Australian workers begin strike at Inpex’s Ichthys LNG plant

Union workers in Australia’s Offshore Alliance began strike action at Inpex’s three Ichthys LNG facilities, Reuters reported on June 2.

The Offshore Alliance consists of the Australian Workers’ Union and the Maritime Union of Australia. The group decided to take strike action after negotiations facilitated by the Fair Work Commission were unsuccessful in bridging the divide on pay and conditions.

Hopes had been mounting that the two sides could reach an agreement. The Offshore Alliance pulled strike action planned for the plant on May 27 and 28 as talks had been making progress.

"Whilst significant progress was made ​last week in FWC-facilitated bargaining with Inpex, they have fallen short on a ​number of fundamental claims," a post by the union said on Facebook.

The group has vowed that industrial action will continue to ramp up until a fair deal is reached.

Workers are striking at the 9.3mn tonnes per year (tpy) Ichthys plant in Darwin in the Northern Territory, as well as the offshore central processing facility, and the offshore floating production, storage, and offloading facility (FPSO).

Industrial action at the Ichthys facility had been brewing for the past few months. In April 326 of 346 union members voted to strike after six days of negotiations, which is a requirement by Australia’s Fair Work Commission. The workforce at Ichthys is almost predominantly comprised of unionised employees, with about 95% union members. 

The strike deals another blow to Australia’s reputation as a reliable supplier of LNG. In November, labour tensions simmered at Woodside Energy’s high-profile Pluto 2 LNG project, with a union coalition applying to the Fair Work Commission for authorisation to strike.

In September 2023, workers at Chevron’s Gorgon and Wheatstone LNG facilities went on strike for two weeks and threatened to renew strikes before reaching an agreement on the eve of when industrial action was set to kick-off again.