The Australia Broadcasting Corporation reported on today’s developments on the negotiations between Patrick stevedoring and the Maritime Union of Australia. From the transcript:

DAVID MARK, REPORTER: Stalemate. No-one’s talking, no-one’s working. Although some did try.

PATRICK EMPLOYEE: We’ve turned up for work and we’re still off pay. I mean, mystified as to why things aren’t going forward.

DAVID MARK: Around 100 Patrick workers turned up for a shift in Sydney this morning. But under the terms of their week-long protected industrial action they couldn’t work a full day and Patrick stood its ground.

PAUL GARATY, PATRICK DIRECTOR: We’ve asked each of our employees as they’ve come to work today whether they’re prepared to work without bans or limitations. None of the employees were. Within accordance with Fair Work: no work, no pay.

MICK DOLEMAN, MARITIME UNION AUSTRALIA: What Patricks have done have shut down this port as a result of stopping those workers going to work. Albeit in a limited way, we still would have been productive for some way, shape or form.

DAVID MARK: At the moment this argument is mostly a war of words. It’s a far cry from the balaclavas, dogs and bitterness of the 1998 waterfront dispute.

Neither side says it wants to see those scenes repeated, but this dispute is set to escalate.

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