'Brutal' conditions sees a thousand tradies strike at remote camp in Aussie national park
Tradies at a camp inside a remote national park have downed tools on Wednesday, forcing a $12 billion project to a standstill. The NSW-based crew building Snowy 2.0, Australia's biggest renewable energy project, say their employer, Italian-owned Webuild, needs to pay them the same as workers at Melbourne projects and improve conditions.
The Australian Workers Union (AWU) has raised concerns about conditions at the camp, with the Snowy Mountains wilderness scorching in summer and freezing during winter. FIFO workers complete 12-hour underground shifts and 14-day stints at the camp in Snowy Mountains wilderness, before travelling home for seven days.
NSW AWU secretary Tony Callinan has been scathing of conditions at the camp, comparing the isolated Kosciuszko National Park worksite as 'like being in jail'.
'Employees leave home, they get on a plane, when they get off at Cooma, they get put on a company-supplied bus, and then they're stuck there for 14 days,' he said.
'There are no private vehicles allowed on site. It's not like you can just go up the road to the shops. You're stuck there. Even if you wanted to leave, there's no real ability to unless the company agrees to provide you with a bus to take you into Cooma.'
Yesterday, the AWU was further angered after workers reported receiving a warning from the project's manager, Future Generation (FGJV), a joint venture between Webuild, Clough and Lane Construction.
The email, seen by Yahoo News, detailed new rules from 5PM on Wednesday until 6AM on Thursday, covering the strike period. It included new restrictions on entering and leaving the site and warned of increased vehicle inspections. 'Breaches may result in disciplinary action,' the company warned.
Workers are due to return to work on Thursday, and they are being surveyed by the union about how they'd like to proceed next week.
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The AWU is calling for a pay increase of up to 12 per cent, in line with what workers are paid at the government's North East Link Tunnel in Melbourne. Also on its list of demands are a $140 daily camp allowance for FIFOs, a doubling of night shift rates, and increased mental health days.
Food is also reportedly an issue for workers at the camp. In 2023, they claimed maggots were found in meals, forcing a SafeWork NSW investigation.
'I've got no negative comments to make about the chefs, they can only work with the limited resources and ingredients provided,' Callinan said.
'There's not much variance to the menu. And our members buy two-minute noodles and things like that to try and break up the cycle a bit. It's not a great environment to be living in.'
Yahoo News has contacted Snowy 2.0, Webuild and FGJV for comment.
On Tuesday, Snowy 2.0 told the ABC that negotiations between the FGJV and the union were ongoing.
'As the employer of most of Snowy 2.0's workforce, Snowy 2.0's delivery partner, Future Generation Joint Venture, is engaged in ongoing negotiations for the enterprise agreements of surface and underground workers," it said.
The Snowy 2.0 project expands on the original Snowy Mountains power scheme by connecting two existing dams through a 27km tunnel and building an underground pumped-hydro power station. It is the largest renewable energy project in Australia, and was developed as the centrepiece of the Turnbull Government's green energy transition.
Once completed, it will be able to supply three million homes with power over the course of a week. It will have roughly 2.2 gigawatts of capacity and create around 350,000 megawatt-hours of large-scale storage.
But the project has been plagued by cost blowouts, delays, and environmental concerns. Work has previously stopped at the site twice this year due to equipment safety concerns and malfunctions. The project is not expected to be completed until at least 2027.
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