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Hundreds march to protest work practices at INPEX's Darwin LNG project
Sunday, 13 Mar 2016 13:45:30 | James Dunlevie
Workers rally through Darwin's CBD to protest work practices on the JKC-managed INPEX LNG site. (ABC News: James Dunlevie)
Hundreds of workers have marched through Darwin's CBD to protest against what they said was unfair work conditions at the Northern Territory's $34 billion INPEX gas plant.
Key points:
- Police say over 500 at INPEX protest march
- Workers complain of health and safety risks and arduous rosters
- Unions say local employees overlooked
- Company say conditions consistent with industry standards
But the Japanese-owned company has said it was "committed to the safety and health" of employees and its workforce roster was consistent with industry standards.
NT Police, who estimated the number at over 500, blocked off streets as the marchers moved from Darwin's esplanade to a park across the road from the office of INPEX's construction contractor JKC, where notes were attached to the window with messages from workers.
In October, the ABC reported on union concerns after a spate of suicides of FIFO workers on the project.
Workers at the march, who did not want to be named because of legal agreements that prevent them talking to the media, said JKC was exposing workers to a number of health and safety risks on the site, at Bladin Point, near Darwin.
"Walkways are atrocious and often flooded, there's little traffic management, and sometimes you're working alone with no-one else in your area, there's no buddy system," said one worker.
Another told the ABC arduous rosters were destroying employees' mental health and "tearing families apart".
The Assistant Secretary for the Northern Territory and Queensland branch of the Electrical Trade's Union, Peter Ong, said the union had approached JKC about the issues, but nothing had changed.
"We've been trying to push for shorter rosters on the project, there's been a new industry standard set in Western Australia which is 20 days on 10 days off, this roster is still 28 days on and seven off ... and it's just damaging families," Mr Ong said.
He said JKC is also failing on its promise to provide local jobs.
"The promise was made from INPEX when they came to Darwin that they would provide plenty of work for the local workforce and local Darwin people," he said.
"They've provided some jobs, but we're seeing more and more locals being knocked back because they want to have days off on the weekend to spend with their families... but they don't want that on the project, they want people to be working seven days a week for four weeks straight."
The Northern Territory's CFMEU representative, Shaun Taylor, said these issues had been ongoing since the project started almost two years ago.
"It's unfortunate in 2016 you've got to get to a protest, but JKC's inability to manage this project consistently across the board has led us here today," Mr Taylor said.
"We meet regularly with JKC but unfortunately we're paid lip service and work health and safety issues that are raised aren't addressed appropriately," he said.
"And the project is about to ramp up, they're behind time, they've got some issues, because a lot of their product is manufactured outside Australia and it arrives and it's not meeting Australian standards, it is a big concern."
INPEX, JKC say site, practices are safe
In a statement, JKC and INPEX said the company was "committed to the safety and health of all our employees, the communities and environment".
What is INPEX's Ichthys project?
- INPEX describes the Ichthys liquefied natural gas [LNG] project as "three mega-projects rolled into one, involving some of the largest offshore facilities in the industry, a state-of-the-art onshore processing facility and an 890 km pipeline uniting them for an operational life of at least 40 years".
- After discovering the Browse Basin gas field, located about 220km off the West Australian coast in 2000, INPEX made a deal with the NT government to build onshore processing facilities at Bladin Point, near Darwin.
- Compressed gas extracted from the Browse Field will be sent to Bladin Point via the 889km subsea pipeline, for processing into LNG and LPG. Those products will then be shipped to Japanese and Taiwanese utility companies.
- As at 2016, the project is in the development phase, with the offshore pipeline completed late 2015, in the lead up to the production phase.
"We operate under the company's core value of 'Anzen dai ichi' — safety number one," the statement said.
"It is the way we think, act and promote safety that forms the core of a strong health and safety culture.
"We work to the requirements set out by the Work Health and Safety Act and all incidents at our Australian sites are reported according to the Work Health and Safety Act.
"People working on any Ichthys LNG Project site are encouraged to raise any safety concerns they may have. Before work shifts, pre-start meetings are held where safety is discussed."
INPEX said the workforce roster was "consistent with industry standards" and was designed for "both fly-in, fly-out workers and the residential-based workforce".
"Effectively, over a five week period of 35 days, workers work 24 days and receive 11 days off.
"In addition, during their 28 days on site, workers accrue time towards two rostered days off. At the end of the 28 days, the two accumulated days are paid out during the employees' seven-day rest and recreation period, or alternatively they can be paid out upon termination of employment.
"Both of these options were agreed with all four construction unions."
INPEX said the Ichthys project had made "a significant contribution to the Northern Territory economy and will continue to do so for the project's 40 years of operation".
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