By Helen Clark
PERTH, Nov 24 (Reuters) - Australia’s Fair Work Commission approved on Monday a union request to hold a ballot for workers to vote on striking at Woodside Energy’s Pluto LNG 2 project in a battle over pay at the facility.
The commission ordered the ballot be held no later than December 4. If successful a strike could be held before the end of the year, slowing work at the facility where the company hopes to ship its first liquefied natural gas cargo in the second half of 2026.
The Offshore Alliance, a group of the Maritime Union of Australia and the Australian Workers Union, salary negotiations with contractor Bechtel had gone nowhere and its next move was to strike.
Bechtel is the contractor building Pluto, which is an expansion of an existing facility in Western Australia’s Pilbara region.
Bechtel had argued against allowing the ballot and industrial action, and has said the alliance should not be encroaching on more traditional onshore construction work.
Three other unions have also made separate applications for a strike ballot for the same agreement, documents show. The commission has ordered their ballots also be held.
Workers at Pluto 2 are currently receiving an hourly rate that is 30% less than workers doing the same job at the Wheatstone project, when factoring in changes in the consumer price index, the Offshore Alliance said in a statement.
Wheatstone LNG is a separate project operated by Chevron . The union group wants a 30% pay rise.
Union sources told Reuters last week they expected push-back from the construction contractor.
(Reporting by Helen Clark; Editing by Stephen Coates)
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