The situation at Australia’s Port Terminals is far from resolved, both DP World and The Maritime Union have been calling for Government to intervene in the dispute but Government have not been willing to get involved to date, rather suggesting the two parties should negotiate a settlement via Fair Work Australia.
The Protected Industrial Action have now been in place for almost 5 months, the fact the dispute is still unresolved clearly highlights a sad reflection on our Industrial Arbitration system.
The cost of the disruptive action to the Australian economy is estimated at $ 84 million per week.
DP World Update:
The MUA has notified DP World of additional Protected Industrial Action (PIA) at each of its terminals through to 30 January 2024.
The PIA continues the 2-hour stoppages three times every 24-hours through to 30 January 2024 at all of DP World’s terminals.
It also includes bans on loading trucks and trains at every DP World terminal from 0600, this Friday, 19 January through to 0600 Saturday, 20 January 2024 (0700 to 0700 in Fremantle).
The 2-hour stoppages effectively turn into 3-hour stoppages as no slots are being allocated in the hour time-zone beforehand to try to ensure that all trucks are serviced before the gates close for each stoppage.
Even then, there are reports of futile trips with trucks being escorted from terminals before being serviced in the time-zones leading into the stoppages.
Federal Industrial Relations Minister, Tony Burke, is scheduled to meet with Nicolaj Noes and his management team at DP World this Thursday morning to discuss the dispute.
At that meeting it is anticipated that DP World will urge the Minister to use his powers under the Fair Work Act to terminate the industrial action and order the dispute into arbitration within the Fair Work Commission (FWC) on the grounds of the economic damage being imposed on the Australian economy.
However, the CFMEU, of which the MUA is a division, has urged the Minister to stay out of the dispute, saying that to do so would be “dangerous territory”, and that DP World “could afford to pay” the union’s demands.
We will keep all clients updated on developments as further news comes to hand.