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Patrick Terminals EA negotiations at deadlock

Asciano has confirmed that negotiations for a new Enterprise Agreement (EA) for its Patrick Terminals workforce have broken down, with the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) refusing to allow the Fair Work Australia (FWA) to broker discussions in conciliation.

The company released a statement on Friday saying that it is disappointed by the Union’s “point blank refusal” to engage in the Fair Work process. Negotiations are now at a deadlock after the MUA walked away from talks on Friday.

“We were confident that we would be able to conclude and finalise the EA for the sake our workforce, customers and the broader Australian economy, but MUA just doesn’t share this objective,” Patrick Terminals and Logistics director Alistair Field said in the statement.

“After 18 months of negotiations and more than 60 stoppages across Patrick’s operations costing the Company more than $15 million, this was the perfect opportunity for the MUA to display good faith and close out the few outstanding items that remain.

“We are bitterly disappointed that the MUA was not prepared to even clarify its position regarding the few outstanding items. This is an open rejection of good faith bargaining that flies in the face of the Fair Work Act.”  

In the statement, Asciano claimed to have “proactively sought” to conclude the EA negotiations on behalf of its Patrick terminals employees. The company said that MUA’s “erratic behaviour and stalling tactics continues to frustrate and delay the process”. 

Asciano applied to FWA for conciliation on Friday 9 March after the MUA recently reneged on agreed terms from an in-principle agreement announced by both the MUA and Asciano in November last year.

This is despite Asciano paying a 5% good faith, salary back payment to its workforce in December last year.

The MUA and its members have also been found to have been engaging in unprotected activity in the form of a “go slow” at Patrick’s Port Botany container terminal causing productivity at the port to drop by 30%.

On Wednesday last week, Fair Work Australia ruled under S418 of the Fair Work Act that the action of the MUA and its members was illegal and ordered that the “go slow” cease immediately with the Order remaining in place and covering all forms of unprotected action including “go slow” for three months. 
 
The MUA is also currently engaged in a series of planned protected strikes at Patrick’s Fremantle container terminal, which commenced last Thursday morning. 
 
The action will stop the movement of approximately 65% of containerised trade at the port, impacting 8 ships and 6,720 containers with time sensitive cargo including refrigerated food and drinks, as well as essential mining, earthworks and agricultural equipment. The stoppage will then be followed by an indefinite period of rolling stoppages and work bans. 
 
“This will have a significant impact on Australian importers and exporters, hurting everyone from Australian farmers and manufacturers exporting their goods to market, small businesses awaiting deliveries and the transport industry who rely on container trade to make a living,” Field said.
 
“We are committed to finalising the EA negotiations and are confident that we can resolve the few outstanding issues within the Fair Work process, which is the proper way to handle this dispute, not by strikes which disadvantage Australians and damage and hurt the economy.”  
 
 
Further ongoing disruptions are also likely at Patrick’s Fremantle container terminal as a result of a separate strike between the MUA and Patrick’s maintenance contractor ATIVO which commenced at Patrick’s Fremantle terminal on Thursday last week.

While the dispute is not related to Asciano or Patrick it significantly impacts the company’s ability to operate, service its customers and provide gainful employment for its workforce due to restrictions around the maintenance and operation of stevedoring equipment. This strike action was scheduled to conclude on  Sunday at 6.29am.
 
According to the company, the knock on effect of the MUA’s actions will be felt by Australian importers and exporters for the next month as vessels are significantly delayed and international schedules directly impacted. 

 

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