Territorians are facing a potential fuel supply outage if industrial action initiated today over a pay squabble by East Arm fuel tanker operators escalates into a full-blown strike, a union has warned.
Darwin Vopak workers’ work action against the Dutch-owned petrochemical firm was initiated after the company offered Territory workers pay rates nine per cent lower than their Sydney counterparts.
The enterprise bargaining negotiations between Vopak and the 11 workers have stalled, but Vopak said it is committed to reaching an agreement with the workers as soon as possible.
The work ban that started today – that will last until August 13 – saw fuel operators slowing pump speeds to 75 per cent, while also stopping preventive maintenance on pumps and assistance to drivers in loading fuel to their lorries outside of emergencies.
The union representing the employees said things could escalate over the next 10 days.
“If in those 10 days, we can’t reach an agreement, we’re going to be left with no choice… If the company doesn’t come to the table and start seriously talking to us, they’re going to escalate very quickly to a full-blown strike in the fuel import terminal,” Bulk Liquids Alliance organiser Shane Reside told ABC Radio Darwin.
“The Territory could run out of fuel within weeks unless a pay stand-off between workers and a multi-billion dollar multinational oil storage company is resolved.”
The employees’ action is expected to at least halve fuel delivery in the NT, Australasian Convenience and Petroleum Marketers Association chief executive Mark McKenzie said.
“I expect that you’re going to see a very small number of service stations that might run out of fuel for 24 hours until we can get another tanker to them. There’s no reason to panic just at this stage… but we are watching it, and there will be occasions where service stations might run out of fuel,” Mr McKenzie told the ABC.
While the union and its members said they do not want to further the industrial action past mid-August, they would take further action in the case Vopak refuses to come to the bargaining table, Mr Reside said.
He added that despite doing the same highly skilled and often time dangerous work as those at Sydney’s Port Botany, the Darwin operators were being underpaid.
“They have systematically denied their (Darwin) workforce a collective agreement for the whole time that they’ve operated in the Northern Territory, which is now 20 years.”
“When it became obvious that the Northern Territory operators were going to refuse to be paid less than the Sydney operators, the company pulled down the shutters and has been refusing to speak to us.”
He added that the standoff could intensify from one-hour work stoppages to a full strike action, which includes not loading and unloading ships.
Vopak said it mulls bringing in overseas personnel if the industrial action continues.
Mr McKenzie told Territorians not to panic buy fuel “at this stage”.
“But we are watching it and there will be occasions where service stations might run out of fuel,” he said.
Could it be that 9% pay difference is due to the summing of all pays including executive management in Sydney, as opposed to Darwin who has no executive management?
Unions are known to be creative with the numbers…