THE MARITIME Union of Australia has revealed it anticipates 10 Australian ports will be engaged in industrial action by Christmas time, as the result of the stalled negotiations with Qube Ports.

In an announcement, the Union levied a number of accusations against the port operator, accusing Qube of delaying or disrupting the bargaining process, attempting to manipulate industrial relations laws, and being out of touch with the community.

“Qube has one clear objective here, which is to trigger intractable bargaining provisions within the industrial relations laws, so they can avoid participating in genuine negotiation,” said Warren Smith, the deputy national secretary of the MUA.

“Their end goal is to get an arbitrated outcome which they believe will be better than what they can manage with their own negotiators around the bargaining table.”

Speaking to DCN, a spokesperson for Qube returned serve to the union, saying “It is extraordinary for a division of the CFMEU to presume to have any credibility when it comes to making accusations of gaming systems or engaging in antisocial behaviour, and Qube completely rejects the union’s claims”.

“Far from trying to drag negotiations out, Qube has had a generous wage offer on the table as far back as July. It would see stevedores, who are already paid 143% above the award, lock in pay rises of 5 per cent in each of the first two years of new agreements and 4 per cent for each of the two years after that, with backpay to 1 July 2024.

“The union unilaterally rejected that offer and negotiations have gone nowhere because the CFMEU refuses to negotiate on their long list of claims that would more than double Qube Ports’ operating costs.”

The latest exchange between the two sides comes after the last employment agreement expired in June this year, with the MUA claiming the bargaining process to have been stalled since April.

In September, the MUA initiated work stoppages and bans for its members at a number of ports across the country, after protected action ballots saw significant support for the action.

In its latest announcement, the MUA reiterated its principal claims, including pay rises that catch up with inflation, fatigue management rules, and amended roster allocation rules, stating Qube are rejecting all of the core claims.

The union went on to claim that Australian steel traders had been complaining since October that shipments delayed by industrial action could have been delivered on time had Qube been serious about landing a new deal with wharfies when the old agreement expired.

“The CFMEU can’t have it both ways – they can’t claim to want a deal but then refuse to negotiate,” the Qube spokesperson said.

“This latest missive smacks of a union under pressure from workers who increasingly recognise that there is a good deal on the table, and that it is the CFMEU’s rolling work bans that is ultimately resulting in their work going to other operators.”

Exactly which ports would be affected by the threatened Christmas industrial action were not made known in the MUA announcement, however it should be noted there is already protected industrial action taking place at 5 ports, the first action having commenced in August this year.

Moreover, it is believed the majority of operations impacted by the strikes would be breakbulk operations, such as vehicles and steel, and not containers.