According to the Freight and Trade Alliance (FTA), after two years of negotiation, employees at all four Patrick terminals have voted in favour of the new Patrick Terminals Enterprise Agreement.
The container terminal operator says the new deal provides it with increased operational flexibility, which will help it meet customers’ needs and service the changing supply chain landscape.
It will now have the right to recruit at its own discretion without restrictive union quotas.
“We are pleased to have secured support for our new enterprise agreement across our workforce,” Michael Jovicic, CEO of Patrick Terminals says.
“This new four-year arrangement provides the flexibility that we sought in regard to recruitment and will allow us to better service our customers in regard to manning, new technology, and operational efficiency,” he adds.
“We would like to thank our customers for their patience over the past two years, and now look forward to a future of industrial stability on the Patrick waterfront.”
The FTA says while it welcomes this outcome, it, and the Australian Peak Shippers Association (APSA) will continue to call on the federal government to initiate a formal waterfront industrial relations review.
This will allow business continuity for what the FTA and APSA say is an “essential service” and is for the international gateway for major supply chains.
They also note that Protected Industrial Action at Australian terminals has had the following impacts on the industry: bans on shift extensions, ban on overtime, various stoppages, bans on the performance of upgraded positions, new PIA measures, vessel bans, bans on working subcontracted vessels, and bans on interacting with parties outside of Australia.
The FTA says the new Patrick Terminals Enterprise Agreement will now be lodged with the Fair Work Commission so it can ratify it.
For more information on the FTA, click here.