Bechtel rejects claims of discrimination in redundancies

BECHTEL has long been held to account for the people it hires to help construct the three liquefied natural gas facilities on Curtis Island.

As the numbers being fired begins to take over the numbers being hired, workers are asking why it seems to be the fly-in fly-out workers and 457 visa holders that stay on the island.

But Bechtel Gladstone general manager Kevin Berg has rejected the suggestion the company is discriminatory in its approach to redundancies.

Five thousand locals are still part of the 13,600 strong team, with just 18 tradespeople on 457 visas.

Mr Berg said the recruitment program had always been to employ locally first, then regionally, then nationally across the wide range of skill sets required.

"It's critical we have employees with the right skill sets to perform the work we have remaining," he said.

"That means individuals need to be high performing and have the capability and credentials required to perform very specific work activities."

Mr Berg said there had been more than 10,000 redundancies on projects as Bechtel had gone through the different phases of construction.

"You simply can't replace an electrician with a plumber, or a crane operator with a carpenter," he said.

"Nor can you replace experienced tradespeople with inexperienced labour and vice versa."

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Bechtel rejects claims of discrimination in redundancies