Page 14 - GLNG Week 35 2022
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GLNG AUSTRAL ASIA GLNG
Prelude FLNG strike ends
after wage deal reached
POLICY SHELL and unions representing workers at the only wage increases but also greater job security
Prelude floating LNG (FLNG) plant have struck and this had become a point of contention in
a deal on wage increases to bring an end to a negotiations.
long-running strike and relaunch production, Full details of the agreement will be released
they announced last week. imminently. Unions are set to ratify the agree-
The 3.6mn tonne per year (tpy) Prelude ment in the coming days, and should they fail
FLNG was closed down in July and Shell notified to do so, there is a risk that the strike might be
its customers that it would be unable to supply resumed.
LNG while the industrial action continued. The Hailing its victory, the unions said that the
strike had begun sooner in June, but initially was agreement sent a signal to other employers in
confined to one-hour work stoppages at the facil- Australia’s energy industry, noting that there
ity off the coast of Western Australia. were upcoming contract negotiations with
“Shell is pleased to confirm an in-principle Chevron, Santos and Woodside that they hoped
enterprise agreement has been reached with the would not result in similar industrial action.
Australian Workers’ Union and Electrical Trades The resumption in Prelude FLNG’s opera-
Union in relation to the Prelude FLNG facility,” tions is good news for LNG customers particu-
the company said in a statement. larly in Asia, as it should help ease soaring gas
The deal between the Offshore Alliance prices. The plant was closed in December last
that represented the two unions was mediated year after a fire and power outage, and remained
by Australia’s Fair Work Commission, which shut until April. The Asian gas market is also
approved the industrial action. contending with the risk of disruption in exports
“Our members have not taken a backward from the Sakhalin LNG plant in Russia, after a
step in fighting for job security, significant Russian entity set up to manage the project has
uplifts in salaries and union-negotiated employ- asked customers to agree to new supply terms.
ment conditions,” the Offshore Alliance said in
a statement. The unions had been seeking not
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