More than 1000 workers at Snowy Hydro 2.0 project strike for 24 hours

7NEWS

21-05-2025

More than 1000 workers will today walk off the job for 24 hours over pay disputes with employer Future Generation Joint Venture (FGJV), which is spearheaded by Italian company Webuild.
Pay negotiations between the Australian Workers' Union (AWU) and the Snowy 2.0 employer continue to be unsuccessful as workers push for pay parity with workers on Webuild's North East Link project in Melbourne.
According to Tony Callinan, secretary of AWU NSW, this comes as a result of Webuild refusing to address its concerns and requests.
'Webuild wasted the first 10 weeks of negotiations by refusing to engage, they didn't respond at all to the log of claims the AWU put to them on behalf of our 1000 odd members in mid-January'.
It claims workers at Snowy 2.0 are paid less, but expected to operate on a fly-in, fly-out (FIFO) basis, rostered on two weeks at 12 hours a day, and then the following week off, which can be taken up by the long commute home.
'Working in the wilderness'
Callinan said 'those working Snowy 2.0 live and work in the wilderness in the middle of winter, and when they're not underground tunnelling, they're confined to Spartan work camps'.
According to Callinan, workers are seeking a 10 per cent to 12 per cent upfront pay increase in order to be on par with the pay of those working on the North East Link project.
With those on the Melbourne project often able to commute home each day, Callinan said 'it should be obvious to anyone that our members working in the wilderness for two weeks straight would expect to be paid the same as workers in Melbourne who go home to their families each night'.
Cynthia Calderon — vice president of communications, community and stakeholder engagement at FGJV — told 7NEWS: 'The employer has and will continue to negotiate in good faith for a replacement agreement with the relevant bargaining representatives.'
'Prisoner of war camp'
However, in a notice received on Tuesday afternoon, the workers on strike were told they were not allowed to leave site, with access temporarily restricted, and any attempt to leave would result in disciplinary action.
FGJV deputy project director Kevin Dunning noted that it would be 'increasing vehicle inspections', participants in the strike 'must remain in designated camp areas only', and 'crib areas', or the space used for meal and break time, will be only for 'those actively working'.
Callinan described it as an extreme reaction.
'It's not a prisoner of war camp, it's not a jail.'.
'If workers want to leave the project while not being paid and go out for the day, they should be able to, It's obscene.'
History of tension
Safety concerns
This isn't the first time where workers at Snowy 2.0 have taken industrial action.
7NEWS has previously reported on the alleged live maggots in the food at the mess hall, and given the remote location, there aren't exactly other restaurants to go to instead.
The general safety of the site was questioned after an incident involving the malfunction of an industrial-sized fan in February led to a halt in drilling activity.
Subsequent inspections found other fans were in similar states, some with missing bolts — an accident waiting to happen.
This was a month after work was stopped due to safety refuge chambers found to be inoperable due to lack of maintenance.