Ready to walk: the CFMEU has warned workers at the Pluto LNG project could resign over legal action by contractors
Workers could walk out on Pluto
Australia’s Woodside Petroleum may face mass resignations at its A$13 billion Pluto liquefied natural gas project in Western Australia.
The warning came from the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) after it announced more than 1500 workers faced possible fines totaling A$43 million (US$38.5 million) for a strike in January.
Workers have been taken to the Australian Federal Court by 13 contractors over a series of strikes after Woodside introduced a plan for flexible accommodation known as motelling where workers stay in different rooms each work cycle.
At the time, workers argued the loss of individual private accommodation breached their employment contracts.
West Australian CFMEU chief Kevin Reynolds told The Australian newspaper there was a real risk some workers could end up in jail if the action continued and that the CFMEU and other unions, which have paid the lawyers' bills, did not have the funds to also cover the fines.
Attempts had been made to stop the legal action on the basis that papers had not been properly served on the workers but Judge Neil McKerracher dismissed the claims on Tuesday.
He found there were discrepancies and some workers might not have been served at all, but said there was no evidence they were not aware of the proceedings, as they had gone on to instruct solicitors.
Reynolds told the paper that fines were inevitable but there was still the possibility of mediation.
"But there's no question that there will be a cost. It's a question of how much," he said.
"Some workers say let's fight it to the end. Well, they can do that but they've got to understand what the consequences are."
He also warned that workers who quit faced the possibility of being "blacklisted" by employers.
