LONDON, March 19 (Reuters) - Trade unions Unite and GMB areballoting their members working offshore in Britain's oil andgas industry to gauge appetite for strike action over changes toshift patterns and other grievances.
The two unions represent about 3,000 offshore workers,including engineers and scaffolders, in the Offshore ContractorsAssociation.
John Kelley, a regional organiser for the GMB, said theconsultative ballots will close on March 27, and the unionswould then take a view on whether to proceed, depending on theresponse.
"Regarding forms of action, that is entirely down to thewill of the membership, but of course strike action would be onthe agenda if the mandate is strong," said Peter Welsh at Unite.
Kelley said one of the main grievances was around a move toa three weeks on, three weeks off shift pattern at somecompanies, as opposed to the more traditional two weeks on, twoor three weeks off.
"People are not happy about it," he said. "We are talkingabout some of the remotest parts of the North Sea, and theweather is a big determining factor as to whether helicopterscan get out there."
Some of the biggest operators in the North Sea include BP, Royal Dutch Shell, Total and Apache Corp.
Separately, the Rail Maritime & Transport union said it hadendorsed a call from members to ballot for industrial action.
It cited a range of issues including shift pattern changes,alterations to leave entitlements, reductions of up to 20percent in staffing numbers, and disputes on sick pay, pensionsand pay levels.
The union said the timing of any subsequent industrialaction would be arranged to have the maximum effect onoperations, and that it would look to work closely with theother offshore unions.
(Reporting by Claire Milhench, editing by William Hardy)