Posted by Mich-Elle Myers on November 23, 2016
After a long and complex two-year campaign, stevedores at Fremantle yesterday joined their colleagues around the nation, voting more than 95 per cent in favour of the new workplace agreement across all four terminals.
It finished four days of votes across the four Patrick Terminals at Port Botany in Sydney, East Swanson in Melbourne, and Fisherman Island in Brisbane.
MUA Deputy National Secretary Will Tracey said the new deal was a huge win for all parties, delivering stability to the waterfront.
“Under the new agreement, our workers have not only secured 100 per cent permanency across the four terminals, but also won critical job protection provisions and certainty around their rosters and hours of work – the best result since the 1998 Patrick dispute,” Mr Tracey said.
“This is the best stevedoring agreement we have seen in many years in Australia, after we sought from the outset to address the key concerns of job security for MUA members.”
The historic handshake was hard fought but both sides have come away with a win.
“The new agreement represents a watershed in employment on the waterfront and hopefully a new beginning in the relationship between Patrick and their workforce,” Mr Tracey said.
“The MUA commends the patience and discipline of its rank and file membership, especially over two years of intense and often very hostile negotiations.
“Thankfully the worst aspects of the previous management departed the company earlier this year with the takeover by Qube and Brookfield, allowing negotiations to get back on track and finalise a tremendous outcome.”
The new workplace agreement also secures for stevedores working for Patrick:
After a long and complex two-year campaign, stevedores at Fremantle yesterday joined their colleagues around the nation, voting more than 95 per cent in favour of the new workplace agreement across all four terminals.
It finished four days of votes across the four Patrick Terminals at Port Botany in Sydney, East Swanson in Melbourne, and Fisherman Island in Brisbane.
MUA Deputy National Secretary Will Tracey said the new deal was a huge win for all parties, delivering stability to the waterfront.
“Under the new agreement, our workers have not only secured 100 per cent permanency across the four terminals, but also won critical job protection provisions and certainty around their rosters and hours of work – the best result since the 1998 Patrick dispute,” Mr Tracey said.
“This is the best stevedoring agreement we have seen in many years in Australia, after we sought from the outset to address the key concerns of job security for MUA members.”
The historic handshake was hard fought but both sides have come away with a win.
“The new agreement represents a watershed in employment on the waterfront and hopefully a new beginning in the relationship between Patrick and their workforce,” Mr Tracey said.
“The MUA commends the patience and discipline of its rank and file membership, especially over two years of intense and often very hostile negotiations.
“Thankfully the worst aspects of the previous management departed the company earlier this year with the takeover by Qube and Brookfield, allowing negotiations to get back on track and finalise a tremendous outcome.”
The new workplace agreement also secures for stevedores working for Patrick:
- Legal protections for jobs and job security for all work currently performed;
- Job protection provisions and full consultation on the introduction of new technology or automation including extra redundancy payments, redeployment, reduced hours, retraining and the protection of jobs through such change;
- Fully functional dispute settlement and consultation procedures;
- Protection for members injured outside of work, providing whole of life support;
- Superannuation moved to 12 per cent;
- Wage increases of 2.5 per cent per year in addition to sign-on bonuses and back pay effective to the expiry of previous agreement in July 2015; and
- Expiry in June 30, 2020 to deliver certainly for the workforce and the company.
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