Ten Australian ports will face a shutdown situation on Friday because of the strike. Workers at tugboat company Svitzer strike as Danish firm tries to terminate its enterprise agreement. Three separate unions are behind the strike, which will leave ships from Cairns to Melbourne to Geraldton with limited tug service at a time when shipping lines are already under severe pressure from the ongoing supply chain crisis.

On Monday, the Fair Work Commission held a hearing into the case of tugboat company Svitzer to terminate the enterprise negotiating agreement. Under the agreement, 540 workers will return to pay levels and lead to pay cuts of up to 50%.

The tugboat company is not the first to threaten to scrap enterprise agreements to offer incentives in wage negotiations with unions – both Qantas and Patrick Docks have done so this year – but it is the first to do so The company that progressed to the Fair Work Commission hearing.

Australian Maritime Union assistant Jamie Newlyn slammed the move as a “radical move” by a “radical employer”, but tugboat company Svitzer said it “never stopped negotiating” and was only “forced” to take the move.

Friday’s strike in the ports of Cairns, Newcastle, Sydney, Kembla, Adelaide, Fremantle, Geraldton and Albany from 9am (AEST) Work stopped for four hours, while their colleagues in Melbourne and Brisbane were on strike for 24 hours.

Svitzer said disruptions were expected at all ports where the strike, but it was particularly severe in Brisbane and Melbourne, where workers were shut down for 24 hours. “Svitzer is doing everything in its power to minimize disruption to customers, the port and our operations,” a company spokesman said.

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