Highly skilled energy workers and electricians working at Chevron’s offshore Wheatstone platform and onshore Wheatstone and Gorgon facilities have endorsed stoppages and bans as they seek a collective agreement that delivers family friendly rosters, better job security and a transparent promotion policy.
According to Chevron, annual LNG production from Wheatstone at full capacity is 8.9 million tonnes while Gorgon produces 15.6 million tonnes per annum. The recent spike in gas prices has led to a surge in profitability, allowing Chevron’s WA gas platform to make an astonishing US$500 per second.
Workers are fed up and today endorsed a series of actions ranging from rolling, open ended stoppages of between one and twelve hours as well as bans that include high voltage electrical switching, maintenance , software and laboratory work.
ETU spokesman, Adam Woodage, said Chevron could avoid significant disruption by exercising basic decency.
“The entire cost of what we seek from Chevron will be overwhelmed by just 3.5 hours of industrial action,” Woodage said. “It is not in Chevron’s interest to provoke a dispute. To do so is simply bloody minded and certainly not guided by commerce.
“The companies extracting Australian resources from the WA gas fields are enjoying a bonanza thanks to the Putin spike in commodity prices. The least they could do is agree to family friendly rosters and wages.”
Today’s vote follows on from Woodside’s decision to settle an agreement with its workforce last night. The Woodside agreement delivers superior wages and rosters.
