Woodside says takes 'two to tango' on LNG strike talks, union warns 'ready to go'
SYDNEY, Aug 22 (Reuters) - Woodside Energy is proceeding with respect in its talks with unions to avert any strike at Australia's largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility, its CEO said on Tuesday, while a union alliance warned its members were "primed and ready to go".
The comments come a day ahead of a crucial meeting between the management and the unions to avoid industrial action at the Woodside-operated North West Shelf offshore gas platforms.
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The unions have announced plans to strike as early as Sept. 2, threatening to disrupt LNG shipments from top global exporter Australia. Woodside's North West Shelf, along with Chevron's Australian LNG operations of Gorgon and Wheatstone, supply about 10% of the global LNG market.
"It takes two to tango," Woodside CEO Meg O'Neill told Reuters in an interview. "We are proceeding with goodwill and with respect, and we are very focused on really understanding the key areas of concern."
"But we also of course, have a duty to our shareholders to be able to run the business."
O'Neill said the unions' demands are focused on wages, certainty and working conditions.
"I feel like we have kind of constructively addressed a number of their areas of concern," she added.
But she cautioned an industrial action could take a number of different forms ranging from things that are frustrating and slow business down to potentially a complete stoppage.
Some 99% of Woodside workers at North West Shelf's offshore gas platforms have granted unions permission to call a strike, after Australia's industrial umpire, the Fair Work Commission, gave permission for "protected industrial action" to go ahead.
The Offshore Alliance (OA), which combines the Maritime Union of Australia and Australian Workers' Union, said in a Facebook post that the cost for Woodside not sorting out an agreement will be "infinitely greater" than any strikes.
"It's time that Woodside's operations workforce got their fair share of the profits which they generate for the Woodside shareholders," the union alliance said.
"The OA members are primed and ready to go."
A two-month fight last year against Shell at its Prelude floating LNG site off northwest Australia cost Woodside about $1 billion in lost exports until it reached a pay deal.
CHALLENGING
O'Neill would not comment on how much the company could stand to lose if they gave in to the unions demands or if the strike action goes ahead.
In an analyst call following earnings results earlier in the day O'Neill acknowledged that any disruption would make it challenging for the company to deliver supplies.
Woodside, Australia's No.1 independent oil and gas producer, reported a 4.2% jump in first-half profit on Tuesday.
The latest strike threat escalates a long-running dispute between Woodside and workers over pay and conditions at North West Shelf.
Unions in Australia are required by law to give companies seven working days' notice before any industrial action, which could include a mix of short work stoppages and bans on certain tasks to an all-out strike. But the union can also elect to call off any action before then.
The union alliance last week said voting had opened for workers at Gorgon and Wheatstone facilities to decide on any strikes there.
(Reporting by Praveen Menon and Renju Jose; Editing by Alasdair Pal, Christopher Cushing and Himani Sarkar)