Australia’s Fremantle Port Will be Paralyzed by Strike Next Week
The largest container and cargo port in Western Australia, Fremantle, is facing the prospects of a paralyzing 48-hour strike next week by pilot boat operators and vessel traffic service officers. Analysts are warning of weeks of delays after the strike and the potential for repercussions across Asia while the union is saying the strike might also be prolonged if its wage demands are not met.
The Australian Maritime Officers Union WA informed the Fremantle Ports Authority that its members will stop work as of Sunday morning. The strike is currently scheduled to run for 48 hours with port officials warning that no vessel movements will be possible during that time. The operators of the boats that transport pilots will be on strike along with the individuals who oversee all vessel movements. Ships on dock will still have access to stevedores.
The Fremantle Ports Authority reports that currently approximately 20 vessels were slated to enter the port facilities during the strike period. They include containerships as well as vehicle transports. Analysts are warning that cars, building materials, fuel, fertilizer, and consumer goods normally move through the port as well as livestock for export.
The strike comes after negotiations over wages collapsed between the union and the port authority. Media reports are saying the union is calling for raises of A$15,000 to $A20,000 (US$9,900 to $13,200) on base salaries of approximately A$140,000 (US$92,350). The union contends its members are paid as much as A$50,000 (US$33,000) less than their counterparts in other ports.
Media reports are saying that the government however controls the budgets leaving the port authority caught in the middle during the negotiations. The reports said the union has been offered a series of one-off payments amounting to approximately A$3,000 (US$1,980). The union reports members have overwhelming support for a strike.
Union officials told the Australian Financial Review if their demands are not taken seriously, “there’s the potential for this dispute to be prolonged.”
Australia has already experienced port delays and disruptions to vessel schedules which became common in Asia as well as Singapore and then surrounding ports experienced growing backlogs. Singapore worked to increase capacity and reduce its backlog but the issues spilled over to surrounding ports as well as sometimes sought to divert or else were stuck in long waits.
Linerlytica now shows the largest backlog of containers at Chinese ports. There were fears that last week’s explosion and fire on a vessel docked in China would expand the delays as portions of Ningbo Beilun Terminal were closed for several days.
A long-running dispute between masters and tugboat operator Svitzer was impacting vessel movements in Australia’s ports before it was finally settled in mid-2023. However, Australia’s ports were then dealing with rolling strikes by dockworkers in late 2023 and early 2024 which also caused widespread disruptions.