If an "intractable bargaining" declaration is approved by Australia's Fair Work Commission (FWC), the U.S. energy behemoth's unionised workers at the plants would be prohibited from legally taking any form of industrial action.
Instead, the workers would need to wait for the FWC to impose a new agreement over the facilities that account for more than 5% of global LNG supply.
"Unfortunately, following numerous meetings and conciliation sessions with the Fair Work Commission, no agreement has been reached as the unions are asking for terms significantly above the market," a Chevron Australia spokesperson said.
Workers at Chevron's Gorgon and Wheatstone LNG projects began hours-long work stoppages on Friday, with the industrial unrest leading to a spike in European gas prices.
The LNG workers and Chevron are at loggerheads over issues including pay, job security, rosters, and rules around overtime and transfers between the company's facilities.
The workers plan a total strike for two weeks from Sept. 14, a union alliance said last week, when Chevron had sought an enforced arbitration with labour unions.
Chevron has already applied for FWC intervention at its Wheatstone platform facility, which has its first hearing scheduled for Tuesday. Chevron said it would ask the FWC to hear applications for the Gorgon and Wheatstone downstream facilities at the same hearing.
Offshore Alliance, a coalition of two unions representing the Chevron workers, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
