The Maritime Union of Australia is furious that at least two former supervisors of Port Waratah Coal Services are now working as strike-breakers during the industrial dispute at the Port Kembla Coal Terminal.
Long-running tensions regarding their current enterprise agreement came to a head at Port Kembla on Sunday, with more than 60 workers being locked out by the company.
Workers affected by this lockout will have their pay suspended for five days.
This move has drawn criticism from the Maritime Union of Australia, who argue it is ultimately stalling any enterprise agreement negotiations going ahead.
"Going outside and hiring external strike-breaking labour at the end of the day is not beneficial to anybody in finalising an agreement that has any stability going forward," said Deputy President of South Coast Labour Council Garry Keane.
"The workers in that terminal have kept that place going for many years. They've sat down and done numerous enterprise agreements, and they've never come to this situation. They've always been willing to sit down, work out agreements and they still are. But they're not going to do while they've got a gun held to their head that strips back the entitlements of 25 years," he elaborated.
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| Port Waratah Coal Services |
