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Well-known member
> SUPREME COURT REJECTS WORKERS APPEAL
>
> Offshore workers claims for paid leave refused
>
> It’s a battle that’s lasted almost 20 years and ended with proceedings in the Supreme Court on October 26th and 27th. The outcome - we lost! The five Law Lords mulled the issue over for little more than a month and delivered their decision this morning, December 7th. It’s the end of a long road and there’s no where else to go. No more appeals, no more legal action; Offshore workers have no right to time away from work as paid leave and that’s the LAW!
>
> The highest court in the land heard the arguments of the unions (RMT and Unite) and the employers on the 26th and 27th of October 2011. That’s eight years after the European health and safety Directive was extended offshore to offer better health protections to offshore workers; 13 years after the UK applied the Working Time Reg’s; and nearly 20 years since the EU rolled the Directive out. In that time Norwegian, Dutch and Danish offshore workers have all seen ‘progress’ in the form of rota changes or holiday entitlements that reduce annual working hours. During the same period nothing has changed for many UK workers.
>
> The Supreme Court has now ruled and decided workers can take ‘holiday’ during non-worked periods, ‘field break’. The legal argument is now over! There had been an assumption the fight could be taken to the European Courts but legal opinion tells us this is not the case. The European Court of Justice could only have become involved if the Supreme Court itself had referred particular questions to it on how to interpret or apply the EU Directive. The Supreme Court is the highest court of ‘appeal’ in the UK, and has decided they don’t need directions from Europe, meaning there is no scope to ‘appeal’ any further.
>
> The QC presenting the argument on behalf of the employers, Mr Kavanagh QC, has somehow persuaded the Lords that offshore employers have designed the equal time 2x2 rota specifically to accommodate holidays. He claimed offshore workers were the same as school teachers and professional footballers who, like the offshore workforce, had seen no effect from the introduction of the working time regulations.
>
> Thomas Linden QC acting for the unions summarised the opinion of every 2x2 offshore worker in his closing remarks when he said; ‘these offshore workers believe they have an entitlement to a holiday on the basis they work the equivalent of 42-hours per week for 52-weeks a year, minimum’. That was the union case in a nutshell. The Working Time Directive was introduced to protect workers faced with excessive hours which can damage health. We’ve yet to hear of a footballer or teacher claiming their hours of work are excessive! The Directive has delivered protections in the form of reduced working hours for every other industry in the country. Yet the offshore employers who have resisted it still continue to claim - health and safety is our priority? Shame on them!
>
> Jake Molloy, RMT Regional Organiser said; “Employment rights are already being dismantled under this government and we have real concerns that gains already made on leave could now be undone. Stripping out leave entitlement under the guise ‘it’s the law’ is an easy way to reduce costs, and we all know how the employers are always looking to reduce costs in this industry. You need only consider the fact they’ve spent £millions to get this decision - now they have it they can ‘go to town’. The time for diplomacy is over, it has failed us and there is only one route to securing holidays or an improved rota system such as 2-on 3-off. We’ll now go to the membership with the decision and discuss our strategy to deal with this over the coming weeks and months.”
>
> Offshore workers claims for paid leave refused
>
> It’s a battle that’s lasted almost 20 years and ended with proceedings in the Supreme Court on October 26th and 27th. The outcome - we lost! The five Law Lords mulled the issue over for little more than a month and delivered their decision this morning, December 7th. It’s the end of a long road and there’s no where else to go. No more appeals, no more legal action; Offshore workers have no right to time away from work as paid leave and that’s the LAW!
>
> The highest court in the land heard the arguments of the unions (RMT and Unite) and the employers on the 26th and 27th of October 2011. That’s eight years after the European health and safety Directive was extended offshore to offer better health protections to offshore workers; 13 years after the UK applied the Working Time Reg’s; and nearly 20 years since the EU rolled the Directive out. In that time Norwegian, Dutch and Danish offshore workers have all seen ‘progress’ in the form of rota changes or holiday entitlements that reduce annual working hours. During the same period nothing has changed for many UK workers.
>
> The Supreme Court has now ruled and decided workers can take ‘holiday’ during non-worked periods, ‘field break’. The legal argument is now over! There had been an assumption the fight could be taken to the European Courts but legal opinion tells us this is not the case. The European Court of Justice could only have become involved if the Supreme Court itself had referred particular questions to it on how to interpret or apply the EU Directive. The Supreme Court is the highest court of ‘appeal’ in the UK, and has decided they don’t need directions from Europe, meaning there is no scope to ‘appeal’ any further.
>
> The QC presenting the argument on behalf of the employers, Mr Kavanagh QC, has somehow persuaded the Lords that offshore employers have designed the equal time 2x2 rota specifically to accommodate holidays. He claimed offshore workers were the same as school teachers and professional footballers who, like the offshore workforce, had seen no effect from the introduction of the working time regulations.
>
> Thomas Linden QC acting for the unions summarised the opinion of every 2x2 offshore worker in his closing remarks when he said; ‘these offshore workers believe they have an entitlement to a holiday on the basis they work the equivalent of 42-hours per week for 52-weeks a year, minimum’. That was the union case in a nutshell. The Working Time Directive was introduced to protect workers faced with excessive hours which can damage health. We’ve yet to hear of a footballer or teacher claiming their hours of work are excessive! The Directive has delivered protections in the form of reduced working hours for every other industry in the country. Yet the offshore employers who have resisted it still continue to claim - health and safety is our priority? Shame on them!
>
> Jake Molloy, RMT Regional Organiser said; “Employment rights are already being dismantled under this government and we have real concerns that gains already made on leave could now be undone. Stripping out leave entitlement under the guise ‘it’s the law’ is an easy way to reduce costs, and we all know how the employers are always looking to reduce costs in this industry. You need only consider the fact they’ve spent £millions to get this decision - now they have it they can ‘go to town’. The time for diplomacy is over, it has failed us and there is only one route to securing holidays or an improved rota system such as 2-on 3-off. We’ll now go to the membership with the decision and discuss our strategy to deal with this over the coming weeks and months.”
