PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The Australian Workers’ Union (AWU) has warned that plans by energy major Shell to enact a lockout of striking workers at its Prelude floating liquefied natural gas facility would endanger the safety of workers at the site.

Reports have emerged that Shell was planning a lockout at the Prelude facility on July 25 after industrial action forced the company to temporarily suspend production at the asset.

Shell and union members were in a stand-off after a new bargaining agreement proposed by the company to break the deadlock was voted down by 95% of union members in early July.

A Shell spokesperson told the ABC that the company had tried to work around the industrial action, but that the operation could not continue in the same manner.

“As a consequence, we will be resorting to lockouts as the mechanism available under the Fair Work Act,”  the Shell spokesperson was quoted by the ABC.

“Once the lockouts are in effect people will no longer be paid if they are not mobilised to the facility.”

AWU national secretary Daniel Walton said that the action showed "disdain" for the company’s workforce.

“The union has attempted to bargain in good faith for 19 months. Industrial action was a last resort. Instead of genuinely engaging we have been met with nothing but stonewalling and unnecessary aggression and escalation.

“If Shell is actually serious about a lockout it will significantly increase the chances of breakdown and endanger the safety of workers on site. It will also lock in a loss of production into the future and cement Prelude's status as a white elephant. Shell will also encounter major issues with the regulator and struggle to maintain its licence to operate,” Walton said.

“If a lockout comes to pass it will be a catastrophic failure of management and an indictment on Shell as a company. I can imagine Shell’s customers and joint venture partners are starting to wonder how they’ve gotten into this mess. There should be real questions asked of Shell’s local management and their ability to operate a facility like the Prelude.”