Victoria was brought to the cusp of a power crisis on Thursday, as a bitter feud threatened to shut down the state's biggest energy plant and strip thousands of megawatts of summer electricity supplies from the grid.
The looming crisis was narrowly averted, when the Andrews government staged an emergency intervention, resulting in hundreds of workers calling off planned 24-hour strikes and energy giant AGL withdrawing a threat to lock out its entire workforce at Loy Yang in the Latrobe Valley.
In a dramatic escalation of a long-running battle over pay and conditions, the AGL lockout would have triggered an indefinite shutdown of the Loy Yang coal-fired power plant and mine, which together provide more than half of Victoria's energy fuel.
But the Andrews government launched an emergency application in the Fair Work Commission on Thursday afternoon to terminate the actions of the workers and the company.
Industrial Relations Minister Natalie Hutchins said they posed too great a threat to the economy and wellbeing of Victorians.
AGL on Thursday announced it would take the drastic step of locking out its entire workforce at the Loy Yang A power station and mine, in a move that would have stripped thousands of megawatts from the electricity grid in the lead-up to Christmas.
Ms Hutchins said the government was "always ready" to take necessary action to protect Victorians families.
"We welcome the end of the industrial action, but we encourage the parties to sit down and resolve their differences," she said.
AGL had revealed its dramatic lockout plan after union officials notified it of a 24-hour strike to be launched December 28, which would have forced the plant into a shutdown.
"AGL will not stand by and have our customers and the broader community risk being without power in summer due to industrial action," AGL general manager Steve Rieniets said.
"This decision is not taken lightly. We regret that the dispute has reached this stage."
Officials from the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union withdrew their planned strike shortly after the government's application.
AGL has been stuck in a bitter battle with the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union over pay and conditions at the site for the past 15 months.
Hundreds of workers there have twice knocked back large pay rise offers of 20 per cent over four years.
The biggest "sticking point" in negotiations for a new deal has been management's push to slash minimum staffing levels, according to the union.
The CFMEU said its planned strike action would not have affected Victoria's energy supply, despite the possibility of hot weather when households switch on electricity intensive air-conditioners.
Union officials involved in the negotiations have long feared that AGL has been maneuvering towards the "Qantas option" - referring to a two-day lockout in 2011, in which the airline grounded its entire fleet after long-running industrial action.
Geoff Dyke, secretary of the CFMEU's mining and energy division, accused AGL of strategically seizing on the union's planned industrial action as an excuse to escalate the dispute to a crisis point that would force the government to step in.
"AGL ... is threatening to lock out all employees at both the Loy Yang mine and power station, even employees not taking any industrial action, in a strategic act to pressure the state government to intervene," he said.
AGL said in a statement that CFMEU members had rejected "generous pay rises, the preservation of generous work benefits and job security in the form of no forced redundancies".
Mr Rieniets has previously said it was "hard to fathom" that, in tight economic times, the union had encouraged its members reject such a good offer.
Employees at the power plant currently earn between $70,000 and $180,000 a year.
Mr Dyke said Loy Yang A workers' wages were comparable to other employees in the sector. They also worked 12-hour shifts, weekends and public holidays, he said.
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