Eighteen wharfies, members of the Maritime Union of Australia at the bulk goods handler Quantem at Coode Island, West Melbourne, have been locked out.
They went on strike for 24 hours on 2 September for a modest 4 per cent EBA pay rise.
Quantem management responded by locking them out, flying in scabs from interstate and New Zealand to undermine the strike.
Under the Fair Work Act, the MUA had to notify the bosses of strike action three clear working days in advance.
The law puts no such restriction on bosses and Quantem used that time to get their scabs on site before the strike began.
On top of this, the company hired expensive lawyers and more security guards, showing it had the money to give its workers a pay rise, but chose not to.
In 2024, the company tried to sack two MUA delegates. By the end of that year Quantem was valued at “$1 billion-plus” by The Australian.
As the Quantem workforce is small, the MUA issued a call out to other unions and the community to support them.
Delegations from the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union, Rail Tram and Bus Union, Transport Workers Union and Victorian Trades Hall Council responded.
The Retail and Fast Food Workers Union (RAFFWU), turned out despite it being under attack from the Victorian government.
TWU officials spoke to truck drivers waiting to get on site, explaining the need for solidarity with the Quantem workers—with many parking their rigs.
Ship crews in solidarity
There has also been solidarity from unionised ship crews of overseas workers, members of the International Transport Federation, who refused to dock to pick up cargo. With no ship berthed, Quantem is paying scabs to do nothing.
One striker told Solidarity, “The company’s attitude that we wouldn’t fight them has led them to this bind they are now in. We are united.”
Another said, “In the last five years the company has really run down the maintenance of the facility. Safety is not what it used to be.”
The Victorian Greens leader, Ellen Sandell, spoke at a picket line rally, as did Tom McIntosh, an upper house Labor MP and former electrician.
In response to the picket line, the Port of Melbourne Authority called in the police, with the Public Order Response Team—the riot police—on standby.
But solidarity was more powerful. On the weekend, 40 community supporters joined the picket, with others there on Monday and Tuesday mornings.
An activist in the Australian Education Union, a member of Fight the Crisis, brought a message of solidarity from teachers and school staff and promised there would be wide support and donations to a strike fund.
The MUA will need to mobilise its members all along the waterfront of Coode Island to ensure the Quantem wharfies win a decent EBA.
Support for the picket is welcome at 70-78 MacKenzie Road, West Melbourne.
By Tom Orsag and Casey Forsyth
