1 of 2 | Roughly 500 Offshore Alliance union workers at Chevron Australia’s Wheatstone and Gorgon liquified natural gas facilities began work stoppages Friday over stalled pay and working conditions negotiations. Photo courtesy Chevron Australia
Hundreds of workers at Chevron liquefied natural gas plants in Western Australia began work stoppages Friday over stalled union pay and working conditions negotiations.
Roughly 500 workers started their work stoppages — set to last up to 11 hours each day — at 1 p.m. local time at Chevron’s Gorgon and Wheatstone facilities. Advertisement
“Chevron are demanding they be given special concessions in bargaining — a demand which we have put through the shredding machine. Their belligerent, intransigent and arrogant conduct sits at the core of why they haven’t reached agreement with the OA and our members,” The Offshore Alliance union alliance said on Facebook.
The OA plans to continue the work stoppages until Thursday. If the bargaining impasse continues the union alliance plans to do a series of rolling strikes for up to 24 hours each day for as long as two weeks.
“Unfortunately, following numerous meetings and conciliation sessions before the Fair Work Commission, we remain apart on key terms,” a spokesperson for Chevron Australia said.
OA spokesman Brad Gundy said in a statement that, “Offshore Alliance members are engaging in protected industrial action in response to Chevron’s obstinacy in refusing to accept an industry-standard enterprise agreement to cover these facilities.” Advertisement
Chevron maintains the union alliance is asking for terms above and beyond the industry standard enterprise agreement.
Australia is one of the world’s largest exporters of LNG. Any disruption in supply could increase prices. European gas prices went up Friday as the Australian Chevron workers began their work stoppage.
Japan uses about 45% of the gas from the affected Australian facilities so the impact on any extended supply disruption would hit Japan hardest.
