This was published 7 months ago
Union boss invokes slavery, oppression and water slides in Instagram attack on Dubai
ACTU head Sally McManus has intensified her attack on Dubai royalty over the Australian ports dispute, this time linking them to slavery and oppression, as retail and shipping firms warn the stalemate is starting to hurt and wharfies insist DP World should compensate them for delays to negotiations.
Days after accusing Dubai’s sheikh without evidence of trying to bully the Albanese government into intervening in the drawn-out wage dispute, the Australian Council of Trade Unions secretary appeared in an Instagram video on Friday to say DP World was owned by a government that rules by royal decree and has a poor record on human rights.
“Who is DP World?” she asks rhetorically at the start of the video. “Is it a water slide theme park on the Gold Coast?”
“In Dubai, they’ve got terrible rights for workers. In fact, the vast majority of workers have virtually no rights at all, and most people describe it as modern-day slavery. Also, women are treated as second-class citizens, and gay [people] and lesbians just get put in jail, so that’s the royal family of Dubai,” McManus says.
“They control 40 per cent of goods coming in and out of Australia, and they are doing very well out of Australia. They’re making lots of money.”
In March, DP World posted a $US1.8 billion ($2.72 billion) profit for the 2022 calendar year. Late last year the company increased prices on containers exported from Melbourne by up to 52 per cent.
While McManus focused this week on Dubai’s human rights record, the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) has not campaigned on the conditions of workers in the global hub during the months-long dispute.
DP World’s employees – who start on full-time salaries of about $83,000 and earned an average of $120,000 in the past year, excluding bonuses and overtime – are negotiating with the company over a lengthy list of demands, which includes an 8 per cent annual pay rise over a two-year agreement, plus 8 per cent backpay for the time it has taken the hatch out the deal.
“DP World should not be rewarded by imposing an effective pay freeze on workers by obstructing negotiations and causing an unnecessary dispute. A sign-on bonus keeps them on the hook for all of the obstruction and delay since bargaining commenced in March 2023,” a circulated list of outstanding union claims says.
The union also wants the company to pay for employees to fly to a central meeting point with managers for wage negotiations, while also firming up rosters and dispute resolution processes.
According to The Australian, DP World Oceania vice president Nicolaj Noes this month dismissed MUA claims they should be paid similarly to employees of stevedore Patrick Terminals, on 17 per cent higher wages, saying Patrick had greater productivity due to automation.
Amnesty International says the United Arab Emirates, of which Dubai is a part, criminalises same-sex relations and legally discriminates against women, while Human Rights Watch says migrant workers in the UAE face widespread abuse.
DP World, who agreed to a media blackout with the MUA earlier this week, declined to comment on McManus’ video.
Her attack comes a day after Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke refused to intervene in the negotiations, saying that people were “sick to death” of profitable companies using wages as a scapegoat for soaring prices.
The business lobby’s calls for the industrial impasse to end are growing louder.Credit: James Brickwood
“The concept that where every other business in Australia is expected to negotiate with their workforce, but this business wants to rely on ministerial intervention, is not a view that impresses me,” he said.
Burke’s comments aggrieved industry association Shipping Australia, which told the Australian Financial Review that Burke was “elevating the greed of the few over the needs of the many”.
“We take issue with the minister’s criticism that the current head of DP World, when in a previous role, attempted to lawfully exercise the company’s rights under Australian employment law,” a spokesman said.
“The senior manager was condemned by Minister Burke for bringing Australian ports to a standstill. Yet, that is exactly what the waterfront union has been doing for these last four months.”
In a statement, the Australian Retailers Association’s Paul Zahra said the stalemate was beginning to have an “unacceptable impact” on the flow of imports.
“All categories are affected, but we are particularly concerned about perishable food, fresh produce, pharmaceuticals and other essential goods, including back-to-school merchandise,” he said.
While some small firms relying on imports said they had already been affected, bigger corporations Harvey Norman and Bunnings reported no significant impact yet. The Pharmacy Guild said medical imports were holding steady.
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