Industry warning that the MUA could broaden industrial claims
The MUA dispute with DP World has raised concerns among industry leaders the union could try to broaden its action to the nation’s other port operators.
Industry is warning Labor’s multi-employer bargaining shake-up has incentivised the maritime union to drag out its dispute with DP World so it can capture the nation’s two other key stevedores, Hutchison Ports and Patrick Terminals, in a move that would inflict “catastrophic” damage on the national economy.
Australian Industry Group chief executive Innes Willox said the risk was that the Maritime Union of Australia could “orchestrate things so that they have all our port operators in their sights at the same time to attempt to construct a multi-party bargaining deal with them”.
“And, of course, they’ve already given indications of this because they are demanding that DP World wharf workers be paid the same as those at Patrick. They are two different operations and they have different levels of automation,” he said.
The Weekend Australian understands that Hutchison’s enterprise agreement is due to expire mid next year while the Patrick’s agreement is due to expire in early 2026.
“The concern here is that for the national economy we are already seeing damage being created by a dispute at one wharf operator. But if it were to spread to all three it would be potentially catastrophic,” Mr Willox said.
He also responded to Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke’s remark on Thursday that he was “sick to death of having highly profitable companies say everything is the fault of them having to pay their workforce the same as their competitors.”
Mr Willox warned the implication of this statement was that a “wharf worker should be paid the same as others even if they have lower productivity and lower outcomes and their site is more labour intensive than another.”
However, the government rejects the argument made by Mr Willox that dragging out the dispute would allow the MUA to engage in multi-employer bargaining.
It believes it would instead trigger an arbitrated outcome.
Business Council of Australia chief executive Bran Black said the dispute could “easily get out of hand and we need it fixed as quickly as possible so consumers don’t pay higher prices and significant damage isn’t inflicted on the Australian economy”.
“We can all remember ports disputes with far-reaching ramifications that crippled the economy, and we can’t afford to have yet another situation where unions hold Australian consumers and businesses to ransom,” Mr Black said.
“We need this dispute resolved and we reiterate our call that all those who can roll up their sleeves to help fix the dispute, including government, should do so now.”
Australian Retailers Association chief executive Paul Zahra said the dispute was of “great concern” because some businesses were running out of stock.
“While we’ve been able to offer alternatives in many cases for consumers or work through the inventory that we have locally, this is now at that tipping point,” he told Sky News.
“So we are seeing items that, depending on category, are now starting to see out of stocks occur. Next week is a big week for back to school and we’ve got stationary suppliers and technology suppliers retailers telling us that they can’t fulfil their requirements.
“If this was to go on for much longer I think we are now going to have consumer outcries as they may be able to find essentials like medicines etc not being available.”
He said the union and DP World needed to get back around the negotiating table, given the decision of the government not to intervene.
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