Chevron workers to end Australia gas plant strike

CANBERRA

Labor unions said on Sept. 22 they will end disruptive strike actions at Chevron Corp.'s three liquefied natural gas plants in Australia that provide more than 5 percent of global LNG supplies.

Chevron Australia and the Offshore Alliance said they had accepted an arbitrator’s recommendation for resolving a dispute over pay and working conditions.

The alliance is a partnership of the Australian Workers’ Union and the Maritime Union of Australia, which represents workers in the offshore oil and gas industry.

Neither side gave any details on the proposed contract terms.

The strike actions involve 500 unionized staff who have yet to accept updated employment contracts at the U.S. energy giant’s three facilities in the Pilbara region of Western Australia state: Gorgon, Wheatstone Platform and Wheatstone Downstream.

The plants account for between 5 percent and 7 percent of global LNG supply and union unrest since Sept. 8 has affected global gas prices.

“The Offshore Alliance will now work with Chevron to finalize the drafting of the three agreements and members will soon cease current industrial action,” the unions said in a statement.

Chevron said it had accepted the recommendation of the arbitrator who brokered the resolution, Fair Work Commissioner Bernie Riordan, to “resolve all outstanding issues and finalize the agreements.”

Chevron is the last major gas producer in Western Australia without a current agreement after employees at Shell, INPEX Corp. and Woodside Energy signed off on their own updated agreements.