Chevron Workers Withdraw Australia Gas Plant Strike Threat

Sydney, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th Oct, 2023) Chevron workers say they have endorsed a proposed deal on new pay and conditions, averting a planned strike on Thursday at Western Australian plants that pump out more than five percent of global liquefied natural gas.

Union members at the US energy giant's facilities agreed to "suspend" their plan to resume industrial action, the Offshore Alliance representing them said in a statement on Wednesday -- the eve of the threatened strike.

The alliance said it had cancelled its notification of industrial action after members endorsed three new enterprise agreements with Chevron covering the vast Gorgon and Wheatstone facilities.

"We hope this can now be put to rest," said Brad Grady, spokesperson for the Offshore Alliance, a partnership between the Australian Workers Union (AWU) and the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA).

Grady said workers had shown "incredible patience" and accused the US firm of seeking to alter the terms of a deal reached last month.

Chevron said it welcomed the "in-principle agreement" with the Australian Workers Union on new enterprise agreements at the gas facilities.

"The AWU has advised Chevron Australia that industrial action by its members, which was planned to commence tomorrow, will no longer go ahead," a Chevron Australia spokesperson said.

The US group said the proposed agreements would be provided to employees on Wednesday evening, opening a seven-day period before a ballot on the deal next week.

If workers vote in favour, the agreements will be submitted for approval to Australia's industrial relations authority, the Fair Work Commission, it said.

In late September, the workers ended rolling strike action after reaching an outline agreement in mediated talks with Chevron management on improved pay and conditions.

But two weeks later, they gave notice of a new round of industrial action, saying Chevron was reneging on its commitments.

Chevron is one of two major natural gas producers in Western Australia, alongside Woodside Energy.

Between them, the two companies account for more than 15 percent of international natural gas exports.

With the capacity to produce more than 15 million tonnes of natural gas each year, Chevron is particularly proud of the Gorgon gas plant -- which it describes as "one of the world's largest LNG projects".

Natural gas prices spiked across Europe in August after staff threatened industrial action at the offshore gas platforms owned by Woodside.

Those strikes were averted after Woodside managed to hammer out a last-minute agreement with union members.