MUA wins landmark victory at Hutchison Ports: jobs, security and no automation

MARITIME UNION OF AUSTRALIA

MEDIA RELEASE
MUA WINS LANDMARK VICTORY AT HUTCHISON PORTS: JOBS, SECURITY AND NO AUTOMATION

27 AUGUST 2025

The Maritime Union of Australia has secured a historic agreement at Hutchison Ports that locks in jobs, delivers big gains in wages and conditions, and slams the door on automation for the life of the deal.

It delivers pay increases of 18.25% over four years and covers 350 wharfies employed at Hutchison’s two container terminals in Sydney and Brisbane.

The agreement was struck without any industrial action being taken.

 Key victories include:

• A binding ban on automation at Hutchison terminals in Sydney and Brisbane. No remote cranes, no driverless trucks, no job-destroying machines. Human-operated terminals.
• Solid wage rises, increased superannuation, stronger rosters and grading improvements, and quality income protection.
• Introduction of secure Part-Time Permanent roles and new secure Permanent rosters, with strict limits to prevent bosses flooding the workforce or undermining existing jobs.
• A productivity framework that puts workers in the driver’s seat, proving that human labour outperforms robots and securing the long-term viability of union jobs.

MUA Deputy National Secretary Warren Smith said this is a clear victory for workers against the global push for automation as well as for the day to day lives of wharfies working at Hutchison.

“At a time when bosses across the waterfront sector are pushing hard to replace workers with machines, Hutchison members have won a rock-solid guarantee of no automation for the life of this agreement as well as economic increases of around 25% and improved conditions of work. This is a historic win for job security and for the future of human-operated terminals.” Smith said.

Smith noted that the Hutchison outcome lands at a time of escalating tension with neighbouring terminal operator DP World, where members are staring down an automation push which will make no improvement to waterfront productivity. The MUA has committed to an all of union fight to stand up to DP World’s productivity reducing, job destroying automation.

“The bosses at Hutchison will get productivity improvements where their competitors who automate will have reduced productivity and constant labour relations issues as they try to sack hundreds of workers purely for profit.

Hutchison members have overwhelmingly backed the deal and voted yes at stop-work meetings in Brisbane on 21 August and Sydney on 22 August.

“This is a victory for every worker at Hutchison and across the whole waterfront as it will expose the productivity myth of automation. Stevedoring companies who want to use job-destroying, ineffective, slow and unsafe automation experiments will end up behind on contracts, behind on productivity and will not have a positive relationship with their workforce that can help lift productivity or build market share,” Smith said.

ENDS