Woodside has restarted its battle against unionisation of its offshore gas platforms, saying collective bargaining would compromise supervisors’ ability to discipline staff.
Woodside Energy has started a new battle against unions on its offshore gas platforms by challenging orders forcing the company to the negotiating table after a 30-year hiatus.this week on the basis it could compromise its management and disciplining of staff at the North Rankin, Goodwin Alpha and Angel platforms by including supervisors in the agreement, which it warns is a first for the West Australian oil and gas sector.
Woodside’s latest appeal is the tenth challenge it has lodged against unions’ bid for a majority support determination in the past eight months and follows nine straight losses.A Woodside spokeswoman said that the inclusion of supervisors in the bargaining order was “a step out for our industry in WA and does not reflect the role our supervisors perform on the platforms”.
“Thousands of sensible companies sit down to negotiate with workers and their representatives every year. Woodside is obsessed with maintaining a command and control model. They think they can fatigue workers and their representatives. It won’t work.”The Fair Work Commission decision was a key victory for unions, which have been seeking to organise the WA sector for the past several years, and triggers rights to take protected industrial action.
However, Woodside argued that went against the evidence and as a result the group of workers was “not fairly chosen”. It has called for an urgent stay on the bargaining orders pending its appeal.“We have said all along that if we are required to bargain, we want to ensure that the union has satisfied the legal requirements,” the spokeswoman said. “We think this has not occurred.”
Woodside’s previously unsuccessful arguments have included suggesting some petition signatures were fake – without evidence – and seeking unredacted copies to verify them with signatures in its own records – signatures it later admitted it did not have.
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