Engineers have voted to go on strike for 12 hours on Tuesday 12 January and Wednesday 13 January following a dispute with their employer, Svitzer Australia.
The Victorian Employers Chamber of Commerce and Industry urged for a resolution to the industrial feud with the planned strikes due to cause shutdowns and costly delays.
“The 12 hour strike will severely impact trade through the ports of Melbourne and Geelong,” Bryce Prosser, executive director of The Victorian Employers Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told Port Strategy.
He explained: “It will distrupt the daily movement of around ten ships carrying (in total) 7000 containers, 1000 cars and 33,000 tonnes of bulk cargo valued at $270m.”
It warned that delays will have a ripple-effect on businesses in Melbourne, not only within the port’s own interest but in terms of the state’s manufacturing, retail, agriculture and food industries.
Mr Prosser continued: “In addition, the damage caused would be amplified through the back-log of traffic that would spill over to the following period. Businesses in the agriculture, food, manufacturing and automotive industries are particularly reliant on these ports to move goods.”
The majority of Svitzer tug boat engineers, almost 200, voted for a range of strikers over the new enterprise agreement.
Strikes are expected to result in bulk containerships and coal and fuel carriers being stopped from entering the ports of Newcastle, Sydney, Melbourne and Geelong.
“Victoria’s export performance has been a key features of the state’s economic performance in recent years. Efficient and competitive ports are key to securing export growth for our state and keeping the cost of doing business in Victoria down. Issues such as this must be resolved swiftly,” Mr Prosser concluded.
The Port of Melbourne is one of the nation’s busiest container terminals, handling 36% of all Australian container trade. This leads to almost 7000 containers and 1000 motor vehicles moving through the port every single day.