Chevron Australia labour row escalates with two-week walkout plan
By Renju Jose, Lewis Jackson and Emily Chow
SYDNEY/SINGAPORE (Reuters) — Workers at Chevron (NYSE:CVX)'s Gorgon and Wheatstone liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects in Australia plan a total strike for two weeks from Sept. 14, a union alliance said on Tuesday, in a significant escalation on disputes over pay and conditions.
Australia is the world's biggest LNG exporter and the ongoing dispute has stoked volatility in natural gas markets, as traders worry about the risk of long-term disruption.
The strike decision comes amid mediation talks hosted by the Fair Work Commission, Australia's industrial arbitrator, which began on Monday and are scheduled to run every day this week, ahead of brief stoppages called by the union from Thursday.
«The Offshore Alliance is escalating protected industrial action to demonstrate that our bargaining negotiations are far from 'intractable',» the union alliance said in a Facebook (NASDAQ:META) post.
Freeman Shaheen, head of global gas at Chevron told reporters at the Gastech conference in Singapore that the discussions are continuing.
«There are mediated negotiations going on, which I think is positive,» he said.
Shaheen said everybody has the right to industrial action, but he does not think it's needed. «So we’re hopeful and they’ll continue the negotiated mediation and that we will get to the right spot.»
Prolonged industrial action could disrupt LNG exports and likely increase competition for the super-chilled fuel, forcing Asian buyers to outbid European buyers to attract LNG cargo.
The latest move by the union could be a sign that the mediation talks were not «progressing well», ING said.
«This is likely to provide some support to gas prices today and comes at a time when there is
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