Thread by @MichaelPascoe01

40 ships missing off Sydney!
“I cannot have Australians who need what's on those ships being held on those ships, 40 of them out there. You can go down to Port Botany or down to Kurnell and have a look out there and you can see them lining up,” PM Morrison claimed today.

You know that line about if someone says it’s raining and someone says it’s not, it’s not journalism to report them both but to stick your head out the window to see if it’s raining? If anyone stuck their head out of the window in Botany they would not see ships lined up at all.

But let’s not let facts get in the way of a convenient Prime Ministerial spray. Militant unions, Labor, extortion, so on and so forth. It’s been a long time since a Liberal leader has had a union head to kick, so the opportunity is not to be missed.

Anyone who has been around a while knows to take the claims by both sides during a waterfront dispute with a cuppa tea, a Bex and a good lie down - a grain of salt isn’t nearly enough. And when politicians pile on, a stiff drink doesn’t go astray either.

Industrial disputes have become so rare, expertise in reporting them has atrophied. There are only a couple of unions left that might be called either “militant” or “strong”, depending on your point of view.
Aside from the lack of committed membership...

...the ability of unions to conduct industrial campaigns has been severely curtailed over the past three decades. The present stoush between the MUA and Patrick is almost a novelty item – or a thing of nostalgia for those embroiled in the 1998 waterfront crisis.

The casual observer of general media might think there are 40 ships lined up at Australian ports, the dispute is about a pay grab, the wharfies are on strike and the country is being brought to its knees with already weakened supply chains breaking.

Someone not bothered with facts might even think all those ships are off Port Botany and the country was “being held to ransom”.
As Patrick’s own media release shows, (patrick.com.au/customer-info/… ) courtesy of a map, the ships delayed by various MUA go-slow tactics are spread far...

... and wide, from the middle of the Indian Ocean to north of Indonesia to New Zealand.
Patrick says they are proceeding slowly to avoid queueing at Australian ports.

The dispute isn’t really about pay. Yes, the MUA started negotiations with a claim for 6 per cent pay rises each year for four years, but the union has since accepted a 2.5 per cent rise from another stevedoring operator and has offered to rollover the old EBA that expired...

in June with a 2.5 per cent rise. The 6 per cent was never going to happen and everyone playing the game knew it.
On the other side, Patrick started negotiations wanting to scrap 50 pages of existing conditions, as highlighted by a union media release. (mua.org.au/news/patrick-u… )

Most importantly, the company wants to take full control of rostering away from the union. Scrapping all the very generous conditions of the old EBA was never going to happen either and everyone knew that, too.

The Patrick media release plays up the high pay enjoyed by wharfies. The MUA media release points to Patrick’s owner, Qube, handing out $10 million in bonuses to those at the top after picking up $19 million in JobKeeper payments.

So it goes. The dispute has heated up in the limited time frame present laws allow for industrial action before being sent to arbitration – something the MUA might not fancy in the present climate.
Is the union holding Australia to ransom, as Morrison alleges?

Patrick is but one of three major stevedores operating here. Goods are still moving in and out of Australia.
The union, having won extremely good conditions & wages by playing hard, is playing hard to keep them. Patrick is playing hard to improve efficiency and profitability.

You don’t want to believe everything you hear - or are fed - about it.
ends.