MUA: Qube Ports Wharfies Fight Proposed Wage Cut

Wharf workers at Australia’s Qube Ports Newcastle have announced work bans against a company push to cut their wages by 10.5%, according to the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA).

Qube is  largest integrated provider of import and export  with national operations that provide a broad range of services.

For the next two weeks from midnight tonight, workers will place bans on start times, they will work only 7 hour shifts without extensions and overtime.

“Workers have said an emphatic no to Qube’s underhanded attempt to drive down wages, which they see as a transparent step toward terminating their workplace agreement,” the Maritime Union of Australia said.

The union added that Qube management has inflamed tensions further “by holding secret meetings with workers, offering them permanent positions if they accepted the 10.5% wage cut.”

“Qube has made it clear it intends on terminating the existing workplace agreement which would effectively trash 25 years of employment history,” Warren Smith, MUA Assistant National Secretary, said.

If the company terminates their existing agreement, the Qube workforce has decided unanimously not to return to work until a new deal is struck, according to MUA.