Union pushes further Chevron strike action

Chevron workers are preparing to walk off the job again after their union opted to proceed with further industrial action planned for Thursday.

Over the weekend, the Offshore Alliance gave notice to further protected industrial action set to begin on October 19 after a deal orchestrated by the Fair Work Commission fell through.

The union said Chevron failed on all accounts to address uncertainties in the proposed enterprise bargaining agreement for workers at the Gorgon and Wheatstone gas facilities.

In a statement, Offshore Alliance said it conducted a secret ballot of 410 members, with 91 per cent voting in support of strike action later this week.

Fair Work commissioner Bernie Riordan was engaged to help draft the EBA deal during last month’s strike action, which ended on September 22.

“Members have made it clear that they want Chevron to stop twisting the draft terms of our EBAs and are prepared to ramp up PIA until our EBAs are properly sorted,” Offshore Alliance said in a statement on Facebook.

“Members have also raised concerns about the need for Chevron to permanently exclude behavioral standards from level progression and want answers from Chevron about the perceived attack on members' annual bonuses.

“The Offshore Alliance is fed up with the games Chevron and their lawyers are playing.”

Chevron Australia spokesperson said they were extremely disappointed that the unions voted to procced with strike action after engaging the commissioner to draft the EBA.

“We understand union leaders recommended members not withdraw the notified industrial action,” the spokesperson said.

“Chevron participated in a genuine and meaningful way in the conferences held last week and accepted every clarification provided by the commissioner on the small number of items in his recommendation that the parties interpret differently.

“The union’s decision to ignore the recommendation to withdraw the protected industrial action notice while discussions are continuing is very concerning, unreasonable and undermines the considerable progress made prior to Chevron requesting the commission’s assistance last week.

“We reaffirm our commitment to implementing commissioner Riordan’s September 21 recommendation and finalising the agreements.”