The Commission said that that workers’ bans on working shift extensions, call-ins and early or delayed start times at DP World Australia’s (DPWA) terminals did not take place within the time limit for legally protected action. The case concerns DP World’s terminal operations in Melbourne, Brisbane and Fremantle and the workers with the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union (CFMMEU), which merged with the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) last year.
While the ruling against indefinite work bans doesn’t prohibit workers from striking, the MUA said that it would appeal the decision on the basis that it could obstruct future industrial action.
This follows DPWA’s announcement that it is going ahead with the redundancies of 200 stevedores, comprised of 100 from its Sydney terminal and 100 from its Melbourne terminal, due to “volume losses since September 2018”. 50 stevedores have already left the Melbourne terminal through voluntary redundancies as part of a previous agreement.
“DPWA has been postponing these crucial restructures since September 2018 to progress constructive Enterprise Agreement negotiations.
“In the absence of significant negotiation progress over the past nine months, the Company must push on and address the impact of volume losses,” said Andrew Adam, chief operating officer.
In a statement released on 18 July, DPWA said ongoing industrial action across DP World’s Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Fremantle Terminals continue to impact the entire supply chain, causing delays and adding costs for importers, exporters and shipping lines.
“Four vessels have been redirected to other stevedores in July to mitigate delays, and we estimate 40 vessels and up to 110,000 containers will be delayed,” said Mr Adam.
Unprecedented consolidation of, and changes to global shipping line services calling Australia, combined with surplus stevedoring capacity are contributing to DPWA’s challenging outlook, said DPWA.