THE Maritime Union of Australia on Friday gave Patrick Terminals notice of protected industrial action at its Fremantle and Brisbane terminals.
In a notice to customers, Patrick Terminals said the PIA at Fremantle would comprise a ban on employees rostered as “off/avail” attending work would start this Saturday 15 May and continue through Sunday 23 May.
And, at Patrick’s Brisbane AutoStrad terminal, the PIA would include a ban on work on days where an employee is rostered as “off/avail” starting on Saturday 15 May at 11pm, ending the following day, Sunday 16 May.
Also at Brisbane, the action includes a ban on working overtime starting on Saturday 15 May at 7am, and ending the following day at 11pm.
In the notice, Patrick said it had been working towards a solution with the MUA that is “fair and reasonable”.
“Our key priority is to minimise the impact on our customers and the critical Australian supply chain,” the note said.
MUA assistant national secretary Jamie Newlyn told DCN that by undertaking the limited legally protected industrial action at the two container terminals, union members are seeking to end negotiations with Patrick that have been ongoing for 18 months.
“We want Patrick to sit down and genuinely negotiate on the small number of outstanding issues, allowing us to reach a fair outcome that delivers certainty for workers, the company, and customers,” Mr Newlyn said.
“Our members at Patrick have not taken any form of industrial action since September last year in light of the ongoing challenges posed to maritime supply chains by the COVID pandemic, but that goodwill needs to be met by the company.
“The planned industrial action is minor in nature and will have limited impact on freight customers.”
