UNIONS fear oil giant Shell will use a “scab labour force” working in dangerous environments to break strikes after North Sea workers voted “overwhelmingly” to take action for the first time in a generation.

The joint action by RMT and Unite, which represent Wood Group employees working on Shell North Sea operations, is the result of threats from the company to impose “swingeing wage cuts” of up to 30 per cent on an already “battered and bruised workforce.”

But the unions’ offshore co-ordinating group (OCG) chair Tommy Campbell said that he was “extremely concerned” to hear Shell was considering using agency workers in safety critical roles such as platform helicopter decks and as deck crew during any action.