Hundreds of construction workers who voted in favour of walking off the job at Chevron’s Gorgon LNG project have cancelled the industrial action after negotiations with the lead contractor.
The WA branches of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union and Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union held the vote after months of negotiations with CB&I failed to result in any significant change to the 26 days, nine days off roster.
Workers were seeking a more family-friendly roster of 20 days on and 10 days off, saying that was a moderate step towards changes recommended by a recent bipartisan parliamentary committee inquiry into the mental health of FIFO workers.
They planned to take industrial action, including stoppages and paperwork bans, on Friday.
But late on Thursday, the unions said there had been a breakthrough in negotiations, and workers had endorsed CB&Is most recent offer of 23 days on, 10 days off.
“This was never about the money. This has been 100 per cent about workers’ families and mental health,” AMWU WA branch secretary Steve McCartney said.
“FIFO is no longer just a young man’s game – we now have 60,000 FIFO workers in Western Australia, and many of them have husbands, wives and children.”
Mr McCartney, who has been involved with campaigns since the 1980s to reduce rosters from 13 weeks on and one week off, said the win was a historic “watershed deal”.
Source: WA Today