Patrick Terminals has lodged an application to the Fair Work Commission to terminate its pay deal with 1081 of its wharfies.
The dispute brings players of the infamous 1998 Waterfront Dispute into conflict when ports locally and overseas are grappling with huge demand because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The national stevedoring company argues the agreement is no longer fit for purpose because of operational restrictions that have limited the ability of Patrick to meet customer requirements at a time of congestion in global supply chains.
The MUA has launched more than 220 industrial actions in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Fremantle against Patrick Terminals nationally during the negotiation period since February 2020.
Michael Jovicic, CEO Patrick Terminals says the MUA has been presented with an attractive national offer on top of an already generous agreement including a 10 per cent pay increase across four years coupled with protections addressing concerns over the use of casuals and job security.
“Enough is enough,” he says. “Negotiations have been ongoing for close to two years and frankly there seems to be no agreement to be had, particularly in Sydney, where the union is still demanding we hire from a selected list of family and friends.”
If the move is successful, the stevedores will lose the pay and conditions they have negotiated for years and go back to minimum industry standards unless a new deal is negotiated in six months.
“We are at the end of the road and need to have an agreement with our employees that works for our customers, and that allows us to remain competitive in the future market,” Michael says.
Paddy Crumlin, Maritime Union national secretary called Patrick’s move an attack on its workers that showed why an agreement had not been reached yet.
“The disagreements between the two parties are easily resolved and have been achieved within the industry with other stevedoring companies without them resorting to this type of character assassination,” Paddy says.
Former prime minister John Howard described the 1998 Waterfront Dispute between Patrick and the MUA as “the most bitterly fought domestic issue of my whole time as prime minister”. That year Patrick sacked its 1400 unionised workers and replaced them with contracted workers.
At the time, the Howard government supported the move to stop union control over the wharves.