Consumers on the hook as wharfies net 25pc pay hike

The 50,000 stranded containers at Australia’s ports could be on the move after DP World and the MUA reached a pay rise deal –ending four months of industrial action.

MUA Assistant National Secretary Adrian Evans outside the DP World terminal at Fremantle.

The crippling waterfront dispute between the nation’s second-biggest container operator DP World and the Maritime Union of Australia may be about to end after they reached an “in principle agreement” over pay and rostering which would see the wharfies get a 25 per cent pay rise over four years and a $2000 sign-on bonus.

Industry leaders welcomed the end of the four-month industrial campaign but warned the new deal would ultimately see costs passed on to consumers.

There is a backlog of 50,220 containers waiting to be loaded or unloaded at DP World ports in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Fremantle, which the company says will take up to six weeks to clear.

On Thursday, DP World increased the amount it charges to move a container at eastern seaboard ports by 21-52 per cent, a move rival Patrick is set to follow next month.

After three weeks of “unofficial” talks through the Fair Work Commission, the MUA has agreed to stop protected industrial action that’s been shuttering DP World terminals on a rolling basis since October.

“All protected industrial ­action has been withdrawn and wharfies at Dubai Ports will ­return to work with the same ­enthusiasm, hard work and commitment that they have brought to their jobs over many years,” the MUA said in a statement.

The agreement needs to be voted on by the stevedores and both parties have agreed not to disclose the terms until after the vote. DP World said its average salary for port staff was between $130,000 and $140,000.

The pay rise is more than the MUA had first asked for, but it extends over a longer period, with MUA initially wanting it to line up with deals with the other port operators. DP World stevedores currently earn about 17 per cent less than those at rival Patrick and the MUA had first asked for a 16 per cent over two years plus a sign-on bonus.

All the other major port and terminal operators have enterprise agreements expiring between March this year and December next year, and they had expressed concerns that if the EBAs lined up, the MUA could shut down the ports completely, using multi-bargaining agreements to conduct protected industrial ­action at the same time.

DP World Executive Vice-President Oceania, Nicolaj Noes has reached an agreement with port workers on pay and rostering. Picture: Jane Dempster

Innes Willox, chief executive of the ­national employer association Ai Group, said Friday’s agreement would see prices for imported goods stay high because the wage increase was “well above the current inflation rate as well as the projected inflation … which will inevitably lead to increased costs and charges for industry and end consumers in the years ahead”.

Refrigerated meat exporter Roger Fletcher, whose business has been impacted by the sudden stop works at various ports, has had to truck chilled lamb between Melbourne and Sydney to make shipments. He said it was about time a deal was brokered.

“Now we can just get on with the job and try and make it work,” said Mr Fletcher, who runs Fletcher International ­Exports.

“Having to double handle containers has not been good. We try and run efficient plants and when the ports are inefficient it effects us.”

One fifth of all container ships from China cancelled their January services to Australia ­because of the ongoing industrial dispute at DP World, which last week told a government inquiry it was time for reform on the waterfront.

DP World has said the dispute has cost the country $84m a week since it began in October. Many exporters and importers have been asking for the government to intervene by calling in the FWC for enforceable arbitration.

Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke refused to do that and on Friday said he “welcomes” the agreement and described it as an example of how enterprise bargaining “is meant to work”.

“Had I intervened – as Peter Dutton and others encouraged me to do – this dispute would have dragged on for months,” he said. “The Albanese Labor government has improved the enterprise bargaining system so that more Australian businesses and workers can benefit from agreements like this, delivering more secure jobs and better pay.”

This response was rejected by Mr Willox. “It would have been better if the federal government had used its influence to resolve the dispute earlier rather than simply verbally beating up the company involved,” he said. “That it didn’t intervene gives industry concern that it will stand by in similar disputes in the future and not play a role to resolve differences in disputes that have widespread … consequences.”