Catering personnel on operator contracts

Catering personnel on an oil platform are responsible for much of the day-to-day operation and ensure that everyday life on the installation runs smoothly. They order and prepare food, wash clothes, keep common areas clean and tidy, operate the helideck, and contribute to emergency preparedness by serving as members of first-aid teams. Today, employees from other departments also take on this role.

A vulnerable position

Catering personnel differ from the rest of the workforce on a platform in several ways, including the fact that some of their tasks require less specialized expertise, training, and education than many other offshore positions. It is easier to find and recruit a qualified catering worker than a qualified drilling engineer. An engineer will also generally find it easier to secure a well-paid job onshore than a catering employee typically would.

This has placed catering personnel in a weaker bargaining position and resulted in lower wages and higher workloads, with more routine tasks than other offshore workers. Historically, many catering employees have also experienced less predictability and a loose connection to their employer.

Until 1984, catering personnel on Norwegian installations were employed by separate catering companies. Oil companies, including Statoil, hired the workforce they needed from other companies. This arrangement gave oil companies flexibility to bring in staff when needed and move personnel to other installations if labor demand declined during certain periods. In this way, it was easier to deploy workers where they were most needed at any given time.

However, catering personnel fared poorly under this way of organizing work. Hard competition between catering companies reduced the number of personnel assigned to each job. According to the leader of the Norwegian Oil and Petrochemical Union (Nopef), this in turn led to overload, stress, and occupational injuries. In addition, came the uncertainty about whether one would have work in the future.

This was an important part of the justification when Statoil decided in 1984 that catering personnel on Gullfaks A should be employed directly by the operator.[REMOVE]Fotnote: Status: internavis for Statoil-ansatte. (1984). Nr. 17, s. 14–15. This marked the first time such an organization of catering personnel was implemented on the Norwegian continental shelf. The decision was well received by employee representatives. The Norwegian Oil and Petrochemical Union (Nopef), the Operators’ Employees’ Federation (OAF), and the Catering Employees’ Union (CAF) were all positive about the decision.[REMOVE]Fotnote: Status: internavis for Statoil-ansatte. (1984). Nr. 17, s. 15. Gullfaks was not completely self-sufficient: during periods of illness and extended absences, Statoil used external staffing agencies. However, the core staff was employed on operator contracts.[REMOVE]Fotnote: Husa, E. T., & Stamnes, P. S. (2024, 21 February). Conversation with Elizabeth Tallis Husa – union representative, Gullfaks A and catering, and Per Steinar Stamnes – Head of Industri Energi, Equinor Continental Shelf. Personal Communications.

Catering from Florø

The decision was met with enthusiasm in Florø. During the licensing process for Gullfaks, Statoil had been required by the authorities to create local jobs in Florø (which at the time struggled with high unemployment). This requirement was met by locating the catering organization for Gullfaks production in Florø and establishing direct helicopter flights between Florø and Gullfaks A.

In January 1985, Statoil wrote in its membership magazine that it expected close to 3,500 applicants for the 68 positions advertised in connection with catering on Gullfaks A.[REMOVE]Fotnote: Status: internavis for Statoil-ansatte. (1985). Nr. 1, s. 6. The final number of applicants was 2,202 – 32 per position. These included everyone from hotel employees to housewives. Vacancies on the Norwegian continental shelf that did not require a trade certificate were rare, and this undoubtedly contributed to the high number of applicants. Of those who were ultimately offered permanent positions, about half came from the county Sogn og Fjordane, and two-thirds were women.[REMOVE]Fotnote: Status: internavis for Statoil-ansatte. (1985). Nr. 11, s. 15.

The catering base was later moved to Bergen, and particularly in connection with the Statoil–Hydro merger, Florø came to play a less central role in catering related to the Gullfaks platforms. Statoil, later Equinor, is nevertheless still required by its license to maintain several jobs located in the Florø area, although it is no longer specified that these must be related to catering.[REMOVE]Fotnote: Husa, E. T., & Stamnes, P. S. (2024, 21 February). Conversation with Elizabeth Tallis Husa – union representative, Gullfaks A and catering, and Per Steinar Stamnes – Head of Industri Energi, Equinor Continental Shelf. Personal Communications.

The situation today

In 1984, the personnel manager at Statoil Bergen, Gunnar Todnem, stated in the company magazine that the decision to employ catering personnel directly was a principle decision that would apply to all the company’s future production platforms.

Forty years later, it can be concluded that this has not fully materialized. In 2024, Equinor alternates between using hired-in and permanently employed personnel to carry out catering services on the Norwegian continental shelf.

At Gullfaks, however, the core catering staff has largely been operator-employed, supplemented by external personnel as needed.[REMOVE]Fotnote: Statsforvalteren i Rogaland. (2023, 3. november). Rapport etter tilsyn med renholdet på Gullfaks A. Statsforvalteren i Rogaland. 8.11-rapport-etter-tilsyn-med-renhold—equinor—gullfaks-a—tilsyn-helsemessige-forhold.pdf (statsforvalteren.no)

The Equinor pool

In the autumn of 2022, Equinor terminated contracts with staffing agencies that had supplied catering personnel to, among others, Gullfaks, and instead introduced an arrangement where on-call personnel were also employed by Equinor.

Today, Equinor combines a permanent core staff working on specific Gullfaks platforms with a pool of catering personnel who are operator-employed but not permanently assigned to a particular platform. This gives the company flexibility to adjust staffing levels in line with needs, while employees gain the predictability that comes with being operator-employed.

Union representative Elizabeth Tallis Husa of Industri Energi describes the arrangement as beneficial for employees. It is perceived as secure because it provides permanent employment and the opportunity to be called in as needed, while also offering flexibility for both employer and employee. By working in the pool, employees gain the opportunity to work on different rigs and build broad experience within catering.

Although employees and union representatives are satisfied with the arrangement, the transition was not without problems. Several individuals who had worked for many years at Equinor’s facilities, including Gullfaks, via staffing agencies were not offered jobs at Equinor when the company took over. In the spring of 2023, 31 oil workers took Equinor to court, demanding permanent employment after Equinor terminated its catering agreement with the staffing agency MDE, which had previously employed them.[REMOVE]Fotnote:  Tollaksen, T. G. «31 oljearbeidere saksøker Equinor: – Helt uforståelig.» i Stavanger Aftenblad. 22. mai 2023. Their claim was unsuccessful.