But when the hooting and hollering was over, the two sides remained as far as ever from resolving the long-running contract standoff.

The drilling rig workers, called roughnecks, have been represented by the Laborers' International Union of North America since 2000, when they voted to organize. They say all they want is a moderate wage increase, a union health care plan and a pension plan.

Nabors, a Texas-based global drilling giant whose employees run drilling rigs on the North Slope and in Cook Inlet, has offered a contract that would keep pay and benefits basically at current levels, which company management says are among the most competitive in Alaska and among the best in the industry worldwide.

"Their last offer was no better than what these guys have now," said John Zuleger, a union organizer who coordinated Thursday's demonstration. "It gets them nowhere beyond where they're at, and that's not acceptable."

Nabors Alaska's general manager, Dave Hebert, said that current wages and benefits are more than fair, and refuted the union's claim that the company is unwilling to negotiate.

Entry-level roughnecks are paid at least $50,000 for working two weeks on, two weeks off, and all the employees have good health insurance and can participate in the company's 401(k) retirement plan, he said.

Hebert, who was promoted to general manager in February after working nine years as a drilling superintendent, hasn't been personally involved in the negotiations. He said the company is standing firm by its previous offer, which the union employees refused to ratify.

That offer, which Zuleger said was sent to some 347 members in December, would have kept hourly wage rates at current levels -- ranging from $14.18 for a roustabout to $25.70 for a derrickman -- and did not include any changes to the health care or retirement benefits.

Zuleger said the union has been negotiating with Nabors since 2000 and is seeking a minimum 6 percent wage increase, a union pension plan and a health care plan that would cover workers after they retire.

Some of the workers at Thursday's demonstration said they were frustrated by the lack of progress and pointed to Nabors' contract offer as evidence that the company doesn't care about the welfare of its employees.

"I'm just plain tired of the way they treat people," said Mike Mason, who's been working on the North Slope for 25 years.

Mason said Nabors has long tried to derail attempts to organize, since efforts to unionize began in earnest in 1995. He and other activist union employees also have been highly critical of the company's safety and environmental practices.

Hebert said relations between Nabors and its employees is good, and he said they are some of the best paid oil field workers in the world.

"If you look at industries across Alaska, we think they're well compensated, have a good benefits package and a good insurance program," he said. "And if you look around the world, the Alaska market probably has among the highest compensated oil field workers."

He said the company's contract offer remains on the table.

Zuleger said the level of frustration among the union workers is mounting, and many of them are asking, "When are we going to strike?"

Though the possibility of a strike remains, Zuleger said the union does not want to do anything that would cause Nabors any financial harm.

"That is the last thing we want to do," he said. "But at this point, they're not leaving us a lot of options."