On May 10, 2025, the Offshore Alliance (OA) posted a bold announcement to Facebook declaring their “laser focus” on fixing what they describe as “substandard pay and conditions” for workers on Bechtel’s Pluto 2 project. While the rhetoric was fiery—laced with accusations against other unions and promises of strong action—the post raises more questions than […]
Category: News
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 […]
Disastrous 2016 Long Service Leave Case Resurfaces Amid Renewed Social Media Spin by The Offshore Alliance
Perth, WA – A post on the Offshore Alliance’s Facebook page has reignited controversy over one of the most damaging legal missteps in the history of WA offshore construction workers’ entitlements — a case that, nearly a decade later, still impacts thousands of workers who lost their right to accrue Long Service Leave (LSL). The […]
Kuiper Maintenance EA Is Up
Kuiper Maintenance Agreement Set to Expire Amid Industry-Wide Wage Pressure Tuesday last week, Kuiper Australia Pty Ltd officially issued the Notice of Employee Representational Rights (NERR) to its workforce, signalling the beginning of negotiations for a new offshore maintenance agreement to replace the current Kuiper Australia Maintenance Work (Western Australia and Northern Territory) Agreement 2021–2025, […]
Workers Offered Jobs Back — for Less
Kuiper Loses Technip Prelude Contract to Wood Group – July 2024 In a sharp blow to job security and conditions in the offshore maintenance sector, nearly two dozen Kuiper employees have been informed their employment is ending, following the transfer of part of the Technip Prelude maintenance contract to Wood Group. At first glance, this […]
Who Is The OA?
The Offshore Alliance: A Trojan Horse for the AWU’s Old Habits The Offshore Alliance, a collaboration between the Australian Workers’ Union (AWU) and the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA)—now a division of the CFMMEU—was formally established in 2018 under a Memorandum of Understanding. Ostensibly, it was created to bolster union power in the offshore oil […]
Greenfield Agreements
The Fair Work Act 2009 explicitly limits the involvement of workers in the negotiation of Greenfield Agreements. They are, by design, agreements between an employer and Unions for a new enterprise before any employees have been engaged. That means: Born Without Workers, But Not Without Consequences Saying workers are excluded — ignores the fundamental legal […]
AWU, Chifley, and EAs
In recent years, concerns have been raised about the Australian Workers Union (AWU) signing enterprise agreements (EAs) that deliver inferior outcomes for workers while including clauses that benefit the union financially through associated services. A key example of this practice involves the inclusion of income protection insurance provided by Chifley Financial Services; a company linked […]
Australia’s Worst Union (AWU)
What kind of union would sell out its own members, save employers millions, and pocket donations from grateful companies to fund its leaders’ political careers? Look no further than the Australian Workers’ Union (AWU)—a union whose long record of cosy deals with bosses has weakened workers’ power while elevating its officials into the corridors of […]
UGL CO2 Project Gorgon
A Story of Standing Together: How The ETU, Secured the Gorgon Barrow Island CO₂ Project Agreement It wasn’t easy. It wasn’t quick. But it was worth every tough conversation, every long negotiation, and every moment spent fighting for something better. After months of determined and relentless bargaining with UGL, your union has secured a Greenfields […]
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