Woodside stands firm in donga dispute

Woodside Petroleum says it will not reverse a decision to change new accommodation arrangements at its $12 billion Pluto gas project despite workers today going on an illegal 48-hour strike.

Members with the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union last night voted in favour of a strike after Woodside announced last week workers will no longer have permanent private rooms or 'dongas' to live in.

Instead, workers will need to pack up their belongings at the end of a four-week shift and be allocated a different donga for the next shift.

Woodside spokesperson Roger Martin told WA Business News the company was disappointed with the action and didn't believe there was any grounds for the strike.

"The Australian LNG enjoys the worldwide reputation for reliability and that reputation is based partly on the industrial harmony on LNG projects in recent years," he said.

"Anything that threatens that industrial harmony also threatens the reputation of the Aus LNG industry."

Mr Martin added that Woodside is speaking with project managers Foster Wheeler/WorleyParsons to try and address the concerns however the new accommodation arrangements were here to stay.

He said in order for Woodside to provide further employment opportunities, the accommodation change was required.

Mr Martin said 25 per cent of the 2,100 rooms at the Pluto camp, named Gap Ridge Village, were vacant under the previous accommodation arrangements.

He said exact numbers of striking workers were not known, however there were about 1,500 workers onsite today as opposed to the usual 3,500.

The construction schedule of the Pluto foundation project is not expected to be affected by the strike.

First production from Pluto is expected late next year.