Workers at US energy company Chevron’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities in Australia are set to go on strike on Sept. 7 after disputes over working conditions, the Australian labor union Offshore Alliance (OA) announced on Tuesday.
The OA warned the company about taking protected industrial action that may include ‘numerous work bans and complete stoppages of work’, the OA told Anadolu in an e-mailed note.
Union members in Chevron’s Wheatstone Downstream and Gorgan facilities voted to endorse protected industrial action after Chevron rejected imposing an industry standard agreement.
The union said many companies working across Western Australian gas fields have successfully negotiated enterprise agreements with the OA to cover their workers in the last few years.
However, OA members at Chevron have still not reached an agreement on several key claims, including job security, agreed rosters, transfers to other Chevron worksites, working overtime, training standards, travel arrangements and rates of pay, the union explained.
‘Our members at Chevron aren’t being unreasonable in their claims and if Chevron could just accept that it must provide terms and conditions of employment that meet the industry standard, we could settle this matter in a matter of hours,’ said the OA spokesperson and Western Australian Workers’ Union Branch Secretary Brad Gandy.
Meanwhile, Chevron also explained in an e-mailed note that the company received notices for protected industrial action at the facilities that is due to start on Sept. 7 if no agreement has been reached.
‘While we don’t believe that industrial action is necessary for the agreement to be reached, we recognize employees have the right to take protected industrial action, and we will continue to take steps to maintain safe and reliable operations in the event of disruption at our facilities, a Chevron Australia spokesperson said.
‘We will also continue to work through the bargaining process as we seek outcomes that are in the interests of both employees and the company,’ the spokesperson added.
