Shipping ‘victims’ win massive payouts

Shipping workers have won redundanc­y payouts of up to $560k from a major company amid a union war on BlueScope and BHP.

Bill Shorten and the maritime division of the CFMEU have gone to war with the industr­y over the future of local seafarers. Picture Gary Ramage

Australian shipping workers — victims of “corporate bastardry”, according to the maritime union — have received­ individual redundanc­y payouts of up to $560,000 from a major shipping company amid a union campaign­ against BlueScope and BHP following the expiry of an iron ore supply contract.

As Labor leader Bill Shorten and the maritime division of the CFMEU go to war with the industr­y over the future of local seafarers, The Australia­n understands the local operations of global shipping giant Teekay paid out more than $9 million in redundancies to 51 workers two weeks ago, despite the maritime union claiming they had been sacked by BHP.

The crew members are now at the centre­ of a campaign by the union and the Opposition Leader to re-regulate the industry and force the use of Australian seafarers over foreign-crewed ships.

The maritime union earlier claimed the crews had been victim­s of “corporate bastardry” following the decision by BlueScope not to renew a 17-year legac­y contract with BHP to ship iron ore from Port Hedland to its Port Kembla steelworks.

Documents shown to The Australian, however, reveal that the union had negotiated generous payouts averaging $176,000 each for 51 workers, which were paid a week before a union rally in Canberra to lobby MPs to save their jobs.

The payments are recorded as being made on February 7 and include sums of up to $566,000 for engineers, $247,000 for caterers and up to $320,745 for senior officers. Neither the company nor the union have disputed the figures.

Mr Shorten has also attacked BHP directly as he seeks to build the case for re-regulating the shipping industry with the creation of a “strategic fleet” including Australian-crewed oil, gas and container vessels, which could also be called upon in times of war or crisis.

Teekay Shipping yesterday confirmed that redundancies had been settled and payments to the workers made on February­ 7 following discussions with the relevant trade unions — which included the Australian Institut­e of Marine and Power Enginee­rs and the former Maritime­ Union of Australia, which merged last year with the Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union.

“The crew of the two vessels consisted of 68 employees of Teekay including deck officers, engineer officers, ratings and casual employees,’’ a statement said.

“After consultation with the employees­ and their respective maritime unions, the company identified 14 redeployment opportunities for officers and crew and invited expressions of interest from the crew in filling these positions.

“The roles have been filled in accordan­ce with the relevant enterprise agreements. Teekay carefully considered alterna­tive options and was unable to identify other opportunities. Teekay regrets that the remainin­g employees were made redundant in February 2019. All employees that ceased service have received their entitlements under their respective enterprise agreements. An employee assistance provider, Hunterlink, continues to provide support services to employee­s and families.”

The decision will mean the remov­al of the last two Australian-manned iron ore carriers, the MV Mariloula and the MV Lowlands Brilliance, from Australian coastal operations.

The Australian understands the redundancy packages offered were beyond what was required because the crew was backpaid for a wage increase under an enterprise agreement still under negotiation.

As part of the now expired supply­ contract with BlueScope, BHP was required to charter the bulk carriers to ship the iron from Western Australia to Port Kembla, south of Sydney. It then used the ships to transport coal to China before­ returning them to WA.

BHP has previously said the contract dated back to when it demerge­d its steel businesses, and it had long since ceased operating its own cargo vessels. BlueScope claimed it was now operating in a far more competitive market than it was when the contract began and had decided not to renew it.

The CFMEU’s international president, Paddy Crumlin, told The Australian none of the workers wanted a redunda­ncy.

“They have consistently said that,” he said. “They didn’t want to be dragged down their gangways in a foreign port to be replaced by foreig­n seafarers on a fraction of their wages. All they wanted, and still want from BHP and BlueScope, was to keep their job in the trade that Australian seafarers have worked for the last 100 years.

“When seafarers from the MV Mariloula and the MV Lowlands Brilliance took their plight to the politicians in Canberra, they didn’t ask for a redundancy payout, in fact they told those politicians they can take that payment back. They asked for urgent action to save the industry and the jobs they love.”

The Minerals Council of Australia blamed the high cost of Australian shipping for the decline in the local industry and warned that any move to impose further regulation would drive up costs more and make it more uncompetitive.

“Despite work under way to reform­ Australia’s current coastal shipping regulatory regime, much more needs to be done to revitalise our local shipping industry,” MCA chief executive Tania Constable told The Australian.

“The carrying capacity of the Australian coastal fleet has been reduced­ by 63 per cent, and our coastal fleet is older and more costly to operate by international stand­ards — attracting higher insuran­ce premiums.”

One of the crew to be made redundan­t, Ben Sirasch, said he was aboard the vessel when alerted to the decision. “I’d been a seafarer for 10 years, I loved my job, and I thought I had a career that was going to last a lifetime­,” he said. “I didn’t want a redundancy, I wanted to keep the job I loved, but we weren’t given the choice.”