Victoria to quash Loy Yang industrial action

AUSTRALIA’S Victoria government has said it will seek to terminate industrial action at AGL’s Loy Yang power station in a bid to protect the state’s electricity supplies.

AGL said today that it would halt operations at the Loy Yang A plant and mine, and lock out staff after the Victorian branch of the Electrical Trades union announced workers would begin “consecutive stoppages” of work from 15 May.

The standoff between AGL and the union follows two years of negotiations, with employees twice rejecting proposals that included a salary increase of more than 20% over the next four years.

AGL Loy Yang general manager, Steve Rieniets, said: “Our priority must always be the safety of our employees, our operations and the community. As a consequence of the proposed action, AGL Loy Yang will not be able to continue operations. This will require both the Loy Yang A power station and the mine to be shut down.

“We need to lock out the entire site simultaneously with the industrial action, this will allow us to shut down the station in a systematic way to protect equipment from being damaged.”

The Victorian government swiftly moved to quash the standoff, saying that it will make an application to the Fair Work Commission to seek a termination of the industrial action.

“The protracted negotiations between AGL and its workforce commenced in 2015 and must be resolved,” said Victoria’s minister for industrial relations, Natalie Hutchins.

The minister for energy, Lily D’Ambrosio, added: “Victorian families and businesses can be assured that this action will ensure our state’s energy supply is not put at risk.”

This is the second time the state government has had to turn to the Fair Work Commission, after AGL threatened to shut down the plant in response to a proposed strike over Christmas last year.

The importance of Loy Yang’s generating capacity to Victoria has increased, following the closure last year of the Hazelwood plant that had the capacity to generate 25% of the state’s power demand.