Australia's congested container ports face more disruption as the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) prepares industrial action at one of the country's largest stevedoring companies.
Dock workers employed by the offshoot of Patrick Terminals, which handles more than 40% of Australia's container traffic, will strike for 48 hours in Sydney’s Port Botany this weekend, while those in Melbourne will strike for 12 hours every Monday, Wednesday and Friday during October.
This latest action by the MUA, regarded as the strongest union in Australia, comes in addition to existing on-and-off work bans in Brisbane, Sydney and Fremantle.
Patrick chief executive Michael Jovicic said the aggressive strike action during the peak pre-Christmas freight period demonstrated that the MUA "has no regard for the suffering of everyday Australians who have felt the impact of Covid-19 lockdowns, job losses and restrictions over the past 18 months".
Jovicic described the union's actions as "frankly bewildering" and said it "seems to have completely lost the plot".
“We have bargained with the MUA for over 19 months and provided a very generous pay increase, guaranteed no redundancies and provided a commitment to preserving jobs," he said.
"They clearly have no intention of reaching a deal. They just want to cause maximum damage to the company and the economy.”
Media reports indicate that Australia's stevedores are paid an average of AUD 172,000 ($125,000) per year.
War of words
MUA assistant national secretary Jamie Newlyn said the management at Patrick had made "a series of exaggerated and untrue claims about the breakdown of talks over a new agreement, and instead of suggesting Christmas was at risk, the company should stop trying to alarm the public".
Newlyn claimed there is ample capacity for other stevedoring companies on the waterfront to load and unload cargo.
"We don't accept that there is any threat that imported goods will be in short supply due to the commencement of protected industrial action by our members," he said.
Shippers, however, are not buying Newlyn's argument. Many have condemned the industrial action that has plagued Australian ports over the past two years.
Melwyn Noronha, chief executive of industry body Shipping Australia, questioned why, when many Australians are unable to work because of lockdowns, the MUA would seek "during these times of a twin health and economic crises, to try and cripple the waterfront".
Paul Zalai, director of the Freight & Trade Alliance, told The Loadstar that the action would have a "devastating impact" if congestion worsened to the degree experienced last October, when shippers were hit with $330m in shipping line congestion surcharges.
Patrick Terminals said industrial action over the past year has cost it more than AUD 15m in revenue and cut its market share from 48% to 43%.
The MUA hit back at these claims with allegations that Patrick Terminals is recording record profits by price gouging through terminal access charges and other shipping fees.
