Federal Workplace Minister Julia Gillard has called on about 2,500 workers at Woodside’s $12 billion Pluto liquefied natural gas project to return to work, more than five days after Fair Work Australia ordered them to cease their illegal strike.
The strike, which centres on accommodation arrangements at the project in Western Australia, is the culmination of a campaign that has been running since November last year.
Woodside says the strikes raise serious questions about the effectiveness of Labor’s new Fair Work IR system in preventing wildcat strikes.
“This strike raises concerns that the national workplace relations system does not provide an effective deterrent to unlawful industrial action,” Woodside said in a statement.
“These workers are defying an order of Fair Work Australia, the ‘independent umpire’, to cease industrial action. What is the value of the independent umpire if workers feel able to ignore its orders? Are there suitable means to enforce these orders?”
Gillard’s intervention is a sign that the Government is watching what is seen as a test case very closely.
“My message to the workers engaged in this is that there is no excuse for unprotected industrial action,” she told ABC Radio on Thursday.
“They should get back to work, they should be fully performing work duties as required by their employer.”
However, the latest reports from Western Australia indicate workers will go ahead with their plan to strike until Saturday.
The workers could face individual fines of $22,000 for the illegal strike under the new workplace laws.
James was the editor and publisher of SmartCompany and LeadingCompany for five years. He is now the Australian Financial Review‘s companies & markets editor, and a former BRW editor.
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