Altona Refinery looks to the future

31 October 2008

Melbourne – Member for Williamstown, Mr Wade Noonan MP, today visited the Mobil Refinery in Altona to acknowledge the reaffirmation of a joint commitment between Mobil, Transfield, and their major workplace trade unions, the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union, the Australian Workers’ Union, the Electrical Trades Union and the National Union of Workers.

All parties have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that recognises the positive changes that have occurred at the Refinery over the past decade, and commits them to jointly look toward the future success of the Refinery. It reaffirms and updates the commitments agreed to in a previous MoU signed in 2003.

The MoU signed in 2003 aimed to ensure a dependable and flexible industrial relations environment, by proactively identifying and resolving workplace issues in order to avoid any disruption to projects and major maintenance activities.

Today’s event celebrates the positive transformation of industrial relations at the Refinery. It allows Mobil, Transfield and the unions to look forward to improving the long term viability of the Refinery through all parties committing to work together to deliver improved results in a tough business environment and outperform local and international competitors.

Transfield is the Refinery’s largest contractor, and shares a unique relationship with Mobil through a longstanding Alliance which integrates Transfield’s skilled personnel into the Refinery workforce and provides more competitive and flexible resourcing for maintenance and project works. The Refinery is a high tech, high value-add business that is a reliable and strategic supplier of fuel to Victoria. It provides direct employment in the western suburbs of Melbourne for around 300 people, and contributes to thousands more jobs for the Refinery’s suppliers and contractors.

“This is another proud day for the Refinery,” Glenn Henson, Altona Refinery Manager, said. “We want the people who work at the refinery to be able to do so safely and effectively, and in a manner which contributes to the long term viability of the business. Signing of the MoU underpins this.

“When the original MoU was signed in 2003 it established a benchmark for the way the Refinery operated and how industrial relations were managed on site. Now, with the signing of this new MoU and the reaffirmed commitment from our valued partners, I am hopeful that we can move forward to create a new chapter of the Refinery’s history.”

Media contact: Alan Bailey 0417 549 175

Photos available on request