Wharfies call a halt to port industrial action
Industrial action has been temporarily stopped at ports across the country. Photo: AAP
The Maritime Union of Australia has paused its industrial action, which has affected ports operations around the country.
The MUA had been locked in pay negotiations with seaport operator Patrick Corporation at the Fair Work Commission for the past two days.
While no deal has been reached, the industrial action has been paused until the matter returns to the Fair Work Commission later in October.
The MUA has been taking industrial action at Patrick terminals in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Fremantle.
Patrick chief executive Michael Jovicic said he was “amazed” the MUA had rejected the offer of a 1.5 per cent pay increase each year for four years without changes to current conditions or rosters.
The company said it also offered to hire 50 new workers at Sydney’s Port Botany to clear a backlog of containers, and offered job guarantees with no forced redundancies.
Mr Jovicic said he was pleased the union had decided to pause industrial action, as it would “hopefully … avoid shortages of goods at Christmas time”.
“Having lost in the court of public opinion they decided to retreat to fight another day,” he said.
-more to come
