Oil and gas giant Shell is preparing for strike action across seven of its platforms in the North Sea as part of the largest UK oilfields industrial dispute for ten years.

Earlier in the week, workers at Wood Group, the company which provides Shell with maintenance services, voted in favour of strike action in protest at the changes to working conditions and pay.

The dispute is a reflection of the increasing tensions in North Sea industrial relations as businesses struggle to keep the basin competitive in the face of low oil prices, high costs and declining production.

Shell says that it is not expecting disruption to hit immediately and has put contingency plans in place to make sure that essential maintenance would carry on as normal if the strike goes ahead as planned.

Shell has been accused of recruiting “scab labour” by trade unions after advertisements were posted to a job agency website which offered maintenance work on week by week contracts.

RMT and Unite union leaders said that their members had voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action.

Head of Shell’s upstream business in the UK and Ireland, Paul Goodfellow, said that he was disappointed with the outcome of the vote and was hopeful that the Wood Group and its employees would be able to resolves their issues without the need for a walkout.

Goodfellow commented: “Our priority is to ensure that the safety of our people and assets will not be compromised during any industrial action.”

Meanwhile, Head of Wood Group’s Eastern Region, Dave Stewart, said that the company was hopeful of reaching an agreement with the unions that “meets our mutual goal of safeguarding these jobs in the North Sea now and in the future.”

On average, Wood Group employees are facing a basic salary reduction of 3%.