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Another day, another strike. Norwegian offshore oil and gas workers went on strike over pay today which exacerbated worries about an energy shock in Europe and added to concerns over red-hot inflation. Meanwhile, wage talks between Scandinavian airline SAS and its pilots collapsed on Monday which accelerated the airline's decision to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States.
Industrial action by Norway’s offshore oil and gas workers began at midnight local time (2200 GMT) at three fields - Gudrun, Oseberg South and Oseberg East - and will expand to three more - Kristin, Heidrun and Aasta Hansteen - from midnight on Wednesday.
"The strike has begun," Audun Ingvartsen, the leader of the Lederne trade union said in an interview, adding that the union would escalate the strike to pressure employers to address demands for wage increases to compensate for rising inflation.
The first day of planned industrial action could cut the country's gas output by almost a quarter and exacerbate supply shortages in the wake of the Ukraine war. About 15% of Norway's oil output could also be cut by Saturday, according to a Reuters calculation based on the plans of union members to gradually escalate their action over the coming days.
Elsewhere, wage talks between Scandinavian airline SAS and its pilots collapsed yesterday, triggering a strike that adds to travel chaos across Europe as the peak summer vacation period begins. SAS has also filed for bankruptcy protection in the United States to help accelerate restructuring plans, it said, warning strike action by pilots had impacted its financial position and liquidity.
The work stoppage could cost SAS nearly 100 million Swedish crowns ($10 million) per day, a Sydbank analyst calculated, potentially erasing up to half of the airline's cash flow in the initial four to five weeks alone in a worst-case scenario. All SAS cabin crew in Norway are now on furlough , a union spokesperson told Reuters on Tuesday.
During the pandemic, other non-U.S. airlines including Avianca, Aeromexico and Philippine Airlines have used the Chapter 11 process to renegotiate contracts with key suppliers like aircraft lessors while continuing to operate. Rival Norwegian Air emerged from bankruptcy protection involving courts in Dublin and Oslo last year.
The aviation industry continues to face disruption as British Airways is set to cancel more flights scheduled for the summer holiday season amidst staff shortages and a surge in travel demand. In addition, Spanish-based cabin crew at Ryanair and easyJet plan to strike this month to demand better working conditions and workers at Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport stopped work at the weekend to demand a pay rise. | | | | | |  | | | | A view of the coal-fired power station of the Public Power Corporation (PPC) near the northern town of Ptolemaida, Greece, April 2, 2017. REUTERS/Alexandros Avramidis | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Marco Lavazza, vice chairman of Italian coffee manufacturer, Lavazza Group | | | | “'I don't want to live in a world where nature is destroyed' is what our founder, Luigi Lavazza, said in 1934. He started with those values and that is what we represent today, in the fourth generation of the company.
“We had sustainability already in our DNA and the idea that we had to do something for the community and not in an imperialistic way, like going somewhere to teach people how they have to live, is something we don't want to do.
“Farmers live on the farm. They live where they work. They have to be proud of their job. In order to protect the farmers, we help them with the latest ideas and latest technology to work the land, to have, for example, fewer chemical fertilizers.
“Every year, Lavazza sends 3,000 tons of coffee waste to a company (Fomet Spa) that produces organic fertilizer. And what is the result of that? They get better crops. They sell it at a better price, and we have a better product ourselves. So, it is a win-win situation.” | | | | | | | | | | | Global provider of biogas upgrading systems Greenlane Renewables has hired Monty Balderston as its new chief financial officer (CFO). Balderston joins Greenlane with over 25 years of experience in progressively senior financial leadership positions.
Balderston began his career at international professional services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers and, for the last five years, was the CFO of Toronto-based private investment firm Mosaic Capital where he oversaw all financial reporting processes and strategic planning, including budgeting, forecasting and acquisitions. | | | | Canadian oil sands producer MEG Energy has hired Gary Bosgoed to its board of directors. Bosgoed is the president and CEO of Bosgoed Project Consultants, a project management consulting engineering company headquartered in Canada. He is a member of the Peepeekisis First Nation and has worked on over 150 First Nations projects.
His credentials include working as senior vice president and general manager of WorleyParsons Canada in Edmonton leading a team of over 2,600. He has served as chair of the Alberta Capital Region United Way Campaign and as director of the Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO) and the National Aboriginal Economic Development Board. | | | | | Encavis, a Germany-based wind and solar park operator, has appointed Mario Schirru to its management board. Schirru is the current head of operations and IT and is an expert of the renewable energy industry with more than eight years at the Encavis Group already. Additionally, the CEO of Encavis Dr Dierk Paskert, will resign from office and leave the Group at the end of the year. | | | | | | | | “When the European Commission released its REPowerEU strategy, the aim was to respond to the ‘double urgency’ of dependence on Russia and climate change. Greenwashing nuclear and gas through the EU taxonomy will be a step in the opposite direction. New investments in these technologies do not make either environmental or economic sense, but will open the door to the Russian energy giants, which should be sanctioned.” | | | | Oksana Ananyeva, policy advisor at the Center for Environmental Initiatives, Ukraine | | | | | | | • | Members of the European Parliament will discuss the idea of taxing the windfall profits being currently made by energy companies with the EU's Commission and Council tomorrow. | | | | | • | Oceanium, a Senegalese marine conservation NGO, will launch a four-meter deep “underwater museum” featuring several submerged sculptures tomorrow. The plan is for a marine ecosystem to form around the pieces. | | | | | • | The European Parliament will vote on whether to block an EU executive proposal to classify nuclear and gas as transitional fuels to be used in the fight against climate change tomorrow. | | | | | • | The adviser to the European Court of Justice will deliver an opinion on a case concerning Italian law that taxes rental contracts overseen by Airbnb, which is seeking to annul such a tax regime on July 7. | | | | | | | | | | The Great Reboot | | |  | | | Poring over the ledger at her more than 230-year-old liquor shop in Kyoto, Yasuko Fujii has mixed feelings about the return of foreign tourists who would crowd the streets of Japan's ancient capital before the pandemic - and buy lots of whisky and wine.
Her ambivalence reflects a broader uncertainty in Japan about welcoming tourist hordes amid fears they could trigger a resurgence in COVID-19 cases, even though a weak yen would be a big draw for tourists and a boon for local businesses. | | | | | | | | We think you may like these: | | |
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