Facts Over Theatrics on the CO₂ Project Greenfields Agreement

The Offshore Alliance’s latest tirade against UGL’s CO₂ Project Greenfields Agreement might be generating attention on Facebook, but for those seeking facts over theatrics, the reality tells a different story.

Wages in 2025: Higher, Not Lower

One of the most misleading claims in the Offshore Alliance’s post is the assertion that the agreement results in a “28% reduction in real weekly earnings” compared to 2017 Wheatstone rates. This claim doesn’t stand up to scrutiny.

Let’s unpack this using the two relevant agreements for an electrician.

Wheatstone (2017)

Annual salary: $233,071 (Including Severance)
Workload: 65 hours/week, 28:7 roster
Weeks worked per year: 38.73
Flat hourly rate: ~$92.20/hour

UGL CO₂ (2025)

Annual salary: $265,218 (Including Severance)
Workload: 84 hours/week, 15:6 roster
Weeks worked per year: 34.45
Flat hourly rate: ~$87.15/hour

The CO₂ project delivers a 13.79% increase in annual earnings but a decrease in hourly rates of 3.37%. While the hourly rate is lower due to longer hours, workers are taking home more money annually and spending and additional 4.28 weeks with their families. That’s not a pay cut — it’s increased hours whilst onsite for increased earnings and more time at home.

Perth’s annual Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation rates from 2017 to 2025:

Year	Annual CPI Inflation (Perth)	Notes
2017	1.80%	Rents were falling, contributing to lower inflation.
2018	1.50%	Inflation remained subdued.
2019	1.60%	Modest inflationary pressures.
2020	0.90%	Impacted by COVID-19 pandemic.
2021	1.80%	Gradual economic recovery.
2022	7.30%	Highest since 1990, driven by housing and fuel costs.
2023	4.10%	Inflation began to ease.
2024	2.90%	Continued decline, within RBA’s target range.
2025	2.80%	Inflation stabilized near target.

The total compounded inflation for Perth from 2017 to 2025 is approximately 27.4%. This means that, on average, prices increased by that amount over the entire 9-year period.

Let’s take a closer look at what a 28% increase — as proposed by the Alliance — on the 2017 Wheatstone flat hourly rate would actually mean when applied to the same working conditions as the CO₂ Project:

Wheatstone flat hourly rate: $90.20
Plus 28%: $115.45
Applied to CO₂ roster (84 hours/week, 34.45 weeks/year):
$115.45 × 84 × 34.45 = $334,112

That’s an extra $107,017 per year — or a staggering 47.12% increase.

So, here’s the real question workers should be asking:

How exactly does the Alliance plan to deliver that?

Because throwing out big numbers on social media is easy. Delivering them at the negotiating table is something else entirely.

Let’s be clear: Wheatstone wasn’t just another job site. It was the gold standard in LNG — backed by $54 billion USD and fuelled by a labour market in overdrive. Demand for skilled workers hit historic highs, and pay rates soared to match. But when the project wrapped in 2017, the boom ended. With fewer projects on the horizon, demand dropped — and so did the rates.

The market adjusted — as it always does.

Since 2017, however, it has been a challenge to return to those peak wage levels, and the reasons are well understood across the industry:

Falling union membership and, in many cases, outright refusal by workers to join, significantly weakened collective bargaining strength.
The Abbott, Turnbull, and Morrison Coalition governments pursued deliberate and sustained wage suppression strategies, using policy and regulation to curb wage growth.
Legislative changes to the Fair Work Act under the Coalition made it easier to establish Baseline Enterprise Agreements, often locking in substandard wages and conditions. These changes were only reversed in mid-2023 by the Albanese Labor government.
As a result, Baseline Agreements with below-market terms proliferated — some still in force and not due to expire until 2027.
The proliferation of flat casual rates, often positioned as “flexible,” undermined structured, negotiated rates of pay.
Broader political and economic uncertainty led to reduced investor confidence, stalling project pipelines and suppressing upward wage pressure.

Past Agreements, Present Reality

Let’s be honest: old enterprise agreements are nothing more than a record — a ledger of what’s been won, and what’s been lost.

And based on that record, one has to ask: was the Offshore Alliance satisfied with the deals done from 2017 to now?

Because here’s the reality — the AWU has signed off on agreement after agreement that falls well short of the CO₂ deal, including the one at Pluto 2, which anyone in the industry knows was a significant step backwards compared to Wheatstone, but at the time there was nothing else onshore better. There was no leverage. The market had shifted, bargaining power had eroded, and unions were making the best of a weak hand.

So, where’s the accountability?

Where is the Alliance putting their collective hands up and taking ownership of the Pluto 2 agreement — or any of the subpar outcomes they’ve endorsed over the years?

It’s easy to talk tough on Facebook — to pretend the AWU, and by extension the Offshore Alliance, had no hand in shaping the industrial landscape of the past decade. What’s harder is explaining why inferior agreements were repeatedly signed off under their watch, locking in lower standards that workers are still dealing with today.

Workers deserve honesty — not hype. Ambitious claims are meaningless without a clear strategy to back them up.

No “Secret Deal” — Offshore Alliance Chose Not to Participate

The Offshore Alliance claims the agreement was negotiated “in secret.” In fact, an invitation was extended multiple time to the Alliance to take part in negotiations. These offers were declined — not on the basis of the agreement’s content, but due to the Alliance’s broader petulant refusal to negotiate with UGL.

That was their decision. But to now criticise a process they refused to join is misleading and disingenuous.

Roster Changes

The Offshore Alliance has criticised the CO₂ Agreement for allowing UGL to vary rosters with four weeks’ notice — yet this is a standard industry provision, including in agreements endorsed by unions themselves. In fact, the Wood Offshore Maintenance Services Greenfields Agreement 2021, signed off by the AWU, permits roster changes with just 21 days’ notice — less than what’s provided in the CO₂ Agreement. That makes the Offshore Alliance’s outrage not just inconsistent — it’s outright hypocrisy.

Greenfields Agreements and Industrial Action: Know the Law

The Alliance also omits a key fact about greenfields agreements: they are negotiated before any workers are employed. Legally, this means no industrial action is possible during the negotiation period — because there are no employees yet in place.

If unions want a say in these agreements, they need to be at the table. The Offshore Alliance opted out — and is now attacking the outcome from the sidelines.

Strong Protections for Workers

Far from being a substandard deal, the CO₂ Greenfields Agreement is among the strongest onshore hydrocarbons construction agreements currently in the market.

Despite the Alliance’s claim that workers won’t support the agreement, the numbers suggest otherwise. More than 1,500 workers have already submitted resumes through the UGL Expression of Interest portal.

This level of interest indicates confidence in the project and contradicts any suggestion of widespread worker dissatisfaction.

Final Word: If You’re Not at the Table, You’re Not in the Deal

The Alliance’s slogan — “If you don’t fight, you lose” — sounds noble. But in practice, workers benefit from unions who show up, negotiate, and improve outcomes.

In this case, the Offshore Alliance chose not to engage. They walked away from negotiations — and now decry the results shaped by others.

The CO₂ workforce deserves practical, engaged representation — not rhetorical grandstanding. Because in the real world of major project agreements:

If you’re not in the room, you’re not in the deal.

NEWS