Sydney strike threat removed

The ongoing congestion and industrial action at Sydney port, which caused schedule disruption to many carriers and prompted Maersk to stop acceptance of all bookings for the port, has been withdrawn.

The move to withdraw industrial action at Sydney port, will bring relief to shippers and shipping lines that have suffered an 11-day backlog of cargo across the port, with congestion spreading to Brisbane and Melbourne as carriers sought to offload cargo elsewhere.

Port operations have resumed, but warnings persist that shippers should expect some disruption to container supply chains.

The Maritime Union of Australia withdrew its industrial action at DP World Australia (DPWA) just before the case was due to be heard by the Fair Work Commission at the weekend.

An undertaking has been given to the Fair Work Commission that no further notices of industrial action at Port Botany, where DP World Sydney operates, will be submitted before 1 November.

However, unless DPWA and the employer enter into a binding workplace agreement, the union will have the power to re-start industrial action in November. DP World Australia has faced industrial unrest since 2012.

In a statement, DP World Australia said that a normal service will resume and that it expects to be able to pursue a final enterprise agreement.

“Without the distraction of bans and limitations, we anticipate we’ll be able to progress outstanding local matters at DP World Sydney in the pursuit of a finalised enterprise agreement,” the company said.

Industrial action is still possible at Hutchison in Brisbane and Sydney, and at Patrick Terminals in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.

Metro continues to communicate closely with both our customers and partners in Australia to minimise the risk of any disruption. Metro has agreements and relationships with all major carriers in and out of Australia  and along with our award winning visibility tool MVT, we will ensure our customers are updated at all times.