By NOEL MURPHY
OPERATORS at Shell Geelong are demanding redundancy packages are safeguarded before the refinery is sold.
Australian Workers Union vice president Sam Wood said members feared a new owner might not have to honour entitlements with Shell.
“After many years of looking after the welfare of the company, it’s time to look after our welfare and be assured that is what we will do,” Mr Wood said in a statement to the Independent.
“We understand redundancy is administered by policy by agreement with the ACTU and its affiliated union. We are also aware that policy cannot be transmitted between one company to another.”
Shell Australia announced last month it would sell the Corio refinery, leaving the future of 450 workers and hundreds of contractors uncertain.
The company suggested the refinery could be converted to an import terminal if not sold.
Shell said it would seek a buyer demonstrating “due care for employees” and which would provide reliable supply, run the facility safely and show respect for the environment and the community.
The announcement caught workers by surprise despite a 2010 annual strategic update of Shell’s mother group, Royal Dutch Shell, announcing the plant would be sold in three years.
The plan was part of a pitch to cut Shell’s global refinery capacity 15 per cent and to reduce its petrol stations by 9000. The company had cut 5000 jobs worldwide the previous year.
The AWU’S Mr Wood said petrol prices would rise if Australia continued to close refineries.
The flow-on effect to industry, consumers and families would be savage, he warned.
“More than 40 per cent of Australia’s fuel bill goes to transport. As soon as you start to affect the cost of fuel you affect everyone.”
The Geelong refinery operations suffered in 2011/2012 from lost production worth at least $250 million through unscheduled shutdowns.
A $70 million maintenance fit-out closed operations for months before a turbine/compressor breakdown in the refinery catalytic cracker’s power recovery unit (PRU) affected production.
Repairs took several months and cost the company around $2 million a day in lost production in addition to the scheduled shutdown.
