Union cooks ban steaks and coffee for offshore workers

AWU members on Shell offshore facility to restrict catering to cold vegetarian meals and water.

The Shell Prelude floating liquefied natural gas facility, northeast of Broome.

Union cooks on offshore platforms will restrict catering to cold vegetarian meals and water, banning steaks and coffee under novel industrial action to kick off from next week.

In an escalation of their dispute with catering contractor Sodexo Australia, members of the Australian Workers Union will initially impose the unusual bans on the Shell Prelude floating liquefied natural gas facility, northeast of Broome.

The protected action includes bans on cooking hot meals, meat and fresh bread, the restocking of vendor machines, television repairs­ and the collection and delivery of laundry. AWU national­ secretary Daniel Walton said “vegetarianism may be a fine and noble choice, but it’s not the kind of thing you relish foisting on anyone”.

“Nevertheless, most workers in the offshore sector appreciate that a correction in conditions on these sites is long overdue, and they understand the need to stand strong,” he said.

“For now it’s the greater good that’ll have to be served — but we hope soon it’ll be the T-bone.“

A Sodexo spokeswoman said the company was disappointed by the action, after months of negotiation­s over a proposed new enterprise agreement.

“Sodexo has been working with our employees, representatives and our clients towards a reasonable and sustainable deal which contains improved terms and conditions,” she said.

“Sodexo is considering its position with regard to managing and responding to any industrial action taken (and) is committed to continuing working with all stakeholders.”

The AWU first flagged the action­ in February but it was delayed after COVID-19 broke out.

The proposed bans are part of an industry-wide campaign to lift pay and conditions by the Offshore Alliance, a partnership between the AWU and the Maritime Union of Australia.

The enterprise agreement with Sodexo expired in October 2017. It provides for annualised salaries of $85,000-$95,000. The AWU initially sought pay rises amounting to $25,000 a year but scaled back the claim to 6-10 per cent due to the pandemic.

After the impact of corona­virus began to be felt, the union asserted that most of Sodexo’s clients were applying pressure on the company to reduce current­ rates of pay. The AWU wants a clause in the new deal that prevents Sodexo­ from replacing­ employees with lower-paid labour hire workers.

It says if workers on the Shell Prelude facility had to move to a new roster requiring them to work 15 out of every 30 weeks, rather than the current 12, their pay should increase accordingly.

Mr Walton said workers were reluctant to take the action because of the impact. “It’s bloody tough working for long stints away from family and friends in the middle of the ocean,’’ he said. “Comforts like food and drink become extra important.

“But it’s precisely because of the value our members in catering provide, and the sacrifices they make to perform their dut­ies, that we need to correct the substandard deal they are … on.”