Australian Wharfies to Expand Job Action at Bulker/General Cargo Terminals

 

Australian port terminal operator Qube becomes the latest in a long list of port operations to be facing potential strikes by dockworkers. The National Maritime Union of Australia anticipates that 10 Australian ports will be involved by late December as it seeks to expand its industrial action against the company.

The union like many others around the world is involved in a wage and work rules dispute with Qube. Recent weeks have seen actions in both Canada’s West Coast ports and Montreal as well as the U.S. East and Gulf Coast ports. Earlier in the year there were strikes in Germany as the individual unions were in protracted contract negotiations. The U.S. strike has the potential to resume in January 2025.

The NMU asserts that the real value of wages paid to its members by Qube has declined 14 percent due to inflation since the pandemic. The union’s demands include pay increases that catch up with inflation and protect dockworkers’ purchasing power. They cite the principle of “same job same pay,” demanding increases for all workers. They are also calling for “fatigue management rules to prevent the allocation of dangerous work patterns by company managers,” and want the delivery of work schedules advanced by four hours to noon the day before a shift. They are also seeking other benefits such as expanded domestic and family violence leave.

The union reported in September 2024 that members had authorized industrial actions in ports including Melbourne, Port Kembla, and Brisbane. The new announcement did not specify which ports would be targeted. Under Australian regulations, the union will have to file notices before starting any actions. The NMU says that Australian steel traders have already been complaining since October that shipments are delayed by the current industrial action.

The actions started in September at Qube’s bulk and general ports across Australia. As the dispute has stretched on, the NMU now says, “As a consequence, over ten of these ports will be in industrial action by Christmas time, as wharfies grow impatient.”

Qube provides port operations and logistics services including bulk and general handling facilities in over 40 Australian, New Zealand, and South East Asian ports. Its operations range from containers to bulk, automotive, and general cargo, and it also manages 25 sites for the forestry industry in Australia and New Zealand. It is also the leading provider of supply chain logistics services to the energy sector, supporting thousands of onshore wells and rig supply vessels, barges, and offshore construction vessels annually.

Nineteen agreements between Qube and the NMU expired in June 2024. The union alleges that the company ignored requests to start negotiations in October 2023. It contends that Qube’s position has been to delay or disrupt the negotiations to force an arbitration.

“We are calling on Industrial Relations Minister Murray Watt to remove the ability of employers to game the intractable bargaining laws so companies like Qube can avoid any form of genuine collective bargaining,” said Warren Smith, the Deputy National Secretary of the MUA.

The union highlights the protracted contract disputes with Svitzer Tugs and DP World stevedores while calling for efforts to reform the labor regulations. The contract dispute stretched over four years at Svitzer and went in front of the labor regulators on several occasions before a tentative settlement was announced in June 2023.