All's not well at the construction site of Pluto LNG: Woodside's flagship project threatened by multiple delays due from repeated workers' strikes.
Pluto faces second strike
A second strike involving significant numbers of workers at Woodside Petroleum’s Pluto liquefied natural gas project has fueled fears of potential cost blow-outs in Australia’s booming energy sector.
Woodside did not say how many workers went on strike on Friday, apart from saying that it was a "significant number" and declined to comment on the strike's possible duration.
"We expect contractors to examine all options to ensure a return to work by their employees," the company said in an e-mailed statement.
"Any industrial action is extremely disappointing and, in Woodside's view, illegal."
Workers at the site have walked off the job for a second time over concerns about Woodside's plan to require them to change rooms at the end of each rostered work cycle, instead of getting their own permanent room for the duration of their involvement in the project, the Dow Jones news wire reported.
Woodside said the change of accommodation arrangements at Pluto will provide more opportunity for people to work on the project and that it is "unable to alter the decision".
It said that when employees get a permanent room, the room is not used during rostered time off, meaning 25% of the rooms are vacant at any one time.
"Industrial action of this type damages the reputation of the wider LNG industry at a time when many companies are considering major project investments," Woodside said.
"Industrial action like this sends a negative message about the reliability of the construction industry in Australia."