‘No meat or coffee without pay rise’, threaten offshore cooks

Steaks, birthday cakes, coffee and TV repairs could be banned under novel industrial action.

Australian Workers Union members will consider bans on cooking hot meals, meat and fresh bread. Picture: istock

Union cooks on offshore platforms will vote on restricting catering to cold vegetarian meals and water, banning steaks, birthday cakes and coffee under novel industrial action designed to get workers so upset their employer will agree to a $25,000 pay rise.

Australian Workers Union members will consider bans on cooking hot meals, meat and fresh bread, the restocking of vendor machines, television repairs and the collection and delivery of laundry, in an escalation of its dispute with catering contractor Sodexo Australia.

The proposed bans, which are subject to a protected action ballot, are part of an industry-wide campaign to lift pay and conditions by the Offshore Alliance, a partnership between the Australian Workers Union and the Maritime Union of Australia.

Sodexo has current contracts with the majority of the major players in the offshore market, including Shell, Jadestone, Noble and Ensco.

AWU national secretary Daniel Walton said Sodexo employees “really don’t want to take this protected industrial action, because they know better than anyone the impact if they do”.

“An oil and gas worker who doesn’t get the steak they anticipated after a tough shift is liable to be a little agitated,” he told The Australian. “A worker who anticipates a coffee and is offered a glass of water might not be all that happy. But our members are committed to doing what needs to be done to get Sodexo management to see reason.”

Approving the conducting of the ballot, Fair Work Commissioner Christopher Platt said the proposed bans were “somewhat novel and include providing only vegetarian meals” to workers on remote offshore platforms. “I accept that the reliance on vegetarian meals could adversely impact on the capacity of Sodexo to provide meals using its existing supplies,” he said. “I also accept that replacement labour may be difficult to procure in light of the potential need to undergo training and assessments and, potentially, licensing requirements.”

He ordered the union to give seven days’ notice of any industrial action, finding that there were exceptional circumstances warranting an extension beyond the standard 72 hours.

The escalation of the dispute with Sodexo comes after 180 workers at engineering company Monadelphous backed a historic agreement last year that delivered immediate pay rises of up to 20 per cent and converted casuals to perma­nent employment.

The Monadelphous deal that unions are seeking to use as a template to lift pay and conditions in the oil and gas industry followe­d the first union strike on an offshore platform for decades.

The enterprise agreement with Sodexo expired in October 2017. It provides for annualised salaries of $85,000 to $95,000. The AWU wants pay rises that amount to about $25,000 a year.

“For way too long, workers in the Australian oil and gas industry have been ripped off and paid less than their labour is worth,” Mr Walton said. “Sodexo is a hugely profitable company with high-value contracts across the industry. Its staff, who work in the most remote conditions imaginable, deserve a fair cut of the work they do,” he said.

“There is no reason for Sodexo to continue to hold out,” he said. “The agreement workers are seeking will enable the company to continue operating profitably.”

A Sodexo spokeswoman said the company was “committed to negotiating in good faith towards a sustainable and fair deal”.