Industrial peace looms in energy support sector

Total Marine Services (TMS) chief executive Glenn Trigg said that his company had gained an "agreement in principal" with the Maritime Union of Australia, while Farstad Shipping chief executive Joe Homsey said "we think we're close", although talks were ongoing.

Steve Knott, chief executive of the Australian Minerals and Metals Association, which had been supporting offshore support firms during the confrontation, said "headway has been made".

Negotiations had moved from an "extreme ambit claim" phase to a "packaging" phase which should lead to the finalisation of an agreement.

"There is not a lot of distance between the parties but, until something formal is concluded, it would be premature to say the deals have been done," Mr Knott said.

While TMS, Farstad and Go Offshore presented their positions more than a week ago, some demands had "come from left field" which had set the dispute back into the "argument phase".

The MUA said that the TMS enterprise bargaining agreement (EBA) understanding had been reached after negotiations on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and that another round of industrial action had been avoided.

"This is a crucial agreement for the industry," MUA national secretary Paddy Crumlin said.

"The bonuses are measured with reasonable wage increases and payment of a Project Allowance Bonus (PAB) for workers on construction projects which moves with wage increases from January 1.

"The allowance will be paid at the completion of construction projects.

"We fought hard for this payment, which now brings maritime workers closer to parity with other workers, such as riggers, doing exactly the same task on those projects.

"While other EBAs being negotiated at Farstad and Go Offshore are separate EBAs, we are hopeful that this agreement with TMS will assist in bringing those talks to a conclusion as well.

"They are close already."

The 30% increase is made up of 8.5% in September 2009, 3.5% on January 1, 2010, 6% on July 1, 2010, 6% on July 1 2011 and 6% in July 2012, effective from the first pay period commencing on or after each of the implementation dates.

One source indicated that part of the reason for the extended nature of the conflict – 18 months of talks, including three lots of industrial action – may have been due to the lack of a common front from the union, with divergent and additional claims appearing due to the differing needs of the head office, state office and rank and file.

An MUA spokeswoman said she knew nothing of that.

Last week, the sector gained some morale, with the Australian Institute of Marine and Power Engineers (AIMPE) saying that it had renewed its enterprise agreements to June 30, 2013.

The AIMPE was particularly pleased with gaining a new training regime for new entrant marine engineers, with federal president Terry Snee described the training outcome as a "strategic breakthrough".

AIMPE’s new Fair Work agreements will cover marine engineer officers employed on supply boats, support vessels, seismic survey vessels, drill-ships, pipe-laying barges and other vessels associated with the offshore oil and gas sector of the maritime industry.

The salary increases negotiated by AIMPE total 27.5% over the life of the agreement, which runs to June 30, 2013.