Business & Economy

Australian union announces strike at Chevron gas facilities from Sep. 7

Sydney, Australia, Aug 29 (EFE).- A workers’ union in Australia on Tuesday announced a strike from Sep. 7 at three liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities of the US company Chevron sparking fears of a disruption in the global supply of this resource.

In a statement posted on its Facebook page, the Offshore Alliance said that its lawyers had “served Chevron with formal Notice of Protected Industrial Action on all 3 West Coast facilities, commencing Thursday 7th September 2023.”

“OA members will be participating in rolling stoppages, bans and limitations which will escalate each week until Chevron agrees to our bargaining claims,” the union, which is made up of 500 workers, said.

Offshore Alliance, which is partnership between the AWU (Australian Workers’ Union) and the Maritime Union of Australia, said Chevron’s bargaining efforts were the “most inept and incompetent performance we have seen to date from any of the outfits we have dealt with since the formation of the Offshore Alliance in October 2018.”

“It’s set to cost Chevron their LNG exports as PIA starts to bite,” it added.

Among the facilities that could face disruptions are the Gorgon and Wheatstone LNG projects, which produce more than 5 percent of the world’s liquefied natural gas.

Concerns about the strike have caused wholesale LNG prices to rise in Europe since last week.

A Chevron spokesperson said that the industrial action was not necessary for agreement to be reached, the Australia Financial Review newspaper reported.

“We recognize employees have the right to take protected industrial action and we will continue to take steps to maintain safe and reliable operations in the event of disruption at our facilities,” he added. EFE

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