The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) has hit out at AP Moller-Maersk towage company Svitzer’s decision to apply for a termination of its employment agreement with local unions in Australia.
The ITF said the move, which affects around 540 workers, ran the risk of worsening Australia’s supply chain issues and damaging the reputation of shipping giant Maersk.
ITF general secretary Stephen Cotton urged Svitzer to take a more conciliatory approach.
“In the last two years, companies and unions across every transport sector have been working together to get the world through the many faces of the pandemic. Companies, including Maersk, have been active alongside the ITF and many of our maritime affiliates in trying to resolve the seafarer crew change crisis,” said Cotton.
“In fact, constructive dialogue with everyone at the table is the only way that we will meet the shared challenges before the industry — whether it’s securing supply chains, or transitioning shipping towards sustainability,” he added.
The row erupted in January when Svitzer applied to Australia’s Fair Work Commission to terminate its Enterprise Agreement with local unions. The unions involved were the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA), the Australian Maritime Officers’ Union and the Australian Institute of Marine and Power Engineers. The MUA is an ITF affiliate.
Svitzer Australia managing director Nicolaj Noes said the Enterprise Agreement, which expired in 2017, contained “a plethora of restrictive work practices and interference in managerial and operational decision making which are aimed at reducing productivity and utilisation and increase the company’s fixed costs.”
He said the Svitzer had been attempting to come to a new agreement for two years and that the process is now “exhausted”.
If Svitzer is successful in its application, while the Enterprise Agreement is not in force, workers are covered by the Marine Towage Award 2020. The ITF described the agreement as the “bare legal minimums for pay and conditions”.
Collective focus
Svitzer said it will continue to work toward a new agreement which is “fit for purpose”.
The ITF’s Cotton said: “We encourage Svitzer to sit down with our affiliates and resolve this together, so that we can return our collective focus to ensuring Australian households and businesses have maritime supply chains they can rely on, for the food, fuel, medicines, and consumer goods they need.”
“The tug sector is critical to the security of our supply chains. These workers are the air-traffic control operators of ocean cargo: without them, nothing moves. Without their focus and skill: containers can pile high, ships back up, vessels collide, or worse happens.”
