Monadelphous and United Group Resources (UGR) provide maintenance services at the BP Refinery at Kwinana in Western Australia which has been shut down to allow maintenance and repair to its crude unit. UGR also employs workers performing mechanical and electrical functions at the Alcoa refinery at Pinjarra .
The two companies applied to the AIRC for orders to stop industrial action that had been proposed for Tuesday 2 December 2008 as part of a wider trade union movement protest. Monadelphous and UGR were concerned that the industrial action would not be protected industrial action under the Workplace Relations Act 1996 and that it would cause substantial damage to the companies as well as adversely affecting the operation of the BP refinery.
Commissioner Williams found that industrial action, which was not protected industrial action, was probable and accordingly made orders that industrial action not occur. The AIRC’s order will apply from the date of the hearing, 1 December 2008, until 3 December 2008.