Australian maintenance workers strike at Woodside's North West Shelf LNG plant

Maintenance workers went on strike on Wednesday at Woodside Energy's North West Shelf and Pluto LNG export plants in Australia after failed negotiations with contractor UGL.



Offshore Alliance, a grouping of the Australian Workers Union and the Maritime Union of Australia, said workers were taking action after UGL offered an enterprise agreement that was below industry standards.



"The end result of UGL's inability to negotiate or accept industrial standards is protected industrial action," the union said in a post on social media on Wednesday. The action would continue until an enterprise agreement was finalised, it added.



The Karratha gas plant is the onshore processing facility for the North West Shelf, Australia's oldest and second-largest LNG project, producing 14.3 million metric tons a year of liquefied natural gas.



The nearby Pluto LNG facility produces 4.9 million metric tons of LNG a year.



Woodside said it would continue to work with UGL management, but it was ultimately up to them to resolve the disagreement with their workers.