The Port of Newcastle is at a standstill today as the fight between tug boat operators and company Svitzer escalates.
A full bench of the Fair Work Commission will meet at 1pm with the Maritime Union and Svitzer in a bid to stop tug boat company Svitzer from locking out workers from 17 ports across the country including the Port of Newcastle.
After three years of attempted negotiations over an enterprise agreement, the company has threatened to lock workers out of its depots from midday tomorrow – a move which would cripple Newcastle’s cruise and import and export industries.
Today there’s no movements in or out of Newcastle and a Port of Newcastle spokesperson has said due to the meeting today “these developments mean, shipping operations at Port of Newcastle will cease until there is a resolution” and they “hope all parties come to an agreement quickly.”