MARITIME UNION OF AUSTRALIA
QUEENSLAND BRANCH
MEDIA RELEASE
18 DECEMBER 2024
Great Barrier Reef endangered by global tugboat company attack on Australian seafarers
Crews aboard the AMSA chartered emergency tow vessel Reef Keeper commenced protected industrial action this morning for what could be up to 10 days, after bargaining for a new enterprise agreement foundered.
Reef Keeper was recently chartered by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority to provide standby support and crisis recovery services to vessels traversing the waters of the Great Barrier Reef, protecting the pristine environment from the disastrous consequences of vessels adrift or taking on water near the reef.
The crew of the Reef Keeper have been put in an impossible position by the vessel owner, Smit Lamnalco, who won the contract by under-cutting the previous contract holder and now seek to strip away the crews’ long held and hard fought-for employment conditions.
The MUA is fighting to retain crucial conditions of employment and shipboard living conditions for the skilled and professional crewmembers who spend long periods at sea aboard the vessel.
The Reef Keeper contract, which is reportedly worth $190 million over its ten year life, is the main emergency towage contract for the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) and the contract is issued to provide a support vessel for when one of the hundreds of mainly internationally flagged vessels which transit through the Great Barrier Reef has an incident or requires assistance.
The vessel is also used to perform maintenance on the thousands of navigational aids throughout the waters between the Torres Strait and Cairns.
Some of the industry standard conditions that Smit Lamnalco are trying to remove are:
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Convert the current 8 hour shift into a 12 hour shift with no additional wages, delivering a 33.3% wage cut.
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Cut the crews’ Income Protection insurance policy payments.
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Remove all EBA allowances for living in appalling conditions where there is diesel fumes in crews' cabins, crew living in sea containers on the rear deck, sewage backing up into the shared shower cubicles and excessively loud machinery noise.
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Cut the status quo on annual pay increases tied to CPI.
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Removal of shipboard television and WiFi connections, cutting a link to home which all other workers take for granted.
“This is an absolute assault on the working conditions of a skilled, committed and hard working team of seafarers by a global tugboat company that wants to treat local workers appallingly,” said Assistant Branch Secretary, Dave Lyon.
“The company has put us in a position where we have no choice but to take industrial action, because our efforts at good faith bargaining have been sunk by Smit Lamnalco’s managers,” Mr Lyon said.
“The Barrier Reef and our northern waters are being put in danger by this multinational company’s race to the bottom on wages, safety, fatigue management and crew living standards,” Mr Lyon added.
ENDS
Media Contact: Dave Lyon - 0439 348 545
