Brisbane Port Picket over Sacked Workers Continues
By Aiswarya Lakshmi
Monday, August 10, 2015
A picket of Hutchison ports in Sydney and Brisbane has entered fourth day after the Maritime Workers Union vowed to continue defying a Fair Work order to cease industrial action.
The picketers say that the power to the site has been cut in a bid to move them off.
At least 29 unions have been picketing the Hutchison Ports Australia site since the company sacked 97 workers in Brisbane and Sydney via text message and email four days ago, reports The News.
Maritime Union of Australia Queensland state secretary Bob Carnegie says the company has now cut power to a substation near their site to try to break the picket. “That’s the sort of animals we’re dealing with,” he told picketers.
Protesting workers have refused to unload the cargo ship to arrive at Hutchison Port operations. The ship Capitaine Tasman arrived at Port Botany in Sydney about 9:30am on Monday, but went back out to sea about an hour later still fully laden.
Staff at the Port of Brisbane are blocking the road to Berth 11, where a ship was due to dock Monday morning but failed to arrive.
Fair Work Commission deputy president Anna Booth on Friday directed employees to cease all forms of industrial action. But the union refused and picketing was expected to continue on Monday.
Chanting demonstrators in Brisbane said the late night dismissals were disgraceful and un-Australian, and have vowed to continue the protest until the decision is reversed.