Welcome to Our New Members
A warm welcome to all our new members across all rigs. We encourage you to contact one of your local SAFE representatives at any time. You can also reach us via the SAFE email address noble@safe.no or—if something is urgent—send us a direct message with any questions or concerns.

We are here to support you. For those new to Norway, or joining us from overseas, a brief introduction to SAFE and SAFE in Noble may be helpful. SAFE is the preferred union for offshore drilling workers in Norway. We organise exclusively within oil, gas, and energy, and offshore SAFE is widely recognised as a safety‑driven union. While SAFE may be smaller than some other unions, offshore this is a real strength. It allows for faster action when issues arise, direct access to in‑house legal and contract specialists, and a clear focus on oil, gas, and offshore operations—nothing else.
Bottom line:
SAFE is the specialist offshore drilling union.
For people who actually work offshore.
The strongest, safety‑driven voice.

About the Club Board
Our club board consists of representatives from all departments and spans three countries: Norway, Denmark, and the UK. All board members are active offshore workers, with the exception of Steinar, who will be moving into a full‑time onshore role.

Visa Renewals (UK Members)
It is that time of year again for visa renewals for our UK members. For those who held pre‑Brexit status, the renewal process has generally been more straightforward. However, for newer employees, the process can be more challenging.
We strongly encourage anyone experiencing difficulties to contact us. We have established contacts within the police who can assist with securing appointments for identity checks, and we can also provide advice and support at any stage of the process.
We continue to engage with the Norwegian authorities, through the British consultant, to support improvements aimed at making the visa process smoother and more efficient going forward.

Reminder: Online Courses (Especially on Great White)
If you are required to complete online courses in your own time, please remember that there is an agreed protocol in place allowing you to claim overtime for this work as follows

Compensation for e-learning courses taken in your free time

The company and the association agree on the following compensation model:

E-learning courses with an estimated duration of up to 2 hours are compensated with 2 hours of overtime.

E-learning courses with an estimated duration of 2 hours to 4 hours are compensated with 4 hours overtime.

E-learning courses with an estimated duration of over 4 hours are compensated for time spent, minimum 8 hours of overtime.

All e-learning should as a general rule be completed within normal working hours. If this is not possible, the employee may, with prior approval from the section manager, complete the e-learning course in their free time and be compensated according to the above model

Wage Negotiations
Two members of our board, Steinar and Thomas, will be attending this year’s wage negotiations, which begin on 19^th May.
For those new to Norway, wage negotiations follow an alternating cycle. One year focuses solely on pay and wage increases, while the following year also allows changes to be made to the wording of the Tariff Agreement — which is the case this year.
All three unions sit together at the same table with the Shipowners’ Association, which represents the companies. The parties work jointly to reach a settlement and to discuss the changes the unions are seeking.
If an agreement is not reached, negotiations can continue late into the evening if the parties believe they are close to a solution. However, if no agreement is achieved, a dispute is declared and the case moves to mediation, where an independent mediator attempts to broker a compromise. If mediation fails, the outcome is a strike.
Hopefully it will not come to that, but we do expect some long days — and possibly late‑night discussions — ahead.
It is also important to note that any financial settlement is not always paid solely as a fixed increase to basic salary. The overall package is often split between basic pay and other elements such as night‑shift allowances, holiday pay, and similar benefits. Together, these form an overall uplift to total salary.
We will of course keep you informed of the outcome as soon as we are permitted to do so.

Training
Following our last monthly meeting, and as requested by the company, SAFE in Noble has submitted a proposal highlighting the need for additional training. This includes training on systems not currently covered by the basic training matrix, as well as ensuring coverage of all systems we are required to work with on the rigs.
With the number of new personnel joining, it is now possible to fully populate training courses. This makes training more cost‑effective for the company while maintaining a consistent competence level across crews.
We emphasised that improved and structured training benefits both the rigs and the workforce. Proper training helps reduce downtime by improving fault‑finding and response on critical systems, and it also supports employee wellbeing by reducing the need for “learning by doing” in high‑risk or critical operational situations.

Looking Ahead
We have our regular monthly meeting coming up, with a very busy agenda to discuss with the company. Combined with the ongoing negotiations, the coming weeks are shaping up to be a particularly busy period.