Published: 24 Jun 2021
*** MEDIA ALERT ***
Community rally at Fremantle Ports as Inner Harbour workers strike for 24 hours
When: 10am, Friday 25 June 2021
Where: Out front of main entrance Fremantle Ports Inner Harbour, 1 Cliff Street Fremantle
Fremantle Inner Harbour workers will undertake 24 hours of legally-protected industrial action from 10am tomorrow in response to the heavy-handed actions of Fremantle Ports, which has been standing down workers at the Kwinana Bulk Terminal for five hours a day.
Striking port workers will be joined by community supporters for a protest outside the office of Fremantle Ports to demand the Western Australian Government trading enterprise engage in genuine bargaining to resolve the growing industrial dispute.
The stoppage is the first time lawful industrial action has extended beyond the Kwinana Bulk Terminal to the Inner Harbour and will prevent vessels from being tied up or let go, including at the Patrick and DP World container terminals.
Maritime Union of Australia WA Assistant Branch Secretary Jeff Cassar said the stoppage and protest were aimed to bring the dispute to a head, rather than allow the stand-downs to continue to cause financial hardship for workers and customers of Fremantle Ports.
“Workers at the Kwinana Bulk Terminal have been suffering serious financial hardship due to Fremantle Ports’ decision to stand down all workers any time a workgroup undertakes lawful industrial action, essentially shutting the terminal for five hours a day,” Mr Cassar said.
“Workers were simply exercising their legal rights as part of negotiations for a new enterprise agreement that reflects industry standards, yet Fremantle Ports response has been aggressive, heavy-handed, and threatens to cause significant port delays.
“Caught in the middle have been customers of Fremantle Ports, like BGC and Cockburn Cement, who are being forced to pay thousands of dollars in demurrage costs due to shipping delays caused by the stand-down policy.
“MUA members had restricted their lawful industrial action to staggered one-hour stoppages at the Kwinana Bulk Terminal, but Fremantle Ports decided to take those limited actions and massively escalate them, forcing their clients to bankroll their aggressive industrial agenda.
“In light of that provocation, we were left with no choice but to expand our campaign to the Inner Harbour in an attempt to bring this dispute to a head so we can finally achieve a fair resolution.”
Mr Cassar said the financial hardship of stand-downs was particularly hard for workers who had each been underpaid tens of thousands of dollars since 2014.
“Fremantle Ports has been standing our members down, without pay, adding to the financial hardship already suffered due to the massive underpayment of wages that has been occurring since 2014,” he said.
“An independent forensic audit, commissioned by the union, found more than 100 Fremantle Ports workers had been underpaid millions of dollars, with some short-changed more than $10,000 a year.
“The McGowan Government needs to take responsibility for what has been going on at this publicly-owned trading enterprise, get to the bottom of the major underpayment scandal, and ensure Fremantle Ports stops attacking their workers and customers.”
Tim Vollmer
P // +61 404 273 313
