Militant unions make strides under Fair Work regime

It is difficult to know which union could claim to have had the most success during the past year but militant labour groups certainly appear to have found the new federal industrial relations regime to their liking.

With the former Work Choices agreements reaching the end of their lives, revitalised unions have ramped up challenges to Western Australian employers that have little negotiating power due to the strength of the local economy.

The most active during 2011 appears to have been the Maritime Union of Australia, which has pushed for generous improvements in pay and conditions for workers, especially in the state’s north.

Oil and gas developments, including Chevron’s Gorgon project, which is taking place on Barrow Island, have been particularly vulnerable to the MUA’s demands due to the restricted nature of seafaring work in domestic waters and general labour shortages.

However, miners are also at risk with huge port expansions that require significant seafaring work.

Netherlands dredging company Van Oord agreed to MUA demands that have pushed deckhand rates to as much as $178,000 a year. Reportedly some crew could earn more than $350,000.

The cost of crews and the threat of further industrial action on projects that run to tight timetables will be worrying those considering big port expansions or greenfield projects.

The MUA has recently pushed this militant action back to the southern ports of Bunbury and Fremantle. Its latest action is against Chris Corrigan’s POAGS stevedoring company, which locked staff out last week.

POAGS appears to be looking to emulate Qantas which controversially locked out staff for a weekend last month, shutting down all its flights around the world in a bid to force Fair Work Australia to rule out industrial action.

Qantas has since struck a deal with the engineers’ union.

But the industrial action is not just reserved for vulnerable sites like transport links. The Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union claims it has struck a lucrative deal with Brookfield Multiplex, the company building City Square which will house BHP Billiton.

Employers are worried by the rising costs and break down of their connection with employees that results from monopolistic unions re-emerging in their traditional fields. 

There are also concerns unions emboldened by success in their own patch will start to look for new pastures, potentially leading to demarcation disputes. Fighting between unions tends to be even costlier for employers, who become collateral damage.