Workers at Chevron’s Gorgon and Wheatstone LNG plants have rejected the proposed enterprise agreements and plan to start industrial action on September 7.
Earlier this week, workers at Chevron’s Wheatstone platform voted to take industrial action as part of an ongoing dispute over pay and conditions.
Unions representing downstream workers at the Chevron-operated Gorgon and Wheatstone LNG projects previously voted to authorize a strike.
The Offshore Alliance, which includes the Maritime Union of Australia and Australian Workers’ Union, said in a social media post on Friday that its members at the Gorgon and Wheatstone downstream facilities voted to reject Chevron’s proposed enterprise agreements.
According to the alliance, less than 1 percent of the Wheatstone downstream and Gorgon workforce voted ‘Yes’ to Chevron’s EA. That is just three workers out of 461 workers, it said.
When the Wheatstone platform EA ballot results are factored in, just four out of 518 Chevron employees have voted ‘Yes’ to their EA proposal, the Offshore Alliance said.
The ballot results show that Chevron “are out of touch with OA members and haven’t listened to a word spoken in their discussions with members, Reps, and the Offshore Alliance,” it said.
The Offshore Alliance said that protected industrial action starts on all three Chevron facilities on September 7.
Chevron seeks mediation assistance
A Chevron spokesperson confirmed to LNG Prime that the proposed enterprise agreements for the Gorgon and Wheatstone onshore facility were not supported by employees.
“Similar to the opportunity we provided Wheatstone platform employees, the vote was part of the bargaining process and an important step which enabled employees to share their views,” the spokesperson said.
“Following the outcome of the various enterprise agreement votes, we’re looking to narrow points of difference with employees and their representatives through further bargaining mediated by the Fair Work Commission,” the spokesperson said.
“To progress this, we have lodged an application with the Fair Work Commission to seek mediation assistance, through an application to deal with a bargaining dispute,” the spokesperson added.
The Gorgon LNG plant on Barrow Island has three trains and a production capacity of some 15.5 mtpa, while the Wheatstone LNG plant near Onslow has a capacity of about 8.9 mtpa.
These two projects have a combined capacity of about 25.4 mtpa.
Earlier this month, Woodside and Chevron said they were in talks with unions as they worked to avoid strikes that could affect operations at the North West Shelf, Gorgon, and Wheatstone LNG projects.
Woodside and unions representing its workers at North West Shelf offshore gas platforms have reached an in-principle agreement on Wednesday last week.
The workers also endorsed the in-principle agreement after that, the alliance previously said.
