Anthony Albanese takes swipe at ‘considerable profits’ of DP World

Anthony Albanese has declared DP World is a foreign-owned company making ‘considerable profits’, in a swipe at the Dubai-based ports operator over its industrial dispute with the MUA.

Anthony Albanese has declared DP World is a foreign-owned company making “considerable profits”, in a swipe at the Dubai-based ports operator over its industrial dispute with the Maritime Union of Australia.

Ahead of Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke meeting executives from DP World on Thursday, the Prime Minister signalled the government was not shifting in its refusal to intervene and force the industrial umpire to make an expedited ruling.

The stevedoring giant is expected to push Mr Burke to call in the Fair Work Commission for arbitration, as it has been doing publicly for weeks.

The Prime Minister said the two parties needed to “sit down in good faith”, but made a veiled swipe at DP World when asked if the union’s demands for pay increases were greedy.

“This is a company that, of course, is based in Dubai that’s made considerable profits,” Mr Albanese told 2HD radio on Tuesday.

“Certainly there should be a mutually beneficial outcome.”

While DP World and the MUA declined to comment on their ongoing negotiations – with both agreeing to a media blackout until at least Thursday – ACTU secretary Sally McManus accused the stevedore of trying to “whip up a crisis” and force government intervention.

“Essentially, the company just won’t move. Not only that, they are actually proposing pay cuts,” she told the ABC.

“The company is deliberately, in our view, not moving, because they want to whip up a crisis so they can get the government, or try to get the government to intervene so they don’t have to pay the workers more.”

The Australian revealed this week that Mr Burke and Mr Albanese had knocked back several requests from DP World representatives for a meeting since its dispute with the MUA began in October.

Mr Burke has since agreed to meet with DP World on Thursday to hear its concerns.

The Australian understands the potential economic impact of the dispute – estimated to have so far cost the nation more than $84m a week – and the need for federal intervention to force both parties to the Fair Work Commission will likely be put to the minister by DP World.

Freight and Trade Alliance director Paul Zalai said while the MUA had pulled plans for eight-hour delays and bans on certain shipping lines, the union’s lower-level disruptions would still cause congestion and economic fallout.

“We’ve got about 50,000 containers stranded in these terminals around the country,” he told Sunrise.

“Foreign-owned shipping lines that service this country are looking at the terminals here and they’re making assessments now whether it’s even viable to keep coming here.”

DP World said in its last statement that even if the protected industrial action were to end immediately, it “would take months to clear the backlog”, which presented significant concerns to consumers and businesses.

The company’s Oceania executive vice-president, Nicolaj Noes, said the terms put forward by the MUA were “not financially sustainable”.

The MUA said it was asking for a 16 per cent pay rise over two years, which was still below the rate paid by the bigger rival, Patrick, while DP World claims the union has requested 27 per cent over two years. The discrepancy is explained by the union’s request for backpay on top of the ongoing pay rise bid.