Workers at Western Australia\'s largest and busiest cargo port will go on strike for 24 hours!

It is reported that workers in Fremantle, Western Australia’s largest and busiest cargo port, will begin a 24-hour strike at 10 am local time on June 25 to prevent ships from docking at Port Patrick and DP World. container terminal.
The Maritime Alliance of Australia (MUA) said that in response to Fremantle’s severe actions, it decided to suspend work at the Kwinana Bulk Terminal for five hours a day.
The striking port workers will join community supporters in protest outside the Fremantle port office, demanding that the Western Australian government’s trading companies conduct real negotiations to resolve the growing labor disputes.

According to the Australian Maritime Union’s statement, this strike is the first legal labor action that has been extended from the Kwinana bulk terminal to the inner port and will prevent ships from docking or leaving the container terminals of Port Patrick and DP World.
MUA WA Assistant Secretary-General Jeff Cassar said that the purpose of the strikes and protests is to push the dispute to the climax, not to allow the shutdown to continue to cause economic hardship to the workers and customers in the Port of Fremantle.
Casal said: “Because the workers at the Kwinana Bulk Terminal have been suffering from severe economic difficulties, the Port of Fremantle decided that as long as there is a working group to carry out legal labor actions, all workers will be suspended, basically closing the terminal every day 5 hours."

"Workers are just exercising their legal rights. This is part of the negotiation of a new enterprise agreement that reflects industry standards. However, the Fremantle Port Company's response has been aggressive and tough, and it may cause serious port delays." Casal added.
He continued: “In view of this provocative behavior, we have no choice but to expand the operation to the inner port and try to push this dispute to a climax in order to finally achieve a just settlement.”

It is understood that the trade union has commissioned an independent judicial audit agency to investigate the large-scale wage arrears that occurred in 2014. The survey results showed that about 100 port workers were owed millions of dollars in wages, and some workers were underpaid by more than 10,000 dollars each year.
Casal concluded: "The government needs to be responsible for what happened to this state-owned trading company, thoroughly investigate the scandal of wages arrears, and ensure that the Port of Fremantle stops attacking their workers and customers."
Fremantle port users, including BGC and Cockburn Cement, were also involved in the dispute. They were forced to pay thousands of dollars in demurrage due to transportation delays caused by the shutdown policy.
Two months ago, the Seamen's Association decided to stop negotiations with shipowners from various countries represented by the International Chamber of Shipping on future minimum wage negotiations.