Oil workers still fear job losses and tougher employment conditions despite provisional welcome for giveaways

While the North Sea oil industry was toasting tax breaks from the government on Wednesday, offshore workers in Aberdeen found little to cheer.

Down at Aitchie’s free house, a favourite stop near the harbour for oil workers returning from offshore work, neither a pint, nor the prospect of financial assistance from the government, was soothing the anxiety. One group of workers, back from two weeks at sea, said that from September they would have to work an extra week for the same pay – three weeks on the rig and two weeks off, compared to the current two-two pattern.

Related: Osborne gambles on brighter future by cutting taxes for North Sea oil

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