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, which is set to expire on 2 July 2025.
The notice kicks off what is expected to be a critical round of enterprise bargaining for offshore maintenance workers, many of whom are watching the process closely amid a broader industrial landscape where wages and conditions are increasingly under threat.
AWU-Backed Agreements Setting a Lower Benchmark
The context of these negotiations is fraught. As previously reported, AWU WA State Secretary Brad Gandy has already signed off on a series of offshore maintenance and hook-up agreements with major contractors like Wood, Programmed, and ALTRAD. These agreements have drawn significant criticism for undermining the rates and conditions that Kuiper employees currently receive. Interestingly, The Offshore Alliance has remained notably silent on these developments. We’ll leave it to the reader to draw their own conclusions as to why.
Key issues in those agreements include:
- Reduced hourly pay rates
- Lower casual loadings (down to 15%)
- Cutbacks in long service leave accruals
While Kuiper’s renewed focus will be exclusively on maintenance work, having carved out hook-up and commissioning from the upcoming agreement, the company will still be competing directly with contractors who now have cost advantages built on weaker agreements signed with the AWU.
Workers Caught in a Wage-Cutting Race
With cost-competitive contractors using lower-rate agreements as leverage, there is growing concern that Kuiper could be pressured to align with reduced standards, unless a strong worker-led bargaining position is mounted.
The looming expiry date sets the stage for a broader industrial test case in the offshore sector: Will maintenance workers be able to defend their current entitlements in the face of widespread backsliding, or will they be pulled into a race to the bottom?
Union Representation and Member Engagement
Union representatives have confirmed they are in close contact with offshore maintenance members, gathering feedback and preparing for what is likely to be a closely watched and hard-fought negotiation. Members across the offshore sector will be kept informed throughout the process, particularly as Kuiper’s new agreement could influence standards across the broader industry.
Stay tuned for updates as negotiations progress and workers organise to protect hard-won pay and conditions.