BY DAVE ANDREWS
FREMANTLE — A new shift roster, introduced on a trial basis for permanent waterside workers employed here by P&O Ports, has angered many in the container division. The workers have been suffering erosion of their working conditions and earnings since the introduction of an enterprise agreement in 1999.
The agreement stipulated an eight-week cycle of shifts for permanent employees, guaranteeing them some stability in shift arrangements and enabling them to plan their lives to a greater degree than before. To gain this advantage, most workers lost earnings — in some cases around $20,000 per year — as their wages were annualised, removing penalty rates for weekend work and overtime.
The new agreement allowed P&O to push many permanent workers off the payroll and employ casuals, or "supplementaries", to soak up extra labour required in the port.
The company has now also partially introduced a new roster that goes a long way in reversing the semi-regular shift arrangements. The new trial roster reduces the payroll, as permanents take the many shifts normally given to casuals.
Although P&O claims the move is due to the peculiarities of the Fremantle wharf, if the trial is successful for the company, other stevedoring companies and other ports could introduce similar rosters. Stevedoring companies have long relished the thought of irregular shiftwork for their employees.
To enforce the new roster, P&O used a peculiar clause in the agreement which allows major changes to be imposed within six months, even though the agreement is supposed to last three years.
A meeting of P&O workers rejected a similar roster proposed by Maritime Union of Australia officials in March. The union officials had argued that a compromise was necessary so that the MUA could remain at the negotiating table, but two-thirds of members disagreed.
P&O imposed the current roster after MUA officials pushed a petition for it through members' shift meetings, although no vote was taken on the proposal at the meetings.
The trial period for the new roster arrangements finishes at the end of June.