Stevedoring

Some jobs saved during CSX buyout

By Maritime Union of Australia

BRISBANE: The MUA has rescued five of 32 permanent jobs lost with the withdrawal of CSX (Sea-Land) from Brisbane after Lang Corp/Patricks bought its assets midyear, with most other members offered interport transfers, casual positions or redundancies.

Permanent jobs are now available at Patrick, Brisbane, with further casual jobs available for redundant CSX workers at P&O Brisbane.

Assistant National Secretary Jim Tannock reports permanent transfers are also offered to CSX workers for Patrick operations in Darwin, Sydney and Fremantle, but to date there have been no takers. However other transfers are upcoming at CSX Adelaide on completion of the EBA, with five members applying for the positions.

Others from the 84 strong workforce which included 40 supps and 12 gwees have taken redundancies offered before operations closed on October 12.

Like Ansett, CSX was a victim of federal government competition policy and company policy adopted in the US to move out of stevedoring.

The union movement is now opposing rampant industry competition, with the MUA disquiet about the Victorian Government plan for a third operator at Westgate Terminal in Melbourne and moves by Western Stevedores to start up in Darwin.

In both cases the work is not sufficient to support new entrants with the inevitable outcome that employees will face job loss, problems with debts, mortgages, family breakdowns and threatened loss of entitlements that follow such collapses.

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