A COMPANY has urged “common sense to prevail” after refinery workers backed industrial action over a wage wrangle.

A number of Hertel UK staff have voted to down tools after rejecting a pay freeze.

Hertel last night (Wednesday, June 1) urged workers, who are members of the Unite union, to withdraw their threat.

The company has long said the warning has put more than 50 positions at risk at the ConocoPhillips refinery, in Seal Sands, near Middlesbrough, where Hertel staff provide maintenance, by forcing the cancellation of planned repairs.

According to figures seen by The Northern Echo, 24 of the 45 Hertel workers who responded to the ballot voted for action.

Reacting to the poll, Steve Cason, Unite regional officer, said: “We have got the result and will be writing to our members with instructions.

“We can’t say anything else until we get the letters out, but we will consider our position and take it from there.”

Unite, alongside fellow union GMB, which has withdrawn its ballot, has long pushed for improved wages over the next three years, linked to National Agreement for the Engineering Construction Industry rates, saying Hertel’s zero per cent offer is not good enough.

But Hertel has always said the demands are unrealistic, citing the oil and gas sector’s woes, and Mr Cason was previously forced to defend claims by a union member that the organisation was acting ignorantly and naïvely.

Responding to the ballot, David Massey, Hertel UK HR director, said workers still have time to reverse their decision, reiterating how hundreds of staff at Seal Sands have already accepted the pay freeze.

He added: “It is disappointing that 24 of the 45 employees who responded to the ballot voted in favour of action.

“The uncertainty in recent months caused by Unite has already seen job losses at the site and the cancellation of this month’s planned maintenance shutdown.

“Further disruption could lead to more job losses as planned work is scaled back.

“While we respect the legal right of the union’s members to make this decision, our hope is that common sense will prevail and Unite will withdraw its threat of strike action.”