Chevron Australia LNG workers reject company offer, work stoppages still on track - Reuters
Chevron Australia LNG workers reject company offer, work stoppages still on track | Reuters
Chevron Australia LNG workers reject company offer, work stoppages still on track
A 3D printed natural gas pipeline is placed in front of displayed Chevron logo in this illustration taken February 8, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration Acquire Licensing Rights
SYDNEY, Sept 1 (Reuters) - Chevron (CVX.N) workers at two of Australia's largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities have rejected a company pay and conditions offer, a union alliance said on Friday, and planned work stoppages will go ahead next week pending another deal.
Workers at Chevron's Gorgon LNG facility and its Wheatstone downstream LNG facility in Western Australia rejected the company's offer, according to a Facebook post by the Offshore Alliance, a coalition of two unions. Chevron confirmed the result minutes later in an emailed statement.
"The vote was part of the bargaining process and an important step which enabled employees to share their views," a Chevron spokesperson said.
Australia is the world's biggest LNG exporter, and the Gorgon and Wheatstone projects account for more than 5% of global LNG capacity.
Chevron and the Offshore Alliance are locked in a dispute about pay and conditions that has roiled global gas markets leery about interruptions to Australian LNG exports at a time of tightening supply. The threat of strikes has driven natural gas prices higher.
Chevron had applied to Australia's industrial arbitrator, the Fair Work Commission, to help mediate the dispute although there were no negotiations scheduled, the union alliance said in a separate statement.
The Offshore Alliance is planning to begin industrial action on Sept. 7 if a deal is not struck. Workers could down tools for up to 11 hours and stop performing certain tasks until at least Sept. 14 based on the alliance's current plan.
"Ballot results show that they (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," the union alliance said in a Facebook post on Friday.
A similar dispute between the union alliance and Woodside Energy Group (WDS.AX) at a nearby LNG facility resolved in a deal without unions following through on threats of strikes.
Reporting by Lewis Jackson; Editing by Alasdair Pal, Tom Hogue and Miral Fahmy
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Related Knowledge Center: Liquefied natural gas
Driven by plentiful natural gas produced from shale plays, the United States began exporting liquefied natural gas in 2016 when the Sabine Pass terminal in Louisiana opened and shipped its first cargo. Since then, additional capacity, or trains, have been added to Sabine Pass, and terminals have become operational in Cameron Parish, La.; Hackberry, La.; Cove Point, Md.; and Corpus Christi, Texas. The Energy Information Administration projects that U.S. LNG export capacity will reach 8.9 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) by the end of 2019, making it the third largest in the world, behind Australia and Qatar. The tariff war with China has the potential to impact some final investment decisions for additional terminals in the coming months.