Despite Victoria’s sharp COVID-19 lock down, the MUA is to dramatically step up its industrial campaign against Australia’s only automated container terminal, VICT, with a series of full shift work-bans and stoppages beginning this Friday.The bans go beyond full shift stop-work directives and include threats to impose old-fashioned over-manning and restrictive work practices on VICT, directly undermining the competitiveness the terminal derives from its automated technology and modern way of working.
With no update from the MUA today, Tim Vancampen, CEO of VICT, said he was amazed the MUA would even consider this sort of attack while the Victorian economy was already at a standstill owing to its third lockdown.
“VICT accounts for a third of Victoria’s container freight. The union is directly attacking VICT’s unique way of working as a modern, automated terminal. They want to take us back to the past, no matter the cost or the illconsidered timing in the context of the lockdown.
“This campaign won’t produce the extra jobs, massive pay rises and fewer hours the Union has promised our employees. All it will do is undermine VICT’s competitiveness and threaten the benefits of port automation for Victoria and for the Port of Melbourne,” he said.
“If the MUA was serious about representing VICT employees’ interests it would seek to protect their modern jobs, not jeopardise them,” he said.
Threats and Bans
• The MUA intends to stop work for a full 12-hour shift on Friday, 19 February, commencing 6:00pm.
This follows notification that work at the VICT terminal will stop for a 4-hour period tomorrow, Tuesday 16 February.
• Further 12-hour shift bans are threatened for Sunday, 21 February at 6.00 am, following immediately by a 24-hour ban commencing at 18.00, 21 February – therefore incurring a 36-hour concurrent stoppage of all VICT’s operations and equipment maintenance.
• From Monday February 22, VICT’s control room will be banned from operating cranes unless the
operations of each crane is unnecessarily manned by a dedicated quayside supervisor.
o These restrictive work practices would impose on VICT’s automated technology workplace
organisation favoured by the MUA that is still in place at manned terminals around Australia.
VICT’s technology and Safe Working Method Statements allows the safe operation of cranes
without dedicated supervisors.
• In addition the MUA has imposed an indefinite ban on overtime, various restrictions on
communications phone use and bans on interaction with anyone outside Australia.
At this point VICT operations are assessing options and will inform terminal users of implications for shipping and truck movements shortly.
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