NORTH SEA workers at Bilfinger will be balloted for strike action in a dispute over jobs, pay and conditions, the union Unite has announced.

About 20 scaffolders, engineers, deck and rope access workers employed by the company work on the Alba Floating Storage Unit and its floating production facility, owned by one of the field’s largest independent oil and gas operators, Ithaca Energy.

Bilfinger workers were left infuriated when they discovered that Ithaca, which posted a £17.4 million profit in 2024, pays a retention bonus worth up to £14,500 to workers for other companies on the installation, but not them.

Announcing the ballot, which runs from March 18 to April 8, Unite industrial officer Paula Buchan branded the situation “unfair and unacceptable.”

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: ”Ithaca Energy is an incredibly wealthy company that can fully afford to pay the bonus.

“If Ithaca and Bilfinger refuse to include the workers within the retention scheme, then our members will have no option but to fight for what they deserve.”

Bilfinger and Ithaca Energy were contacted for comment.