A 24-hour strike of Wood Group oil and gas maintenance workers will "severely disrupt" operations at several Royal Dutch Shell Plc (NYSE: RDS.A) platforms in the North Sea where they are employed, labor union Unite said on July 18.

The strike action scheduled for July 26 will be the first walkout by U.K. North Sea workers in 10 years as oil and gas staff are angered by pay cuts and tougher working schedules brought on by cost savings amid the oil price crash.

The workers will also undertake several three-hour strikes over the following weeks, a union representative said.

At total of seven Shell platforms, including the historic Brent facility, will be affected by the strike of Wood Group employees who carry out maintenance. This means production from the platforms may not necessarily be impacted.

Shell is making contingency arrangements to ensure safety is not affected by the strike action, a person at the company said.

"It is anticipated that the action will severely disrupt operations on the Shell platforms," the union said in a statement.

The platforms affected are Brent Alpha, Bravo and Charlie, Gannet, Nelson, Curlew and Shearwater. Shell's Brent Delta platform, which is being decommissioned, is also included.

An overwhelming number of employees backed strike action in a ballot carried out last week.

Wood Group said it was continuing to engage with employees and labor unions to reach a resolution.

Shell said it hoped Wood Group and its employees would come to an agreement.

Offshore