want to state their status. 

Particularly the latter is the major challenge, and also the point on which IndustriEnergi is strongly critical to, in relation to §9 of the Working Environment Act.



Merger with Noble Drilling. 
On this subject we have nothing new to report, and refer to previous general news from December 2021.



Nordea Liv Pension
This concerns an older pension agreement from approx. mid-90s, which some MDN employees with foreign residences have savings in. But it turns out that it seems random who has the savings or not.

Some time ago we approached the company requesting an explanation. They have contacted the insurance broker who is presently looking into the matter. We have also been in contact with the same insurance broker and he is now trying to procure the old agreements.

We have previously asked some of our members if they may remember anything, and we have also received a few answers which have been passed on. Some believe that we had an agreement at first with Vesta, and that this agreement was later transferred to Nordea.



MAF Annual General Meeting 2022 
An overwhelming majority of the Board agrees that we postpone the annual meeting, hoping that we may arrange a physical meeting.  

The AGM MUST IN PRINCIPLE be arranged before the end of February, but the National Executive Board of IndustriEnergi may grant permission for the AGM to be further postponed.

We will, in consultation with the MAF Board, assess the situation on an ongoing basis. The existing Board is in office until the Annual General Meeting is arranged.

We are entering a year of negotiations on a full wage settlement, and of course quarantine and compensation will also be a theme at the AGM, resulting in various claims for the settlement. This will include a follow-up on the various cases of quarantine.



Compensation for quarantine in general. 
Of course, many have asked about the cases, and we have just received this update from IndustriEnergi:  

As previously announced, LO leader Peggy Hessen Følsvik approached NHO to discuss an inquiry with the authorities about public compensation schemes. The inquiry resulted in a meeting where NHO emphasized that their member companies should be able to find solutions and instructed Norwegian Oil and Gas to take an initiative for a meeting with IndustriEnergi to reach an agreement on the further process.

Unfortunately, Norwegian Oil and Gas has changed leader resulting in a tightening of the meeting activity before Christmas. Unfortunately, it has taken a long time to set up a meeting for a follow-up. Now, however, it is agreed to meet in mid-February to discuss our claims.



Compensation for leisure time quarantine which is not imposed by the authorities. 
As previously reported, we have claimed compensation for all leisure time quarantine valid from 24 June 2021. 

We had another meeting with the company again last week where we did not reach an agreement. We are therefore now preparing for a dispute with the company, which in turn will be submitted to IndustriEnergi for further processing.




Compensation for Corona test before departure.
We do not completely agree with IndustriEnergi when they believe that this should only be compensated in pursuant to clause 8 of the Collective Agreement, which states overtime for time spent, however, for a minimum of 4 hours overtime. We set the claim a little higher by requiring it to be regarded as part of the period on board. In any case, IndustriEnergi has submitted a writ of summons with the said claims in accordance with clause 8 of the Collective Agreement and we   await the result of this. IndustriEnergi assumes that if they win through a verdict on this, then they will be able to use it to achieve the same result.




Illness during the quarantine period and the right to leave of absence in accordance with clause 14.1 a, b and c of the Collective Agreement
We have previously submitted all the issues to IndustriEnergi, but they have not taken a position on them. Of course, we do not believe that it may be right that we lose both collective and legal rights to leave of absence by having to be quarantined. But when it is not legally decided what a quarantine day should be defined as, and when there is nothing mentioned about quarantine in the Collective Agreement, then the Company may apparently continue to make its own rules and pretensions on how they will handle this.

Of course, we have tried with local agreements, but the only thing the company has given in to is that you may now report sick during the quarantine period, without the company deducting from your salary, if you due to illness, have not been able to complete necessary quarantine before departure offshore. And you also no longer must make changes to your rotation or owe days to the company. But we must point out that this is only the practice that the company has now chosen, and therefore not something we have an agreement on. And in addition to this, we continue to have challenges with leave of absence in general according to section 14.1 a, b and c of the Collective Agreement when they occur during the quarantine period.



Compensation for requirements for quarantine or isolation on the journey home. 
The company states that this will typically be authority-imposed quarantine (which must otherwise be handled by the local infection control office) and they therefore do not believe that they should compensate, even if the close contact or infection with corona has occurred at their installation. IndustriEnergi does not believe we can claim anything as when it is imposed by the authorities. The company does not want to make a local agreement on compensation for this.

If you have tested positive while traveling to a hotel or reporting point.  

The company points out that the reporting point is the heliport, but exceptions to this may be assessed through dialogue. 

If you travel offshore on overtime, however, MAF will recommend that you make an agreement with your coordinator first.

The company reminds that you must contact both the local infection control office and your own doctor for a medical certificate if you test positive. It is mainly your own doctor you are supposed to use, but in special cases you may seek help from the occupational health service. You may also use the departure medic on duty for advice.



In general, on all quarantine cases, we like to state the following:  
On all of our claims related to quarantine or compensation the company believe that none of this is regulated in our Collective Agreement. This has been the fact all the way and it turns out that the company ONLY pay for what may be re-invoiced to the operators or the Norwegian state. 

MAF can do nothing but dispute this and ask others for help, because MDN will not pay.


 

AkerBP has announced that it will introduce protection requirements for travel offhore. 

By protection they mean fully vaccinated against Covid-19, or that you have received the first vaccine dose (lasting 3-15 weeks), or that you have previously been confirmed positive for Covid-19 (by approved laboratory method, with duration from isolation until 12 months after test date).

This shall apply to everyone who travels offshore to AkerBP's installations and drilling rigs on AkerBP's contract.


IE has stated that they are highly critical of the process.

https://industrienergi.no/nyhet/kritisk-til-aker-bps-prosess-for-a-innfore-krav-om-koronavaksine/


We have participated in a TEAMS meeting with Industri Energi together with all other local branches that may be affected by the decision. 

Nothing new came out of the meeting, but everyone has reported their concerns and challenges on the subject. IE states that they have established a working committee which will assess all the legal issues and provide advice and instructions.

Whether the companies may force employees to get vaccinated and whether they may force employees to state their vaccine status is not clear, but it is of course a subject that IE must present their opinion on and take a stand to as soon as possible. 

This concerns the entire industry and must be resolved by the central parties and we need quick answers. 

We will revert with more info as soon as there is news on the subject.

Merger with Noble Drilling 
We have been in a new meeting with the company. But - as expected - nothing new has come out since the announcement of the merger November 10th. Many ask if there is any cause for concern. Basically, you may say that we keep our jobs and seniority, and we retain our Collective Agreement. Furthermore, there is also legislation encompassing this rig activity that secures our rights in the event of a transfer of undertaking and merger. The challenges probably come more in all the local agreements we have established with the MDN over the years. But no one may at this point time, predict what the new management of Noble Drilling will challenge us on. We will claim employee participation in everything we find relevant, and otherwise be prepared for everything. We will present news as soon as we know more.


Pension Insurance Scheme for Seamen (PTS) - post-payment
As previously stated, we have reached an agreement on a scheme for post-payment of PTS, and the company is presently supposed to have submitted e-mails to all personnel encompassed by the scheme. We have also received confirmation that the agreement also applies to those who have already started on the PTS.


Nordea Liv Pension 
This relates to an older pension agreement from approximately the mid-90s, in which a lot of MDN employees with foreign residences have saving rights. But it now turns out that not everyone residing abroad and who was employed at the actual time, have participated the savings scheme. Following initial inquiries earlier this year, we asked the company to explain why some have this pension savings while others do not, even though they were employed at the same time and on the same terms. The company has not yet been able to explain why, and they have instead contacted the insurance broker. We subsequently approached the broker on the matter during a meeting on pension agreements in general. He will look at the matter.
If anyone else should remember something, or perhaps even better, have an old contract where the pension agreement is stated, it might be of a great help to get this settled.


Meeting on Pension Agreements in general 
We have had a meeting with the insurance broker where we have reviewed all the Norwegian pension agreements. He encourages us to provide input on how our agreements can be made better understood and how we may get it more easily communicated. 
On the same occasion, we also asked to have all our agreements updated on the Insurance Portal. Of course, he will also look at this.


MAF - Annual General Meeting 
We are still planning for the Annual General Meeting in the Stavanger region on 28-29 January, with a meeting of the Board the day ahead. But the corona situation may present us with challenges in being able to comply with the plan. If we book a hotel and later must cancel, it will cost us money, so we await the situation. Our position remains that we must do our best to be able to arrange a physical meeting, and we will, in consultation with the Board, assess the situation again in early January. 


Compensation for quarantine in general 
This case is now split into two cases, respectively government-imposed and company-imposed quarantine. Unfortunately, there is still not much news from IE, but what we do know is that there are talks at government level and as previously mentioned, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre was also confronted with the issue of compensation when he recently spoke at IE's National Congress. The question was not answered, however, but he will be reminded of the issue. Read more here: https://www.mafsiden.no/home/quarantine-compensation-


Compensation for corona test before departure offshore
MAF believes that the time the employee may spend on the Covid-19 test must be considered as part of the employee's period on board and be compensated accordingly. 
Industri Energi does not agree with us and has therefore rejected to support our claims. IE believe that tests must be compared with meetings and consultations, and thus be compensated in accordance with clause 8 of the Collective Agreement, which states overtime for time spent, however, with a minimum of 4 overtime hours. Industri Energi has on 2 December submitted a summons with the said claims assuming that if they win in a judgment, we may use it to achieve the same in MDN.


Compensation for leisure time quarantine which is not imposed by the authorities 
Back in August, MAF has made a claim against the company for compensation for all leisure time quarantine offshore valid from 24 June 2021. We believe that it must be compensated with rates for lost leisure time for the hours when no work is carried out. 
The company has still not taken a position on this. But if they do not want to compensate, or still do not respond, then we will bring the matter further.


Quarantine stays and the right to leave of absence in accordance with clauses 14.1 a, b and c of the Collective Agreement 
MAF believes that the company many times during the pandemic has broken with the Collective Agreement clauses 17.3 and 14.1 a, b and c, when they have deprived employees of the opportunity to report sick during the quarantine period, without causing any consequences moneywise when they have deprived employees of the right to employer-paid leave of absence when the need for the leave has been wholly or partly during the quarantine period. 
However, it must be said that the company later accepted that employees could report sick during the quarantine period, without this causing any consequences. But this was not asserted retroactively for those who had already been affected in one way or another.
We have previously submitted all these issues to Industri Energi, but they have not taken a stand on them yet. We have probably had a presumption that if there could be a judicial decision on what a quarantine day should be defined as, against both the Collective Agreement and the Working Environment Act, then the actual cases could possibly be solved accordingly. But if there is no real definition of what a quarantine day really means related to work/leisure purposes, then the case must be re-opened as a separate case. The problem is probably just that it may be difficult to get settled without first having a decision in the main case. We believe that it may not be right that we both lose tariff and legal rights by having to sit in quarantine. And this must apply regardless of whether the quarantine stay is imposed by an authority or a company.


The election to the MAF Board is underway 
Remember to exercise your right to vote. Contact MAF if you have not received an e-mail with a link to the election.

He gave his speech at the National Assembly and after this it was possible to ask questions.

On behalf of the Covid-19 committee we have in the association, the leader of the shelf association in Equinor, Per Steinar Stamnes, raised this in one of many posts. There were many who had questions for the Prime Minister and his government.

Per Steinar Stamnes said, among other things, the following:

-Those of our members who live outside Norway have received an extra burden, both personally and not least in relation to their family when they were imposed 10 days quarantine before the work period and 10 days after the work period before they were allowed to return home. They barely managed to be home before they had to travel to a new quarantine. Without being compensated for lost leisure time, Stamnes continued.

The challenge he gave Støre was:

- I hope you and your ministers can help compensate for the strain these people have had to bear, he says.


This was not answered by the Prime Minister from the rostrum when the Prime Minister spoke at the end, which we are disappointed but can also have an understanding that this can not be resolved via a speech from a representative in the National Assembly.

We will send an email to the Prime Minister's office and remind him of the issue that was raised.



x Translated from Norwegian to English by Google translate

If you have not received this e-mail, first see if it has ended up in the "spam filter", then contact MAF at post@mafsiden.no.

Use your voting right, good luck.

It may be appropriate for the Maersk Employees' Association (MAF) to explain a little about the tasks of the Board and the Executive Committee (AU).

The Executive Committee (AU) are heading the daily operation of the Local Branch (MAF).
Today, AU consists of a leader, 3 deputy leaders and an elected union secretary.
3 of these positions are working onshore on full time. In additionally we also have an office secretary at our disposal. 

The other members on the Board are internal company shop stewards and meets with AU on a regular basis.

Additionally comes all the skilled local shop stewards offshore on the rigs. The latter attends at the Annual General Meeting.

The Annual General Meeting is the local branch’s highest body deciding on the action plan, statutes, finances, etc. 


One may well raise questions about how a trade union should appear.
A trade union must work for all members, regardless of where they have residential address or nationality, orientation, faith, etc., and there are rules and regulations in that respect to be followed in working life.

A local union branch like MAF is bound by a Collective Agreement, Basic Agreement, the Working Environment Act (AML), local protocols, etc.

A local branch like MAF must not be overestimated to have more power than it has in the way that they are subject to all the above.

MAF may not enter into agreements locally which are in breach of the present working life regulations. 

 One may well raise questions about how a trade union should appear.

A trade union must work for all members, regardless of where they have residential address or nationality, orientation, faith, etc., and there are rules and regulations in that respect to be followed in working life.

A local union branch like MAF is bound by a Collective Agreement, Basic Agreement, the Working Environment Act (AML), local protocols, etc.

A local branch like MAF must not be overestimated to have more power than it has in the way that they are subject to all the above agreements, regulations.

MAF may not enter into agreements locally which are in breach of the present working life regulations. 

MAF is a strong local union branch, much because we have managed to have a high degree of professional trade union organization and that the local agreements are functioning for the employees.

The latter means that MAF and MDN have had and still have a good collaboration and are succeeding in finding solutions.

We wish to claim that our Collective Agreement for the rig industry is the best there is worldwide and when combining this with good agreements locally, then we have a very good company to be employed in.

There are many unresolved issues around quarantine, etc., but again, the local union branch does not have the right to negotiate this subject at the level needed. It is Industri Energi (IE) and the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO) that is the responsible party on these issues.

Otherwise, we solve the local problems as they occur and try to answer our members back as quickly as we possibly can.

We have an incredible number of good local protocols between MAF and MDN.

Agreements affiliated to the construction of the XLE rigs or other stays abroad, agreements on rig move, shipyard stays, etc.

The 2-4 rotation on Inspirer, did not either come by itself.

MAF is known throughout the industry for making the best deals for its members, all of which are agreements that are better and expanding beyond the regulations of the Collective Agreement. 

MAF has negotiated salaries for new positions, especially within the technical department, wages which is higher than the standard used by other companies.

We also know that the battle is not over if you look at the position of Hydraulics, but here we are trying to establish a certificate of trade and a certificate of competence that reflects the responsibility we believe comes with the position.

We are met with great resistance from the company on this subject, but we do not easily give in.

MAF is represented in the top management of IE, represented in both the Federal Board and the National Board.

MAF also holds the leadership of what is called NR-Forum (a forum where all the local union branches under the scope of our collective bargaining area are represented). An important arena and a meeting place for influencing the union centrally.

MAF is present in all fora where decisions are made and always tries to influence the outcome so that the outcome is the best possible for the members.

The safety service is well regulated and well established. There are safety representatives in all departments and on all shifts and MAF, as the largest local union branch in MDN, appoints the KHVO and HVO on the rigs based on input from the individual crews and in the way an HVO is supposed to be appointed.

Here it is democracy that decides who should be the local safety representative or HVO.

All members have the right to have their say and everyone may stand for election.

The shop stewards are elected on each crew decided through voting and everyone on the crew must have been given the opportunity to take part in the voting.

After the next Annual General Meeting in January, we will have a new round of finding shop stewards on the rigs.


In MDN, we have only managed to make use of the method involving seniority at downsizing. This method is a stronghold in Norwegian working life.
This means that those with the longest seniority is ending up keeping their positions.
This is reality and it is not something you may just alter.
So, what could be done to make it easier for more young people to keep their jobs?

Facilitated work for the elderly, splitting of positions (reduced working hours), severance packages, early retirement?
This is something MAF always bear in mind in the daily operations and at downsizing.
There are not many who have asked for facilitated work. There are very few who wants reduced positions.

You may be entitled to reduced working hours if you have health, social or welfare grounds. 
If you have reached the age of 62, you may also be entitled to reduced working hours pursuant to the Working Environment Act (AML) § 10-2.

Severance packages and early retirement are solutions that the company will not provide or facilitate.
There have rarely been any situations where the company has offered anyone wages for their full notice period without obligation to work during the same period. This is done just to open and freeing a position for another employee. 


We are starting to experience a crew base holding very long company seniority and it hurts so incredibly when employees with presently over 10 years in the company and at 50+ years, are laid off.
It goes without saying that we may not put them all into the resource pool. 

As it started initially, MAF is for everyone.

The actual operation of MAF is regulated by statutes that are adopted at the Annual General Meeting.

At the AGM, all the shop stewards have the opportunity to provide inputs, proposals for changes (which the individual submits in advance of the AGM) and a vote is taken on each individual proposal. In the end, the statutes must be submitted to Industri Energi for approval.

A new election to the Board of MAF is coming up and the nomination period will be over soon (until 15.11.21).

From December 1, the election starts and then you may vote for up to 8 candidates.
Why 8?
There are 8 positions, 6 permanent and 2 substitutes available each year and then it is just right and reasonable that all members are allowed to have an opinion about who the 8 representatives should be. This is democracy and this is how MAF has decided it to be. Then you may say that it is difficult to become a member of the Board. There are many who have stood up for election several times without success, but is it not most fair that it is persons with the most votes who is elected?

In MAF, we are so lucky that there is an enormous interest in joining the Board. At one occasion we had over 40 candidates to select from. 

Other local union branches may struggle to fill their Boards, and even greater problems getting local shop stewards on the rigs.

This we manage very well in Maersk Drilling Norge AS - we think.

Stand for election, be elected, raise your hand to say you want to be VO, you will be seen, you will be heard, MAF and the safety service will support you.

Feel free to ask those who are up for election why the individual particular candidate should get your vote. 

This is fully acceptable.

Take the discussions among the crews on the rig.

Use your right to vote.

Wishing you a successful election.

Regards
AU on behalf of the Board.

First of all. MAF has not been aware of this merger other than rumors that have been circulating.

As we have probably all heard, a press release was sent out early today that Maersk Drilling and Noble merge into one company. You can read more here:

https://investor.maerskdrilling.com/static-files/f03310d2-a103-4da8-a7e5-b25a5354f843

https://www.maerskdrilling.com/news-and-media/press-releases/maersk-drilling-announces-agreement-to-merge-with-noble

There has been one "Townhall meeting" which was broadcast live from Copenhagen at 09.30 today. For those of us who work offshore, it will be like today, but we will probably change the logo on the coverall. For the land organizations, something is unclear at the moment. What is clear is that the head office will be in Houston and that Stavanger and Dubai will be hubs in the future.

The merger is intended to take place during the middle of 2022 and until then it will continue as a completely independent company. This means that we will continue as today in all stages until the merger is real sometime in the middle of 2022.

Then MAF will inform more as soon as we know something that is of general interest.

Integrator without contract - Status of the terminations 
As previously informed, the discussions were held on 22 September. The protocol may be found here:  https://www.mafsiden.no/protokoller/dagsaktuelle-protokoller

The Resource Pool has been deliberately reduced to a minimum to increase the possibilities for re-employment if someone should have reserved themselves against the transfer to REPSOL. An opportunity that has now expired, and which probably would not have been useful for re-employment anyway, due to the new situation where Integrator is terminating the contract.
The reduced Resource-pool has also been the reason why we have accepted the use of increased number of hired personnel than usual.

At the discussions, we managed to increase the Resource Pool up to about 53 employees. This number, combined with the fact that at that point in time there were several vacancies in different categories on the rigs. These facts in turn resulted in the following number of redundancies:  

There were 34 redundancies, plus 9 who had their employment contract terminated before they had started working. 

Out of this these numbers 22 were members of Industri Energi. This is a relatively low ratio of members compared to normal standard, but it is probably caused by the fact that many have only been employed for a very short time. The company states that the number of supernumerary international employees are transferred to their parent company.

WEA 15.1 meetings have been held and those affected have received their notice. 


Hiring of Floorhands
Floorhands are still being hired. But this is a transition period until the Integrator is downsized and the Resource Pool thereby is filled in as agreed.  


Temporary Aker BP Electrician at Maersk Reacher 
The company has borrowed an Electrician from Aker BP who will assist for 300 hours to cope with outstanding maintenance on Aker-Bp and SLB equipment on board Reacher. For this reason, we have received a lot of inquiries from members who are wondering why this is happening right now, where redundancies are taking place. The company has pointed out that the Electrician will not work on Reacher's equipment, but only on Aker Bp and SLB equipment. MAF will of course follow up on the situatuion, but we will also point out that no Electricians or ETs have been fired in this round of downsizing.


Meeting activities: 
We are planning a meeting for the MAF Board on 17-18 November. Unfortunately, we have found it necessary to postpone the conference for shop stewards which is usually taken place in October/Nov until the spring. The postponement is due to redundancies and upcoming transfers. We hope that the shop stewards who are transferred will stand up anew for their new teams, and preferably soon enough being able to attend our Annual General Meeting, which we plan to arrange in Copenhagen on 28-29 January 2022. The MAF Board will meet a day ahead. 


Personal password:
Again, we have received inquiries that some are being asked to lend out their personal password, both to service personnel and employees who come offshore to replace or to assist. The company fully agrees with us that the passwords are personal and should not be submitted to others.  


Pension Insurance Scheme for Seamen (PTS) – Post payment
As described in the last MAF info, after many discussions and negotiations, we have finally reached an agreement on a scheme for post-payment of PTS. We are working on drafting a protocol on the agreement. The company will shortly issue a letter to personnel concerned. 


Compensation for leisure time quarantine which is not imposed by the authorities   
MAF has submitted a claim for compensation for all leisure time quarantine for offshore personnel valid from 24 June 2021. We believe that this quarantine must be compensated according to the Collective Agreement’s rate for lost leisure time for hours when no work is carried out.   


Quarantine compensation 
We may probably not write a general newsletter without mentioning the quarantine cases. But, unfortunately, we have not any more news since Industri Energi on 27 August arranged an information meeting at TEAMS, where the biggest news was that the case is now split into two separate cases – respectively government and company imposed quarantine. More from this meeting may be found here.
https://www.mafsiden.no/home/quarantine-information-from-maf-


Transfer of undertaking to REPSOL
From the start of this process, we have been in ongoing dialogue with our lawyer at Industri Energi to ensure that everything has been correctly handled pursuant to the Working Environment Act's regulations on transfer of undertaking. It should be mentioned, however, that we have not been fully comfortable with the process as we have not been informed of all details about salary, working conditions and pension etc.  

Another problem is related to the Contractual Early Retirement Pension Scheme -AFP. You must have been employed by the company for 7 years to be entitled to the scheme of AFP. Further, the age limit for employment with REPSOL is 65 years, which means that if you are 58 years or older by the time of transfer to REPSOL, then you will not reach the right to receive the benefit of AFP.   

However, it is important to point out that we do not earn the right to AFP as offshore employees in MDN, but it will of course be a big benefit for those who may achieve it. You may read more about AFP here: https://www.nav.no/no/person/pensjon/avtalefestet-pensjon-afp/avtalefestet-pensjon-afp-i-privat-sektor-fra-2011

Furthermore, it appears that those who live abroad may receive less pension savings, compared to the agreement they have with MDN (which is in accordance with the Collective Agreement's appendix 4 on pensions for foreign employees.

We have also repeatedly asked REPSOL why they will not pay travel expenses for those traveling from abroad. The answer has simply been that they do not pay for it. MAF has no right to negotiate with REPSOL. So, we have unfortunately not had the opportunity to do anything other than note the answer, and thus leave it up to the new Board to promote the claim to have travel expenses covered - from abroad also.   

As previously mentioned, we believe that it is a violation of the Working Environment Act that all personnel who are now being transferred have lost the right to reserve themselves against the transfer until receiving an answer to all the requested information.

We have therefore submitted the following to the company:  
MAF believes that the obligation of information pursuant to WEA Chapter 16 has not been fulfilled regarding the process of transfer of undertaking of Maersk Inspirer from MDN to Repsol.   

Special emphasis is put on §16-3 Right of Reservation etc. pt. 2. An employee who opposes the transfer of the employment relationship to a new employer must notify the previous employer in writing of this within the time limit set. The time limit may not be shorter than 14 days after information pursuant to § 16-6 has been provided."   

§16-6 States that the previous and new employer as early as possible shall inform the employees affected of the transfer, cf. §16-1. Special information shall be provided on matters mentioned in §16-5, second paragraph, letters a to f. We may not see that the conditions in §16-5, second paragraph, letters b to f, are met. This is justified by the fact that the final date for the transfer has not been set. The legal, economic and social implications of the transfer for the employees have not been clarified. The employees are not fully informed about what changes in the Collective Bargaining Agreements will constitute for the individual.

We claim that the deadline for the right of reservation and / or the right to choose cannot be set until at least 14 days after the information that the previous and new employer is required to provide to the employees has in fact been communicated in full, cf. §16-3 second paragraph.   

Should you be in doubt about the right of reservation and the right to choose, and what the difference is, you can read more about it here:  

https://www.lo.no/hva-vi-mener/lo-advokatene/nyheter-fra-lo-advokatene/valgrett_should_i_stay_or_should_i_go/?fbclid=IwAR1s6jfGMC4x255zPbxpfhQQTTqMBr4c_W0UT_uatNUAD9eUxUey5P98uA8

We hope that everyone will support the new Board so that we may have an IE local branch with the right to negotiate in REPSOL. And we also hope that everyone, after all, will have a good job at Inspirer with the new owners.


 

Today, September 22, we convened for discussions with Maersk Drilling Norway (MDN). The reason for the dismissals is that the commercial situation in Norway is challenged in total. Maersk Integrator's contract with AkerBP is expected to be terminated at the beginning of November and the rig will subsequently be moved from the Norwegian shelf.  
  
Individual discussions will shortly be implemented with those who are considered dismissed (AML 15.1). The company states that approximately 34 employees are being considered for dismissal. 
  
We agree that the size of the Resource Pool will consist of approximately 50 employees.   
MAF will assist in all individual discussions for those who are members of Industri Energi (IE). These discussions will mainly take place digitally. 
 
Then it is only for us to regret that it turned out this way, we hope that the contract situation improves as soon as possible.   

The protocol is attached. 
 

DMO Certificate of Trade for residents abroad
MAF has for a long time worked with the challenge that it is not possible for residents abroad to obtain a Certificate of Proficiency for the position as Drilling and Maintenance Operator (DMO) in Norway. Now it seems that something is happening in the matter. Below, read extract from a letter sent from the Co-operation Council for Vocational Training (SRY) to the Tax Administration:

Registration for the Trade- and Apprentices’ Final Examination Test for trainee candidates without permanent residence in Norway. 
SRY has received reports of concern about foreign workers who commute from Sweden, Denmark and the United Kingdom and who are citizens of these countries. Especially from Denmark, there are a lot of employees who have worked for a long time as unskilled workers or with an "irrelevant Certificate of Trade for their position" on the Norwegian shelf. SRY experiences that many foreign workers who commute from abroad want to be able to sit in for the Norwegian Trade and Apprentices’ Exam through the Trainee Candidate Scheme (Education Act § 3-5).

The issue has previously been raised with the Directorate of Education, which in a letter to the Entrepreneurs' Association in 2015 (attached) points out that the issue must be decided in accordance with the Regulations on Population Registration. These regulations are administered by the Tax Administration, and the Directorate therefore requests that the inquiry be directed to the Tax Administration. 

SRY wishes to follow up the above-mentioned issue and requests an assessment of foreign employees' the opportunity to register for an exam and present oneself for the Norwegian Trade and Apprentices’ Test through the Trainee Candidate Scheme.  


High Pressure Course for Hydraulics 
It has been decided through the Training and Competence Group that a high-pressure course for Hydraulics will be set up.


Communication with HR Gdansk 
MAF receives messages from all the rigs that communication with HR in Gdansk is quite challenging. We are following up on the matter with the company on an ongoing basis and if there are disagreements that are difficult to resolve, every individual must of course get in touch with MAF.   


Pension Insurance Scheme for Seamen (PTS) payment in arrears 
MAF has reached an agreement with the company on a scheme for post-payment of PTS. Personnel concerned will shortly receive a letter from the company with further details about the agreement. 


Status on personnel situation
Much could have been said related to the subject of the manning situation during this year.
Will try to make a short summary.  
In February we were "onboarded" in 2 big projects called "Alta" and "Horsetrade".  
To do so, Frode, Bår, Jørn and Anders had to sign a declaration of confidentiality.  
"Alta" was the relocation of many positions in the office to Poland and "Horstrade" was the sale of Maersk Inspirer to Havila, and to be operated by Repsol.   
The "Alta" project has been described in a previous info.   

The sale of Inspirer made it very challenging for us onshore in that we could not talk to anyone about subject, at the same time as we did whatever we could so that the company did not hire more people into an already almost empty Resource Pool. 
The reason why we wanted as many jobs as possible to be vacant was if there were many employees who would use their right to reserve themselves from joining Repsol. At a transfer of undertaking, the individual employee cannot choose to continue in their company (ie MDN). This means that if you make a reservation, you can only continue in MDN if there were vacancies, no matter how long your seniority is. By reserving and there are no vacancies, you are terminated from the company without even a notice period. At the same time, we were short on personnel, and we had to start manning Reacher. Lots of overtime, hiring, temporary crew, etc. during this period. 

We felt that we had to try to make sure that there were vacancies in a Resource Pool, if, for example, an Engine Mech with long seniority in MDN would not accept a transfer to Repsol.   

Regardless, the day arrived. On 27.05.21, the sale was published, and this meant that everyone who at that time was affiliated to the rig and held the longest seniority on board, calculated from the time the rig left Grenå in Denmark (September 2018), would be those covered by this transfer of undertaking. The selection criteria were formulated in cooperation with a lawyer in IE, who had also signed a separate declaration of confidentiality so that we in MAF could have someone who assisted in this process. We looked for ways to facilitate this by creating an Interim Board, consisting of those who were company and place-shop-stewards on board Inspirer after all info became public.

No, we did not tell this to anyone, or were not involved in anything concerning the fact that some were transferred to or from Inspirer, this is just to state a fact.                                                                                                                       
Then the day arrived when the individual employee had the deadline to make their reservation.  

No one reserved themselves. MAF is very pleased and hopes that we helped make this happen. We have spent a lot of time on this, to get to know all the regulations, right to choose, read judgments from the court system, many meetings with the company and IE, to be best prepared if someone should need assistance.  

We lose many good colleagues, several from the Board of MAF, local shop stewards and very capable people from the safety service as well as all other good friends and colleagues, but we fully understand them. 
If everything is not in place in Repsol yet, we hope that this comes before long and we are very confident that this will be very good.  
Which one of us can or will have a job for the next 10 years?  
We wish you all best of luck in your new company.  

This brings us over to what is the complete opposite. 

To top all the above, we were informed that Maersk Integrator did not receive the contract with Repsol, which was clearly in the basic plan that HR had related to the manning of Reacher etc.  

We have been called for discussions on subject of mass redundancies, and the paradox is that resulting from Integrator not getting the contract, the company must dismiss people who have received their first fixed start date for work for the company, but who have not started in the job yet.   

We will inform about these discussions separately in relation to the numbers, etc.