Workplace Minister Tony Burke blasts ports operator DP World over pay stalemate

In a no-holds-barred press conference, the workplace relations minister said Australians were “sick to death” of profitable companies not paying their workers as much as their competitors.

In a stunning rebuke of Australia’s second-largest port operator, Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke has accused stevedoring company DP World of waging a political and media campaign against the Maritime Union instead of negotiating a new workplace deal with its workers.

Speaking after a meeting with DP World and the union on Thursday, Mr Burke accused DP World of failing to act in good faith in bargaining negotiations on a new enterprise agreement and said its current approach was “misguided”.

Since October, a dispute between the union and the stevedoring company, which runs container terminals in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Fremantle, has escalated to become the most significant strike on the nation’s ports in decades.

Led by the Maritime Union of Australia, the protected industrial action has included 24 hour strikes and work stoppages, causing a backlog of some 45,000 containers across the four terminals and threatening to exacerbate the cost of living crunch.

Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke said the container terminal company had focused its efforts on waging a media campaign against the union, rather than reaching a new enterprise agreement. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

“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 that it is in the interest of everybody,” Mr Burke told reporters in Sydney on Thursday.

Mr Burke also emphatically rejected calls by DP World for him to intervene in the dispute and request that the Fair Work Commission order mandatory arbitration between the parties.

“The concept that, where every other business in Australia is expected to negotiate with their workforce, [DP World] wants to rely on ministerial intervention – [that] is not a view that impresses me,” he said.

“I expect them to do the same as every other business in Australia. I think certainly their presumption that they would find a political answer rather than do what every other business in Australia is expected to do was misguided, and I’ve made that clear to them.”

DP World’s request for a ministerial intervention over the industrial action has been rejected. Photo by: NCA Newswire

While DP World is seeking to update its rostering arrangement in a bid to reflect current business demands, the union is frustrated that the company’s stevedores receive significantly less than at their competitor, Patrick Terminals, and is consequently seeking a 16 per cent pay hike over two years.

Responding to the union’s pay request, Mr Burke said Australians were “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.”

Asked about the effect of the escalating industrial action on Australian consumers and the broader economy, Mr Burke slammed Oceania executive vice president Nicolaj Noes over his appeals that a ministerial intervention was needed to avoid higher prices.

“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.”

As managing director at tugboat operator Svitzer, Mr Noes last year moved to lock out 582 striking workers in an escalation of a separate bargaining dispute.

In a statement, Mr Noes said the company’s request for ministerial intervention was driven by the severe economic impact of customer frustration and a substantial backlog of containers at its terminals.

“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,” he said.

The Prime Minister on Thursday morning also reiterated that the two parties needed to reach an agreement.

“We think that there are mutual interests between workers and their employers,” Mr Albanese told reporters in Melbourne.

“We’d urge the parties to bargain in good faith and to have a resolution that is in their interest, but also the interests of our national economy.”

Opposition leader Peter Dutton called on the Albanese government to “stand up” to the union.

“It seems that Tony Burke and Anthony Albanese are completely owned and operated by these unions, and in that circumstance … it’s the Australian public that miss out,” he said.

On Friday, it is expected that MUA’s industrial action at DP World’s four terminals will intensify, with the union set to block trucks and trains from accessing the ports.

Originally published as Workplace Minister Tony Burke blasts ports operator DP World over pay stalemate