The below notice has been disseminated by DP World Australia quoting the source as the Port Authority of New South Wales.

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Port Authority of New South Wales has been negotiating with the Australian Maritime Officers Union (AMOU) and Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) over a replacement Enterprise Agreement for its Sydney workforce since February 2017.

Unfortunately these negotiations continue to remain difficult to finalise as the unions are maintaining a position which seeks employment guarantees that Port Authority is unable to provide.

Port Authority of New South Wales wishes to advise that it has now received notification of protected industrial action to be undertaken by MUA members working on board pilot cutters operated by the Port Authority from Port Jackson and Port Botany as follows:

• 24 hour stoppage commencing at 0600 Tuesday 24th October 2017.

The action proposed will suspend the use of the pilot vessels to embark and disembark Pilots in Port Jackson and Port Botany.

The MUA have agreed to exempt the following functions from any industrial action:

• Watch keeping at sea;
• Fire Rounds;
• Port security watches;
• Safety drills;
• Product tanker and crude oil tanker vessels;
• Passenger cruise vessels;
• All dealings with emergency equipment in any manner; and
• Any and all safety and emergency related issues.

Please be advised that this industrial action does not exempt perishables and therefore the movement of container vessels scheduled during this period will be affected.

Emergency response, Vessel Traffic Services and other Port Officer functions (other than pilot cutter movements) will be required to continue as normal during this period of industrial action.

Port Authority of New South Wales remains committed to reaching agreement with its employees whilst minimising, wherever possible, the impacts on you and your business, and we will provide regular updates to inform you of further developments at the earliest possible opportunity.

If you have any questions regarding the action and its impacts please contact me on 0419 222 639.

Yours sincerely,

Philip Holliday

Chief Operating Officer & Harbour Master - Sydney

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