Trouble still expected as Australian dock strike ends without settlement

AUSTRALIAN dockers returned to work this week at the country's major container ports after the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) unexpectedly called off a strike at Patrick Stevedore terminals.


Dockers resumed work at Patrick terminals in Sydney's Port Botany and at Brisbane, but union and management appear far away from settlement and waterfront interests expect more trouble ahead.


The union had planned strikes and scattered acts of disruption it terms "protected industrial action" in Brisbane, Sydney and Fremantle, charging that the employer, Patrick Stevedores, was refusing to enter into serious contract bargaining, reports London's Containerisation International.


Melbourne was exempted after a government Fair Work Australia mediator found that the union had begun an illegal work slowdown at Patrick's East Swanson Dock facilities.


Union officials said their "work bans" are not "official strikes", but conceded they have a same effect.
(Source:http://www.schednet.com)