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Australian union to take court action against port operator over workplace sackings

Xinhua, August 12, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Maritime Union of Australia ( MUA) will take court action against an Australian port operator on Thursday for breaching the workplace agreement of almost 100 workers that were sacked via SMS and email last week, while protests at major Australian ports carry on into the fifth straight day.

The MUA told Xinhua on Wednesday the action seeks to prosecute Hutchison Ports Australia (HPA) in the Federal Court.

The union is accusing the HPA for a lack of consultation with respect to the terminations and ignoring the dispute resolution clause in their workplace agreement which are firmly established in Australian employment practices.

HPA has previously said the loss of 97 of its 224 dock workers are part of a move to downsize due to financial losses. The MUA refutes the claim, saying the moves are part of the company's push to increase automation of port services.

In the court action, the MUA will seek HPA to release all of its labor data and modeling used to support its claim.

HPA did not return Xinhua's calls for comment on Wednesday.

Australia's Fair Work Commission held a hearing into the workplace sackings in Sydney late on Monday night, with Deputy President Anna Booth ordering an end to the picketing.

MUA Queensland state secretary Bob Carnegie said the blockade would remain until the workers' jobs were reinstated and productive talks with the HPA are held, telling local media the picket is not coming from the union, but from the community at large.

"It's really got nothing to do with the Fair Work Commission, as far as I'm concerned," Carnegie said.

Half a dozen unions including the National Union of Students and the Australian Maritime Workers Union now have a presence at the ongoing blockade of HPA's berths at the Sydney and Brisbane ports -- now in its fifth day -- setting up tents, portable toilets, food stands and camping chairs.

Freight movements through the ports however have not been significantly affected, with HPA subcontracting the work out to their respective competitors, a source familiar with the situation told Xinhua.

Local media reported the protest in Brisbane on Wednesday has been turned into a family affair as Queenslanders celebrated "Ekka Day," a public holiday celebrating an annual community festival.

Protesters at the Port of Brisbane began staging their own version of the festivities with a jumping castle, french-fry stand and a game of cricket.

"For these 41 (Brisbane) families, the Ekka's out of the question," Queensland Council of Union secretary Ros McLennan said.

"We know that when the kids are happy, mum's happy."

"(And) when mum's doing OK and managing, it gives these guys the strength to hang in there."

Outside of the Federal Court action in Sydney on Thursday, Australia's Fair Work Commission will meet again on Friday to seek a resolution. Endi