“Employee bargaining power is also enhanced by the advantage of one union, the MUA. [Maritime Union of Australia]and employee membership density is high.”
“Furthermore, the risk of conflict has a historical dimension, with longstanding hostilities between employers and employees.”
We found that high levels of protected industrial action at container ports over a prolonged period during recent negotiating rounds led to significantly lower productivity at the affected container terminals.
Such conduct includes industrial action such as workers using only their non-dominant hand.
With four out of five container operator corporate contracts set to expire between March and December 2025, the Productivity Commission is concerned that duplication will pose a period of significant risk.
In particular, the authors were concerned that businesses would be subject to protected industrial action at the same time. [MUA]Through the ability to suspend or significantly limit operations across ports, even if they choose not to do so.
“It also prevents container terminal operators from subcontracting work to other operators, which is a common practice for managing chaos,” they said.
The average time to reach a deal in this sector jumped from 295 days in 2018 to 525 days in the 2020-21 negotiation rounds.
Threshold for terminating action
A spokesman for Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke suggested the report was outdated due to industrial relations reforms undertaken by the government late last year.
However, the commission’s report dated December 21 was sent to the government after it secured support for the industrial relations bill in the Senate.
The report said government changes to the Fair Work Act, including giving the Fair Work Commission room to deal with “unruly negotiations,” could help “to some extent.”
The committee called on the government to amend the Fair Work Act to clarify the criteria for stopping conduct that seriously harms the economy.
“The Fair Work Commission should interpret the word ‘serious’ as ‘significant or serious,'” the report recommended, adding to broadening opportunities to stop action.
The commission also recommended giving employers more options, such as reducing workers’ working hours and preventing overtime. Currently, the only realistic option available is worker lockout.
“The time for renewal is ripe”
It also called for tougher penalties imposed by courts for unlawful industrial action to “better reflect the high costs such conduct can impose on employers and communities.”
The recommendations were made during discussions on the future of the Productivity Commission, trade unions called for abolishment, and Dr Chalmers called for ‘renewal’ as part of a broader review of Australia’s key economic processes and institutions. He said the time was ripe for
The Australian Trade Union Council (ACTU) last week accused the commission of piling up with liberal politicians and former employees of business groups, leading to groupthink and a lack of proper independence.
ACTU Assistant Secretary Scott Connolly specifically denounced the commission’s recommendations on national ports contained in the draft report released in September, calling them “extremely divisive and harsh.” , dysfunctional labor relations and waterfront disputes in the 1990s.
In its final report, the PC made recommendations to ban union deals that impose “undue” restrictions on employment and rosters, including moves to limit nepotism and favoritism in the hiring process, and moves to facilitate the implementation of automation. I repeated.
Beyond labor relations, the report found that the current lack of competition has led to an abuse of market power, with consumers paying more than they should have, leading to terminal access fees (which logistics operators pick up or drop containers at). (fees imposed to turn off).
He also called for reform of coastal shipping regulations to strengthen competition with foreign ships on domestic waterways, and opposed Labor’s policy of building a strategic fleet.
Infrastructure Minister Catherine King last year appointed a task force to oversee the establishment of the Strategic Fleet, chaired by John Mullen, former chairman of transport and logistics giant Toll Group.
However, PC said the policy was not necessary because there are “more cost-effective ways to address the problem of potential shortages of maritime capacity and skilled seafarers.”
However, if the Albanian government pushes forward with the creation of a fleet, it will need to establish a framework for regular evaluation of the fleet’s commercial and competitiveness, skills, training and labor supply performance, and subsidy levels. said.
