[Australia] Chevron asks FWC to intervene in labour dispute

Chevron has asked Australia's Fair Work Commission (FWC) to intervene in its ongoing dispute with workers on strike at two major liquefied natural gas facilities, Reuters reports. 

The employer is counting on new laws, in effect since June, that empower the industrial arbitrator to force parties into an agreement they are unable to make.

The tribunal will reportedly hold its first, and so far only, hearing on September 22.

Last week talks between Chevron and the workers' unions broke down without a deal. The industrial action is scheduled to escalate to two weeks of 24-hour stoppages on September 14.

Can the tribunal end the strikes?

Chevron has asked the FWC for an "intractable bargaining declaration". If granted, it would end strikes and allow the tribunal to hammer out an agreement, by either mandating that both sides hold further talks or dictating the terms of the deal itself.

This would be the first time the laws have been used and experts have reportedly stated that, without a precedent, it is difficult to tell how the tribunal will rule.

A subsidiary of airline Virgin Australia was the first company to apply for a ruling in June. However, the company and workers struck a last-minute deal before the hearing.

According to the FWC, in order to issue a ruling the tribunal must be satisfied that:

• The parties have previously had help from the FWC to mediate the dispute
• There is no reasonable prospect of an agreement
• It is reasonable in all circumstances to make the declaration "taking into account the views of all the bargaining representatives".

Steve Purvinas - Federal Secretary of the Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers’ Association - who represented the union against Virgin in June, said the amount of time Chevron and the unions had spent negotiating the issue would be an important factor.

Mr Purvinas, who is also a lawyer, reportedly said that in the example of the Virgin dispute, four years of negotiations without a deal had worked against the union's case. Chevron would need to demonstrate a sustained attempt to negotiate with unions for the tribunal to rule in its favour, he added.

"These laws were not designed so companies can just refuse to negotiate and turn around and say we can’t make any headway because of their own action of not negotiating," Mr Purvinas said.

The Offshore Alliance is a coalition of two unions. It has previously struck agreements with Inpex, Shell and Woodside at their LNG facilities in Western Australia. Negotiations at Inpex and Shell took just over two years, with 76 days of strikes at Shell.

Length of hearing

The tribunal will meet on September 22 - the only scheduled hearing date - suggesting that the matter could be resolved quickly.

A union official, who declined to be named as he was not authorised to speak with media, reportedly said the workers expect a decision in "days not weeks."

Shae McCrystal - a professor of labour law at the University of Sydney - said it was reasonable to think the tribunal could make a declaration on the same day because it tends to "try and determine matters as soon as possible".

However, because the ruling will be the first of its kind, the commission might not want to make a hasty decision.

Source: Reuters

(Links and quotes via original reporting)

Chevron has asked Australia's Fair Work Commission (FWC) to intervene in its ongoing dispute with workers on strike at two major liquefied natural gas facilities, Reuters reports. 

The employer is counting on new laws, in effect since June, that empower the industrial arbitrator to force parties into an agreement they are unable to make.

The tribunal will reportedly hold its first, and so far only, hearing on September 22.

Last week talks between Chevron and the workers' unions broke down without a deal. The industrial action is scheduled to escalate to two weeks of 24-hour stoppages on September 14.

Can the tribunal end the strikes?

Chevron has asked the FWC for an "intractable bargaining declaration". If granted, it would end strikes and allow the tribunal to hammer out an agreement, by either mandating that both sides hold further talks or dictating the terms of the deal itself.

This would be the first time the laws have been used and experts have reportedly stated that, without a precedent, it is difficult to tell how the tribunal will rule.

A subsidiary of airline Virgin Australia was the first company to apply for a ruling in June. However, the company and workers struck a last-minute deal before the hearing.

According to the FWC, in order to issue a ruling the tribunal must be satisfied that:

• The parties have previously had help from the FWC to mediate the dispute
• There is no reasonable prospect of an agreement
• It is reasonable in all circumstances to make the declaration "taking into account the views of all the bargaining representatives".

Steve Purvinas - Federal Secretary of the Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers’ Association - who represented the union against Virgin in June, said the amount of time Chevron and the unions had spent negotiating the issue would be an important factor.

Mr Purvinas, who is also a lawyer, reportedly said that in the example of the Virgin dispute, four years of negotiations without a deal had worked against the union's case. Chevron would need to demonstrate a sustained attempt to negotiate with unions for the tribunal to rule in its favour, he added.

"These laws were not designed so companies can just refuse to negotiate and turn around and say we can’t make any headway because of their own action of not negotiating," Mr Purvinas said.

The Offshore Alliance is a coalition of two unions. It has previously struck agreements with Inpex, Shell and Woodside at their LNG facilities in Western Australia. Negotiations at Inpex and Shell took just over two years, with 76 days of strikes at Shell.

Length of hearing

The tribunal will meet on September 22 - the only scheduled hearing date - suggesting that the matter could be resolved quickly.

A union official, who declined to be named as he was not authorised to speak with media, reportedly said the workers expect a decision in "days not weeks."

Shae McCrystal - a professor of labour law at the University of Sydney - said it was reasonable to think the tribunal could make a declaration on the same day because it tends to "try and determine matters as soon as possible".

However, because the ruling will be the first of its kind, the commission might not want to make a hasty decision.

Source: Reuters

(Links and quotes via original reporting)