Sydney Ferries crew will refuse to work on a new vessel which has been named Ferry McFerryface.
9 News quoted Paul Garrett, assistant secretary of the Sydney branch of the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA), as saying staff have not seen the funny side.
"The transport minister is demonstrating here that he treats public transport as a joke," he said.
The name draws on an old gag in the UK, when the public voted for a new research ship to be called Boaty McBoatface, only for the government to reject this and call it after Sir David Attenborough instead.
"We're wondering why Sydney Harbour has to suffer a second-hand joke from the UK," Garrett added.
Boaty McBoatface actually won the Australian poll too, but was turned down because the Australian panel thought this was the name of an actual UK ship.
