News

Stevedoring company Patrick has confirmed a seven-day strike by Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) workers at all four of its container terminals is proceeding, although action at Melbourne is not an official strike but an extreme go-slow that has effectively shut down the port.

The industrial action will run for seven days in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Fremantle, with Fremantle beginning its strike tomorrow. The action in the form of bans and limitations will stop the movement of approximately 50% of Australia’s containerised trade, expected to directly impact 32 vessels and 35 thousand shipping containers.

Although Patrick won a stay of execution in Melbourne, with the MUA supposedly cancelling industrial action at that port, Patrick was advised by the Head Clerk that they will not be working today. This, coupled with a ban on promotions and replacements, means that Patrick’s Port of Melbourne terminal will also be idle.

A Patrick spokesperson has told Transport and Logistics News that one Chinese shipping line has already cut Australia out of its rotation, and other lines are to follow suit in the coming days.

“Those vessels that were booked in for today will berth and will have to stay idle for seven days,” the spokesperson said. “Our shipping line customers tell us that the cumulative loss for them will be over $15 million, while the disruption to the cotton industry will cause over $56 million in lost revenue.”

Patrick has requested that the union enter voluntary conciliation, which would mean an effective ceasefire and allow the terminals to return to work. The deadline for the union to accept is 5 pm today.