\nThis is Australia\u2019s version of the Suez Canal blockage by the Ever Given<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Svitzer said it took the decision under the provisions of the Fair Work Act in response to ongoing industrial action being organised by the unions, which has seen strikes become common place at Australian ports.<\/p>\n
Svitzer has been bargaining with the maritime unions for over three years, since the towage enterprise agreement expired in 2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery Australian business and consumer will now suffer from this delinquent company\u2019s selfish and pigheaded conduct,\u201d a release from the Maritime Union of Australia stated in response to the lockout news.<\/p>\n
Giving Splash<\/em> readers some perspective on the severity of the supply chain crisis Australia faces this week, Alison Cusack, principal lawyer at Melbourne\u2019s Cusack & Co, said: \u201cThis is Australia\u2019s version of the Suez Canal blockage by the Ever Given<\/em>.\u201d The six-day blockage of the Egyptian waterway last year by a grounded boxship made major headlines and sparked significant supply chain concerns.<\/p>\n\u201cTo have 17 ports, including all of the eastern seaboard containerised ports, non-operational, there is no opportunity to reroute cargo to land-based neighbouring countries such is the challenge of being an island nation,\u201d Cusack explained.<\/p>\n
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Svitzer\u2019s woes \u2013 and repeated industrial action at many ports \u2013 have been getting extensive coverage on national TV and in print, with plenty of \u2018Christmas cancelled\u2019 headlines.<\/p>\n
Further industrial action has been announced by the unions for this Thursday, a day ahead of Svitzer\u2019s proposed indefinite lockout of 590 workers, in addition to extensive ongoing work stoppages.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnless this lockout is prevented, impacted parties and their insurers will need to consider whether or not any losses from lockout are recoverable under marine insurance policies which apply to the shipment of relevant goods, and whether they can be excused from performing contractual obligations as a result of force majeure,\u201d an update from local law firm Mills Oakley has advised.<\/p>\n
Australia\u2019s workplace relations minister Tony Burke has urged Svitzer to hold off on locking out its workers until new laws to arbitrate \u201cintractable\u201d industrial disputes are in place.<\/p>\n
Burke told 2GB Radio<\/em> shutdowns \u201c[don\u2019t] just affect the people who work there; it affects the people at the ports, it then affects the truck drivers, it affects people at the warehouses and ultimately you end up shopping at Christmas time and what you need on the shelves isn\u2019t there\u201d.<\/p>\nBurke said that the government\u2019s industrial relations bill would give the Fair Work Commission the power to arbitrate \u201cintractable\u201d disputes, something he hoped would be in place within three weeks.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m hopeful we\u2019re only two or three weeks away from that being law. I wish the company could just pause and take breath and wait for those laws to be in place,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
New South Wales transport minister, David Elliott, has said he will hold urgent talks with Svitzer, warning that \u201cwe can\u2019t live in a society where our entire nation\u2019s trade is paused because the union wants to dictate to an employer who can get a job\u201d.<\/p>\n