OCEANIA

Eleventh hour truce averts Aussie strike

15 years ago

A potentially-damaging outbreak of industrial disruption on the Australian waterfront has been averted – for the time being – by a truce between stevedore Patrick and the Maritime Union of Australia.

Patrick has pulled back from action in ports such as Melbourne

A dispute over wages and conditions has been brewing for months, with strikes occurring at Geelong and Fremantle earlier this year.

Rolling strikes had been planned by the MUA at the key ports of Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Fremantle, giving rise to fears that the worst unrest since the major 1998 dispute was about to erupt.

However an eleventh hour truce was agreed when Patrick agreed to make a revised offer, leading to the union shelving the strike programme until further talks are held. It is expected that the offer will be tabled this week and be followed up with further negotiations next week.

At the heart of the dispute is an unsuccessful attempt to negotiate a new enterprise agreement between Patrick and the MUA. Patrick has claimed the MUA’s demands are excessive, amounting to a 30% increase in total labour costs. The union has argued that its claim has a wider brief, with safety and working conditions as important as wages and entitlements.