A COLLECTIVE grievance is being raised as hundreds of workers fight to completely abolish "dangerous" North Sea rotas after achieving a breakthrough with Shell ditching three weeks offshore work patterns.

Shell said it would return work schedule of two weeks offshore, then three weeks onshore.

Most Shell workers had been working offshore for three weeks, then spending four weeks onshore, since the downturn in production about three years ago.

The oil giant made the announcement to its workforce in Aberdeen on Tuesday following a review and will come into force from May 2019, after a consulation.

But the Unite union which has been campaigning against the "hated rota" on health and welfare grounds, says the fight against similar rotas continues.

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Unite regional industrial officer, John Boland said a campaign will "continue to roll out".

He said they have raised a collective grievance with Petrofac on the BP platforms, and expects to do the same with the other contractors on the platforms.

Unite is also currently in dispute with French energy giant Total E&P on its the Alwyn, Dunbar and Elgin rigs, with one of the main reasons being the company’s attempts to introduce a three-week pattern Talks aimed at settling the dispute which has saw oil workers down tools on the platforms broke down at the end of August.

Total had said it must make changes for its North Sea business to be sustainable.

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Mr Boland said: "Further reviews are expected and we will actively engage on the issue. This campaign is about our members’ wellbeing and safety. We need to do everything possible to stop the use of this hated rota in the North Sea."

In April, a report by Robert Gordon University for the Offshore Contractors' Association said spending three weeks at a time offshore had left many oil workers feeling they were suffering substantial fatigue and were more likely to experience psychological distress.

The report claims those on three week rotas were more likely to impact their health, with the length of shift pattern also blamed for exacerbating health issues.

Mr Boland said: “Unite has consistently highlighted the dangers of three week working offshore, and has been campaigning to get operators to move to better rotas for the welfare and health of our members.

"It is good to see that Shell have listened to Unite and the views of the wider workforce. We believe the findings of the Robert Gordon University survey should be the platform for all offshore operators in deciding whether to move from three weeks offshore to two weeks offshore.

"Unite will continue to work with Shell, and their contractors, to implement this change to ensure a safe and healthy environment for our members.”

Jake Molloy, of the RMT union, added: "We'd like to see the entire North Sea move to this. It's what the workforce has been calling for."