Patrick has decided to take their enterprise bargaining agreement (EBA) proposal to a ballot, directly to the employees, bypassing the Union. Ten months of negotiations with the Maritime Union of Australia over the EBA ground to a halt late last year, with the MUA demanding the company enshrine job security in its proposal, ahead of a potential sale of the stevedoring business by Patrick parent company Asciano.
There is anger over Patrick’s announcement of further job losses from automation at Port Botany, a mere month after finalising EBA negotiations with the union. The company says that taking its proposal to a vote reflects their view that workers should have the opportunity to have their say on the agreement, ahead of any other action being taken to break the impasse between Patrick and the MUA. Patrick believes it was unreasonable for Port Botany to work 32 hours at a full time rate, plus enjoy a pay rise over the four-year term of the agreement, without offering a productivity increase.
Voting is to occur from May 4 until May 9, with Patrick also offering to extend the deadline they had set at Wednesday 20 April for the Union to accept its enterprise deal.