SYDNEY, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- A union coalition on Wednesday agreed on an in-principle deal with Chevron Australia to suspend strikes at the energy major's Gorgon and Wheatstone liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities in Western Australia.
As a partnership between the Australian Workers' Union and the Maritime Union of Australia, the Offshore Alliance (OA) confirmed on social media that its members had voted 94 percent in support of an in-principle deal to avert their industrial action.
"Members are now reviewing the draft enterprise agreements and are awaiting Chevron commencing the access period so that members can review and vote on the three proposed agreements to cover the Chevron and Wheatstone facilities," the OA noted.
A Chevron Australia spokesperson welcomed the OA's endorsement of the agreement, saying that the company is now progressing with an employee vote.
"Following the in-principle agreement, we will provide the proposed enterprise agreements tonight to the relevant employees to consider, opening the required seven-day access period, with a ballot to be held next week," the spokesperson said in a statement.
According to the statement, if voted up, the agreements will then be submitted to the Fair Work Commission for approval.
The Gorgon and Wheatstone projects have a combined capacity to produce 24.5 million tonnes of LNG per year, accounting for around 7 percent of the world's supply, as estimated by the Australian Financial Review.
Earlier on Sunday, the OA revealed that a protected industrial action was slated to kick off on Thursday since Chevron Australia "failed on all counts" to address the workers' concerns in the proposed enterprise agreements. ■
