The ongoing strike at Woodside Petroleum's Pluto project appears to have ballooned from the motelling issue as suspicions of the unions' involvement with the unlawful industrial action continue.
The ongoing strike at Woodside Petroleum's Pluto project appears to have ballooned from the motelling issue as suspicions of the unions' involvement with the unlawful industrial action continue.
About 1,600 workers, half of the workforce, will today and tomorrow be served with a Federal Court order, delivered late yesterday, that order the employees to get back to work.
The injunction was sought by the state's Chamber of Commerce and Industry on behalf of 13 contractors on the project.
The workers, who started their strike on Friday, are angry over an accommodation plan known as motelling, where workers will be allocated a new room at the start of each work cycle.
Today, Woodside general manager employee relations Ian Masson said there were a number of other claims surfacing that were suggesting an agenda was being promoted within the workforce to deal with a range of employment terms and conditions.
"We haven't got a formal log of claims, however we have received reports back from contractors, some verbally, some written, which indicate there are a number of claims on the table ranging from various payment related claims like working through meal breaks, travelling time, through to re-opening negotiations in relation in to establishing a site agreement," Mr Masson said.
"The union movement over the past several days has been conspicuously quiet; anything that has said has been carefully stated in order to distance themselves from the current unlawful industrial action.
"It beggars belief however that this level of coordination could occur without the support or involvement of the trade unions and we have a strong belief that that would be occurring."
Unions have distanced themselves from the striking workers after the federal government's new workplace umpire, Fair Work Australia, on Saturday ordered the workers to head back to work.
The workers face an individual fine of up to $22,000 for ignoring the Fair Work Australia order, and will also face further prosecution if they disregard the court order.
Meantime, Premier Colin Barnett said the unlawful industrial action was the first serious test under the new industrial relation laws.
"If they do not return to work, I will call on the federal government to intervene and use legal powers, including prosecutions," Mr Barnett told reporters on Thursday.
Deputy Prime Minister and Workplace Relations Minister Julia Gillard said the matter should be left in the hands of the Fair Work Australia and Federal Court "independent umpires".
She warned the striking workers today that they could find themselves "very, very, very substantially out of pocket".
Ms Gillard said it would be left to a Federal Court judge to deal with the matter if the strikers breached the orders of Fair Work Australia to return to work.
