Shell UK is running a computerised blacklist of participants in last summer's North Sea oil rig sit-ins, Offshore Industry Liaison Committee(OILC) activists have told MPs.
The company is even making information available to its rivals, stopping some workers finding employment anywhere in the industry, they claimed. If true, this would contravene the Data Protection Act.
Survey
Initial results of a survey of applicants to the unofficial inter-union body's hardship fund were tabled as written evidence to the Commons energy select committee last month.
Out of 52 respondents unhaved nine the dispute as been working fields operated by Shell, mainly indirectly through contractors such as Wood Group and Press Offshore.
All but one felt they were being victimised for their activities during the industrial unrest, motivated largely by demands for improved safety in the wake of the Piper Alpha disaster, which killed 226 people in July 1988 OILC alleged blacklisting oc curs through Shell's Offshore Personnel Information System(OPRIS) set-up, which allocates a unique permanent number to all offshore employees.
Tabs
OPRIS is used to keep computerised tabs on exactly who is where at any given time, which is both a legal requirement and essential for health and safety purposes.
But the system obviously identified all those taking part in last year's occupations. In an industry where most work comes on short term contract, activists can soon find themselves unemployable.
OILC suspects that Shell is sharing industrial relations information with competitors,
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