Patrick Terminals moves to end agreement with MUA

Patrick Terminals is seeking to terminate its Enterprise Agreement with the Maritime Union of Australia after almost two years of ongoing negotiations.

The stevedore has lodged an application with the Fair Work Commission to end the agreement with MUA on the basis that the deal is ‘no longer fit for purpose’, as it has restricted Patrick to meet customer requirements at a time of congestion in global supply chains.

Michael Jovicic, CEO of Patrick Terminals, said that ‘enough is enough’.

“We have presented the MUA with an attractive national offer on top of their already very generous agreement including a 10% pay increase across four years coupled with protections addressing concerns over the use of casuals and job security,” Jovicic said.

“Negotiations have been ongoing for close to two years and frankly there seems to be no agreement to be had, particularly in Sydney, where the union is still demanding we hire from a selected list of family and friends,” he said.

“We are at the end of the road and need to have an agreement with our employees that works for our customers, and that allows us to remain competitive in the future market.”

Patrick has been negotiating with its employees and the MUA since February 2020 to seek to address these restrictions and has held more than 70 meetings in pursuit of a new agreement.

During the negotiation period, the MUA has launched more than 220 industrial actions against Patrick Terminals nationally.

This has intensified recently with further action launched at all four of Patrick’s terminals in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Fremantle for the coming days and weeks.

The stevedore said that terminating the agreement will allow it to recruit and train employees without needing the agreement of the Union and remove any “friends and family” Union imposed restrictions.

“The world has changed, and we need to be able to recruit and promote the best people for the job rather than be hamstrung by antiquated Union-led processes and policies that restrict our business,” Jovicic said.

“Our market share and business operations have suffered due to this relentless industrial campaign by the MUA and their insidious ‘jobs for the boys’ stance. We need to provide our customers with operational certainty and that includes a workable agreement with our employees,” he said.

He continued that customers are demanding that Patrick take action to resolve this situation.

Patrick Terminals said it will be maintaining leave entitlements, salaries and other pay rates for six months, as is applicable to the Enterprise Agreement.

Source: Patrick Terminals