The final day of talks to avoid a strike at Inpex’s Australia LNG Plant

The talks to avoid industrial action at Inpex’s Ichthys facility for liquefied natural gas in Australia are entering their 'final day' on Friday. Unions have warned they will issue a strike notice if a deal is not reached.

Last month, workers at the 9.3-million-metric-ton-per-year facility near Darwin endorsed a strike over pay and conditions. This was after six days of negotiation in May.

The unions reported on Wednesday that talks moderated by Fair Work Commission had not resolved all issues. Members voted on Friday to "serve" a strike notification at the conclusion of the negotiations.

According to labour law, if notice is?served on Friday, then a strike could occur as early as the following Wednesday.

Japanese gas and power utilities, which buy from Ichthys LNG, are closely watching any disruption.

Australia is Japan's biggest LNG supplier. The country faces a potential supply crunch because of the Iran War and the rising demand for air conditioning as Japan enters summer.

Inpex announced on Wednesday that it would "engage with the Ichthys?labour union in sincere discussion to prevent a large strike."

A majority of eligible employees at the plant rejected the pay offer that the Japanese company had presented last month.

Members of the Offshore Alliance, a grouping consisting of the Australian Workers Union and the Maritime Union Of?Australia, claimed that the new contract failed to meet industry standards in terms of wages and conditions.

They voted overwhelmingly for strikes and other forms of industrial action, including work stops ranging from 30 to 24 hours. (Reporting and editing by Jamie Freed in Sydney, Christine Chen)

(source: Reuters)