Australia_(Commonwealth) In an effort to stop Svitzer Australia’s planned lockout of tugboat personnel, several groups within the Australian government are scurrying to utilize every measure at their disposal. In reaction to union moves in the three-year contract discussions, the corporation, which provides services to 17 ports around the nation, warned in a news release yesterday to lockout the 500 crew employees as of Friday.
According to Adam Hatcher, Vice president of the Fair Work Commission, the industrial relations tribunal decided to take action because it was likely that the strike would seriously harm the Australian economy. It has been noted that only Sydney and the tiny port of Eden in New South Wales have alternative tug operators out of the 17 ports.
Numerous ports, including Newcastle, a significant coaling port, stated that if the tugs stop working, they would effectively be closed. The Commission will think about halting or suspending the currently authorized labor action. The contract dispute would be resolved through immediate arbitration if the Commission stopped the action. Previous attempts at arbitration, both with the Commission and an impartial arbitrator, had failed. The larger impasse concerns changes to work rules that Svitzer is proposing.
At the same time, Tony Burke, the federal minister in charge of workplace relations, urged delaying any action until after the Christmas vacation. Additionally, he took use of the occasion to advocate for the passage of the labor process reform legislation he has been advocating in the parliament, with a focus on the Fair Work Commission and the statute that authorizes it. Giving the Commission more power to arbitrate in cases like the present Svitzer conflict is one of the improvements, according to him, that are required. The present crisis has highlighted the urgent necessity for the federal government’s industrial relations changes, thus according to his prediction, the law will be passed in the next weeks.
