Twenty years after a global gas corporation tried to blame its workers for a fatal Victorian gas explosion, the same company is locking out maintenance workers.
More than 200 workers on Esso's oil rigs and Victorian gas plants have been locked out for more than a year as Labor leader Bill Shorten says their wages are being cut.
He was in regional Victoria for the 20th anniversary of the fatal explosion, at Esso's natural gas processing plant in Gippsland on September 25, 1998.
Mr Shorten said Esso made a "terrible error of judgment" at the time.
"They blamed operators and said that the operators were the reason for this terrible series of explosions and fatalities," Mr Shorten told reporters.
"That wasn't the case."
A memorial event for workers Peter Wilson and John Lowery was held in Sale on Friday.
A royal commission into the event found Esso may have contributed to the explosion and the company had failed to institute adequate training or safety procedures for workers.
But Esso's solicitors tried to blame a plant control operator for the disaster.
The incident left much of Victoria without a natural gas supply for almost two weeks, leading to courts awarding a $32 million compensation package to businesses.
Mr Shorten was with the Australian Workers Union at the time, protecting the workers from "unfair blame" from Esso.
"What eventually happened is the workforce was exonerated and they received bravery medals," he said.
"Everyone was evacuating except the operators.
"They got this gas plant up and running in 10 days."
Now Mr Shorten says Esso has cut wages and conditions for more than 200 maintenance workers, who have been protesting for 457 days.
"This is one of the richest companies on the earth, and they are still trying to force wage cuts for maintenance contractors."
"They're faced with wage cuts and condition reductions."
AAP contacted the ExxonMobil-owned Esso, who directed inquiries to maintenance contractor UGL Limited.
A spokeswoman for UGL declined to comment.
