We recently enjoyed a successful few days at the Sola Strand Hotel in Stavanger, where we combined our Quarterly Meeting with our regular monthly office meeting on the first day, followed by two dedicated days with our shop stewards.

At the start of our meetings, we received an update from our Club Union Leader, Steinar, who has spent the past year attending various meetings within the SAFE organisation and with fellow SAFE clubs. Through his efforts, Steinar has built many valuable relationships and contacts. He is well-liked within the SAFE organisation, and his commitment and dedication to supporting the employees of Noble Drilling Norway have not gone unnoticed.

We are also making plans for Steinar to take on a full-time position onshore, where he will be able to dedicate even more time to union work. As part of this, he plans to make regular trips offshore over the next year to visit as many of our members as possible and stay closely connected with the workforce.

We also reviewed various cases from the past year, along with those that are still ongoing, and received updates on our current financial status. In addition, we held our regular monthly meeting with the office, where a wide range of important topics were discussed and addressed. We are now awaiting feedback from the office on several of these matters.

During these sessions, we were pleased to welcome Claus Bachmann, who joined us for open and constructive discussions on several important topics — including Christmas flights, the rise in sick leave since COVID, and the current trend of accidents on the rigs, among other issues. Nothing was left off the table, and we made sure to share some hard facts and honest feedback about the challenges our members are facing.

We also had an excellent presentation from Mats Thune, our Federal Secretary, who provided an in-depth update on the helicopter situation in Norway, particularly the challenges surrounding SAR (Search and Rescue) helicopters. It’s reassuring to know that our union remains actively engaged with all relevant stakeholders regarding the shortage of helicopters, spare parts, and maintenance personnel, as well as the ongoing cutbacks in SAR coverage in the Norwegian sector.

Another key concern raised during the meeting was the increasing use of six-week contracts by some companies. It was encouraging to see the determination and collective effort within our union to address and push back against this practice.

We also discussed the importance of Bank IDs, particularly in situations where accidents occur. We strongly encourage any members who do not yet have a Bank ID to obtain one, and we have prepared a “how-to” guide to help with this process.

On our last day, Steinar walked us through the process for next year’s main negotiations, reviewing the points raised by our members that they want to see addressed. There were good discussions with our shop stewards, and we will take all of these points forward into the first stage of talks with our fellow SAFE clubs. Throughout the entire event, we had excellent involvement and dialogue from our shop stewards, which made for a very constructive and collaborative few days.

Looking ahead, we have elections coming up in January, with December being the month for members to put themselves forward. We are also looking to increase the number of shop stewards across the crews, and this process is already underway. We continue to see a steady increase in membership, which shows that we are doing a great job representing and supporting our members.

Overall, the meetings were highly productive, strengthening both our shared understanding of current challenges and our commitment to representing our members effectively.