Chevron workers in West Australian gas plants have approved a series of draft enterprise agreements rather than go ahead with a planned strike.

October 18, 2023

Hundreds of Chevron workers at two major West Australian gas plants have agreed to suspend threatened strike action and endorse a series of draft wage agreements.

About 500 employees had planned to resume protected industrial action on Thursday amid claims the petrochemical giant had welshed on an in-principle pay deal struck last month.

Australian Workers Union WA secretary Brad Gandy said Offshore Alliance members had shown incredible patience with the oil and gas producer.

“It’s sad Chevron seems unable to do an honest deal and we hope this can now be put to rest but if Chevron tries to alter the deal again our members will obviously have no choice but to consider taking protected industrial action,” he said.

“People dealing with Chevron should know this company will try every trick in the book to dud them and not to trust anything they say unless it’s in black and white.”

The Gorgon and Wheatstone facilities supply 44 per cent of WA’s domestic gas and revenue from the projects is estimated to be $76 million a day, according to research group EnergyQuest.

A strike at the facilities in WA’s northwest, which supply about seven per cent of the global LNG market, could have disrupted global supplies and unsettled prices.

Workers and union officials made the call to accept the draft agreements at a mass meeting on Wednesday.

Members are reviewing the three draft agreements and will hold a formal vote in seven days, with the Offshore Alliance saying it’s encouraging workers to vote yes.

Chevron Australia insists it worked hard to finalise the labour agreements to provide market-competitive remuneration and conditions for workers at the Gorgon and Wheatstone gas plants.

A spokesman said the company would provide the proposed enterprise agreements on Wednesday, opening the required seven-day access period before a ballot is held next week.

“Chevron Australia welcomes in-principle agreement with the Australian Workers’ Union on proposed enterprise agreements for employees at our Gorgon and Wheatstone facilities,” it said.

Protected industrial action started on September 8 at the Wheatstone platform, Chevron’s downstream processing facility of the same name, and the Gorgon downstream processing facility.

It ended almost two weeks later when Chevron and the unions accepted the industrial arbitrator’s proposals on pay and conditions.

Chevron had been the last major producer in the WA gas fields without an EBA after workers at Shell, Inpex and Woodside signed off on agreements of their own.