Shipping Australia has come out in support of Qube, which has been the centrepiece of industrial action in Australia in recent months and has appealed for an end to industrial action.
Shipping Australia has cited Qube’s offer of an 18 percent pay rise for workers, criticising the 130 percent increase which the union is supposedly pursuing.
Strikes are underway, or are due, at Adelaide, Brisbane, Darwin, Fremantle, Melbourne, and Port Kembla, with a 14-day strike expected at Melbourne.
Shipping Australia highlights the role that Qube plays both in terms of supply chain but also on a macro scale, such as the impact of industrial action on the Australian economy.
“Our port sector is subject to a near-continuous campaign of paralysing industrial action. Clearly, there needs to be a fundamental root-and-branch reform of industrial relations law and policy if Australia is to remain competitive on the world stage,” said Captain Melwyn Noronha, ceo of Shipping Australia.
The association has written to Senator Murray Watt, federal minister for employment and workplace relations, urging him to step in – through section 431 of the Fair Work Act – which would end the strikes and send the matter to the Fair Work Commission. It has also written to state and territory ministers within Northern Territory, Western Australia, Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia.
“Immediate action is required by our elected officials to show that they care about everyday Australian families. Ministers must act to bring this disruption to an end,” added Noronha.
