Alaska Senate to study Slope employment

An Alaska legislative committee is looking to hire a consultant to “conduct a detailed study” of North Slope oil and gas employment.

The Senate Finance Committee put out a request for proposals for the work on July 7. The committee’s co-chairman, Sitka Republican Sen. Bert Stedman, is the main contact on the RFP.

The consultant’s job will be to examine hiring practices, wages, worker residency, job classifications, contract labor and other aspects of employment dependent on North Slope oil and gas activity.

“Contractual labor includes, but is not limited to, the hiring of subcontractors by oil and gas companies on the North Slope over the past four years,” the RFP says. The study will look at where subcontractors are headquartered, how long they have operated in Alaska, and whether their employees are residents or nonresidents.

The consultant must submit a final report to the Senate Finance Committee by Dec. 1, and must subsequently provide testimony to Senate committees through the contract period ending June 30, 2012.

The RFP does not specify a budget for the study. Firms or persons bidding for the contract are asked to provide a cost proposal.

—Wesley Loy