VIC:Waterfront strike off as pay talks resume

AAP General News (Australia)
04-08-2011
VIC:Waterfront strike off as pay talks resume

MELBOURNE, April 8 AAP - The Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) has agreed to halt a
proposed waterfront strike and believes it is making progress in negotiations with stevedoring
company Patrick over a new pay deal.

Patrick launched legal action in Fair Work Australia on Friday in a bid to halt planned
MUA strikes at ports across Australia over the weekend.

After five hours of negotiations it was agreed the parties would resume talks over the pay deal.

The union agreed to abandon proposed strike action for two weeks commencing on Monday
and both parties will head back to the negotiating table next week.

Earlier on Friday, a lawyer for Patrick, Stuart Wood, told the hearing the union was
seeking close to $150 million over three years, which would equate to a 35 per cent increase
in the first year and similar increases in the two years after that.

MUA deputy national secretary Mick Doleman said real progress was being made in the negotiations.

"We have now secured a commitment from Patrick to provide a revised offer on our existing
claims by next Tuesday," he said in a statement.

"This is the commitment this, at last, is the certainty - our members have waited for
since the stalemate began in January."

The deal includes a 30-day extension of the MUA's rights under industrial law to take
strike action.

A spokeswoman for Patrick welcomed the development.

She said the company received a new offer document from the MUA late on Thursday.

The spokeswoman said she was unable to comment on the contents of the statement.

There has been relative harmony between the union and the company since the bitter
waterfront battle in 1998.

AAP df/pmu/apm

KEYWORD: WATERFRONT

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