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On-again, off-again strikes vowed by 'overworked' Melbourne dockers
来源：Shipping News Headlines 编辑：编辑部 发布：2021/02/18 09:49:30
STRIKES at Melbourne's Victoria International Container Terminal (VICT) is an attack on its automated status, says terminal manager Tim Vancampen.
The Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) has planned a series of on-again, off again strikes as well as series of work stoppages including on working overtime, reports UK's Port Strategy.
Said Mr Vancampen, VICT chief executive: "VICT accounts for a third of Victoria¡¯s container freight. They want to take us back to the past, no matter the cost."
He said this campaign will is undermine VICT¡¯s competitiveness and threaten the benefits of port automation for Victoria and for the Port of Melbourne.
"If the MUA was serious about representing VICT employees¡¯ interests it would seek to protect their jobs, not jeopardise them," Mr Vancampen said.
Said MUA secretary Will Tracey: "Workers report being required to work huge amounts of overtime - in many cases between 50 and 70 additional 12 hour shifts during the last year - due to the company¡¯s refusal to employ an appropriate number of people.
"The company likes to claim that their workforce is simply sitting at a computer terminal, operating machinery remotely, but many tasks simply can¡¯t be automated. In pinning of containers, the automated machinery has failed to deliver, requiring those tasks to be done manually," said Mr Tracey.
"It simply isn¡¯t safe to have people working 12-hour shifts without a break, working for 60 hours or more a week, or doing a run of eight or ten 12-hour shifts in a row," he said.
The Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) has planned a series of on-again, off again strikes as well as series of work stoppages including on working overtime, reports UK's Port Strategy.
Said Mr Vancampen, VICT chief executive: "VICT accounts for a third of Victoria¡¯s container freight. They want to take us back to the past, no matter the cost."
He said this campaign will is undermine VICT¡¯s competitiveness and threaten the benefits of port automation for Victoria and for the Port of Melbourne.
"If the MUA was serious about representing VICT employees¡¯ interests it would seek to protect their jobs, not jeopardise them," Mr Vancampen said.
Said MUA secretary Will Tracey: "Workers report being required to work huge amounts of overtime - in many cases between 50 and 70 additional 12 hour shifts during the last year - due to the company¡¯s refusal to employ an appropriate number of people.
"The company likes to claim that their workforce is simply sitting at a computer terminal, operating machinery remotely, but many tasks simply can¡¯t be automated. In pinning of containers, the automated machinery has failed to deliver, requiring those tasks to be done manually," said Mr Tracey.
"It simply isn¡¯t safe to have people working 12-hour shifts without a break, working for 60 hours or more a week, or doing a run of eight or ten 12-hour shifts in a row," he said.