The Price of Betrayal and Silence: How the Offshore Alliance Leadership Sold Out Australian Workers for a Training Slush Fund That Became a Labour Hire Company

By all accounts, the WA branch of the Maritime Union of Australia — which forms the leadership of the Offshore Alliance — claims to defend Australian jobs and fight against the exploitation of foreign labour. But behind the curtain, documents from the Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance and Corruption tell a very different story. It’s a move straight out of the AWU playbook: quiet deals, foreign-crewed ships, and payments into a union-controlled training company — all in exchange for silence and access.

In 2008, Saipem, a multinational offshore contractor, found itself in a bind on the Blacktip gas project. It needed to bring in foreign-crewed vessels due to an alleged shortfall of available local tugboats. The Offshore Alliance leadership responded by stating that Australian vessels and crews were available — if the price was right. That should have been a red line. Instead, what followed was a months-long series of negotiations that can only be described as a betrayal of principle — and of Australian workers — in exchange for cold, hard cash.

The deal was simple: the MUA would look the other way on the use of foreign crews — something they were publicly condemning — if Saipem paid into a union-backed entity called Maritime Employees Training Ltd (METL), established specifically to collect and spend industry training levies. The amount negotiated: $1,000,000, paid in two instalments. But the real cost was Australian jobs — and the union’s credibility.

Internal meeting notes reveal that the Offshore Alliance leadership was initially outraged at the presence of foreign-crewed vessels entering Australian ports like Darwin and Fremantle. They even threatened to “disrupt the supply chain” if it went ahead. But once METL funding was on the table — and ENI, the project client, offered to pay a capped contribution — the leadership’s stance softened. As one internal file note bluntly stated, “There may be a chance to trade the line pipe shuttle tugs for some sort of additional training.” And that’s exactly what they did.

In return for a $1,000,000 payment — disguised as a “training levy” — the MUA allowed foreign tugs to enter Australian ports, transfer cargo at sea, and complete the project. A side letter from Saipem confirmed that this unprecedented allowance was due to “exceptional circumstances,” and that the union’s silence came at a price.

Worse still, METL was no independent training organisation. It was a union-created company, with directors and control firmly in the hands of the Offshore Alliance leadership — and it evolved into a labour hire business. While the union claimed this arrangement helped “build maritime capability,” critics saw it for what it was: a slush fund that allowed the union to cash in on its industrial leverage while sidelining Australian workers.

Even more damning, the union demanded that the deal — including payment for tolerating foreign crews — remain confidential. Saipem warned in writing that “a proven breach of this provision may result in any payment being withheld.” So much for union transparency.

And let’s not forget the hypocrisy. While the Offshore Alliance leadership was loudly condemning other unions and employers for eroding Australian labour standards, it was secretly brokering deals that gave foreign seafarers jobs meant for local crews — all in exchange for funding its own enterprise.

This wasn’t about training. It was about trade-offs. The Offshore Alliance leadership sold out the very workers it claimed to protect, bartering away their jobs for institutional funding.

In the end, it’s clear: the Offshore Alliance didn’t just let foreign crews in — they opened the door, laid out the welcome mat, and named their price.

Because in the Offshore Alliance’s version of unionism, every job has a price.