48-hour strike at Qube Ports facility in Melbourne

qube in the age this morning....

Striking dock workers and Qube Ports at 'flashpoint'
By Simon Johanson
18 March 2018 — 4:47pm

Maritime workers have staged a snap 48-hour strike at Qube Ports’ facility in Melbourne, prompting the company to bring workers in by helicopter in an echo of the infamous and divisive 1998 waterfront dispute between Patricks and the Maritime Union of Australia.
Striking MUA workers picketed the Webb Dock MIRRAT terminal, which handles bulk car imports, as part of protected action under an enterprise bargaining period with Qube. The snap strike began on Saturday.
MUA assistant national secretary Warren Smith said the workforce had been negotiating a new workplace agreement with Qube for nearly three years and was seeking to reinstate a rostering system scaled back in 2014 when the company was financially struggling.
He said Qube had responded by threatening to terminate the current agreement at the Fair Work Commission and return workers to the industry award, which would result in a 40 per cent pay cut.
“We're simply trying to bargain for occupational health and safety rights and protect workers from extreme fatigue conditions under the current rostering system,” he said.
Qube Ports condemned the action.
“Given the ongoing threats and intimidation by the MUA, we decided the safest way into the site was by helicopter,” Qube Ports director Michael Sousa said.
“This morning we flew 36 qualified managers into the site who are now unloading the vessel. We are simply servicing our customers,” he said on Sunday.
Mr Sousa said Qube had moved from offering reduced pay at the beginning of the bargaining process to offering pay rises close to 10 per cent over the next four years, conditions most of other port sites operated by the company had accepted.
The MUA and Qube have agreements in place at 15 sites, with negotiations stalled at two others: Webb Dock and Newcastle.
Mr Smith said the Qube application at the Fair Work Commission to terminate the agreement would create a “flashpoint”.
“The company is seeking to escalate this by terminating the agreement and we will fight it to the end,” he said.
Former Patrick boss, investment banker Chris Corrigan, who led the company's battle against the MUA stood down as chairman of Qube last year.
The 1998 waterfront dispute was a seminal moment in Australia's industrial relations history that led to confrontational protests and a 14-day lockout, with dock workers replaced by Fynwest-trained SAS commandos flown in from Dubai.