THE MARITIME Union of Australia – WA branch will take protected industrial action at Fremantle Port from Friday 7 March until Friday 11 April.
Members have voted to take the action after marine service company Teekay Australia took over bunkering operations for BP of the Absolute 1 bunker barge amid claims from the union the vessel was being brought in and out of Fremantle Port using cheap labour.
A Facebook post on 4 March said industrial action will include a ban on operating cranes between 06:00 and 17:00 each day, a ban on operating winches, and a ban on bunkering cruise ships or ocean liners unless they have been tied up to a wharf in Fremantle for a consecutive minimum period of 72 hours.
It will also include a ban on bunkering a vessel unless shipboard management have given all on-duty Integrated Ratings a schedule of proposed bunkering operations which list the vessel, more than 96 hours prior to the commencement of bunkering operations.
Integrated Ratings will not work between 18:00 and 06:00 and there will be a ban on training employees and contractors.
The action will include a ban on meeting with shore-based management unless a union organiser or union official is present and there will be a ban on talking to shore-based management about Protected Industrial Action taken by employees and a ban on sending emails.
The Facebook post says bunkering operations will be jammed up in Fremantle until agreement is reached on a union-standard EBA.
“Teekay scored an own goal by cutting members pay by nearly $10,000 per annum and employing members on dodgy common law employment contracts with the worst employment conditions on the West Coast,” the Facebook post said.
