Maritime union to extend Patrick strikes | #Ausunions

PORTS across the country will be hit by a fresh round of rolling strikes and bans from tomorrow as the maritime union tries to pressure Patrick stevedores into negotiating a settlement of their long-running dispute.

Maritime Union of Australia members at Patrick's bulk and general cargo operations will walk out of the company's Fremantle and Darwin operations for 24 hours from 7am tomorrow. Those at its Webb Dock East in Melbourne will strike for eight hours tomorrow.

It is understood bulk and cargo employees at the company's Port Kembla operations decided to call off a 48-hour strike due to start at midnight last night.

Ian Bray, an assistant national secretary with the union, said the employees had decided to take fresh strike action as the company had failed to respond to the previous round of industrial action.

Patrick, a division of Asciano, said the new action would affect ships carrying steel, agricultural, automotive and mining products and "delay the businesses of key Australian importers and exporters".

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A Patrick spokeswoman said the union was pursuing "unrealistic and unsustainable claims without offering productivity or efficiency improvements that would offset these demands".

"The company continues to reiterate to the union that these demands are unaffordable for any business and not sustainable in today's economic climate," she said.

"While many Australians are in a position of economic uncertainty and are experiencing a fall in job-security levels, the Patrick offer provides competitive terms and conditions for employees and a fair and sustainable outcome for our staff, our business and our customers."

Besides strikes, union members will impose bans in Geelong and Webb Dock.

In a related development, Patrick has moved to impose operational changes on employees at its troubled Port Botany terminal in Sydney, where it says productivity has slumped.

The company had moved to exert greater control over the allocation of crane drivers at the terminal and also contracted out first-aid services.

Productivity at the Port Botany terminal has become so poor that some shipping lines have transported freight by rail between Sydney and Melbourne to prevent further delays.

via theaustralian.com.au

Posted via email from The Left Hack