MUA is one of several Australian unions to participate in job actions recently. This photo from yesterday shows crew members of the Araluen Spirit at Shell's Gore Cove terminal. Photo: Dallas Kilponen, Sydney Morning Herald.
As industrial unrest swept Australia, anger over stalled pay negotiations prompted more than 120,000 workers across more than two dozen federal government agencies to deliver a resounding ”no” verdict to 3 per cent pay rises.
Bureau of Meteorology staff across the country also walked off the job for one-hour stop-work meetings yesterday, while a row is brewing in the maritime sector, with the crew of the Araluen Spirit grounding the vessel in Sydney yesterday to protest over Shell Australia’s plan to make the crew redundant after its return voyage to Singapore.
Shell promised talks with the crew and the Maritime Union of Australia but the union’s national secretary, Paddy Crumlin, said the dispute was far from over, and the union was seeking assurances from Shell that the Araluen Spirit’s replacement would be filled by an Australian-crewed tanker operator.