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12 December, 2005
The issue of changing the work schedule for contract employees of Esso Australia Resources Ltd. and BHP Billiton Resources in the offshore oil and gas industry will likely reappear in talks now underway between employers, including the ExxonMobil subsidiary, and Australian unions.
In spring 2004, Esso and the contractors locked out workers for a three-week period in an attempt to terminate the enterprise labour agreement in order to impose a two-week on, two-week off work schedule. The Australian Industrial Relations Commission rejected the application, and Esso and contractors, led by Halliburton’s KBR subsidiary, the joint venture of Worley Group and ABB, and Corke Instrument, appealed the decision.
The current work schedule is a seven-day roster, which workers and their unions contend is more family friendly. Esso and BHP operate oil and rigs in waters of the Bass Straight off Victoria, and Esso also runs energy processing plants in Longford and Long Island Point, Victoria.