Tony Burke lashes DP World in ports dispute

Tony Burke has launched an extraordinary attack on DP World over its role in the industrial dispute with union workers on major ports.

Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke has attacked DP World over its role in the industrial dispute with union workers on major ports. Picture: John Feder

Tony Burke has launched an extraordinary attack on DP World over its role in the industrial dispute with union workers on major ports, taking a shot at one of the company’s executives while criticising its negotiating tactics, pay offer for staff and requests for government intervention.

Business groups condemned the Workplace Relations Minister after he ruled out intervening in the four-month old dispute between DP World and the Maritime Union of Australia while accusing the company of negotiating in bad faith.

Mr Burke said Australians were “sick to death” of profitable businesses arguing higher wages would hurt the economy, ratcheting up his stoush with corporate Australia as parts of his industrial relations agenda also came under criticism from the Victorian Labor government.

After meeting with representatives from DP World and the MUA for the first time since the dispute began in October last year, Mr Burke said the company was “misguided” for publicly urging the government to use its powers to force the industrial ­umpire to resolve the issue.

The NSW Right MP rejected the Dubai-based company’s claim the industrial action was costing the economy $84m a week, as he questioned the integrity of DP World Oceania vice-president Nicolaj Noes, the former managing director of Svitzer.

“I have trouble believing that DP World has the interests of Australian consumers at heart when it is being run by the same person who previously, when he was the CEO of Svitzer, made the announcement that he was effectively going to shut down every single major port in Australia,” Mr Burke said.

“When someone’s got that sort of track record … and says ‘this is all about trying to make sure we don’t have an impact on the Australian economy’, it doesn’t start with a high level of trust.”

Furious over the pressure he is under to resolve the dispute, Mr Burke said DP World could have struck an enterprise agreement with the MUA already if it had ­focused on negotiating an outcome rather than airing its grievances in the media.

“I have made it very clear that I expect the parties to be at the table, to be negotiating and to be resolving this,” Mr Burke said at a press conference in Sydney.

“I have made clear to the company as well, if they had invested as much into negotiating as they have into their media campaign, they may already have an agreement. The concept that, while 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.”

Responding to Mr Burke’s attack on him, Mr Noes insisted DP World’s request for government intervention was “driven by the severe economic impact of customer frustration and a substantial backlog of containers”.

“The company is committed to the Fair Work Commission process to find a fair and sustainable resolution that addresses the consequences of the industrial action and seeks to end it,” Mr Noes said.

Business leaders, economists shippers and the Coalition have all called for the Albanese government to ask the FWC to intervene through mandatory arbitration. Unless this occurs, the MUA is ­allowed to take industrial action for nine months before the FWC will start official mediation.

On Friday, the MUA’s industrial action will ramp up to include not allowing any trucks or trains into any of DP World’s terminals in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Fremantle to deliver or remove containers.

The fight between DP World and the MUA is over pay and rostering. DP World stevedores are currently paid on average 17 per cent less than those working for its larger rival Patrick Corp.

With Anthony Albanese pledging ahead of the election to strike a Bob Hawke-style consensus between business and unions, Australian Industry Group chief executive Innes Willox said he believed Mr Hawke would have intervened in the dispute.

“It is hard not to think that Bob Hawke would have rolled up his sleeves by now to help resolve this dispute because of the broader impact it is having,” Mr Willox said. “Unfortunately, by walking away from using his office to constructively resolve the DP World dispute, the minister has given the green light for industrial action to drag on and materially damage the broader economy. It is not contested that thousands of containers of vital goods for food ­processing, manufacturing, con­struction and retail are piling up on our docks.”

Australian Retailers Association chief executive Paul Zahra said it was “deeply concerning” that there seemed to be a lack of progress on the dispute. He described Mr Burke’s dismissal of the $84m figure as “not helpful” and said that his retailers were starting to suffer stock shortages.

“At the frontline, we’re experiencing significant stock issues,” Mr Zahra said. “It’s significant because we’re going into a back-to-school period and a lot of that merchandise is imported. Books and stationery and other essentials like medicines are now being held at the wharf.”

Both Bunnings and supermarket giant Coles told The Australian on Thursday that at this point they were not experiencing any shortages, but said they had built in extra lead time to factor in the port dispute and were monitoring the situation closely.