Japanese tanker attacked off Indonesia
Esperance workers cancel strike after wage win
Workers at the port of Esperance cancelled a two-day strike after they reached a last minute interim pay deal with the port authority.
The stoppage was scheduled to take place from 5am yesterday until 5am tomorrow but the workers called off their industrial action at 7.30am yesterday after both parties agreed to negotiate a new three-year deal before December 31.
Esperance Ports Sea & Land offered workers an immediate 6% pay rise backdated to November last year and a 2.5% incremental pay rise in July this year.
"There was the likelihood of on-going industrial action if an agreement could not be reached, so the arrangements we have agreed to gives the port time to deal with its financial issues and negotiate a new agreement without the threat of strikes," Esperance Ports acting chief executive Devinder Grewal said.
"The cost of the pay increase and incremental increases will be more than $900,000 this year but the cost to the port and its customers if this two-day stoppage action had gone ahead was in the vicinity of $13m."
