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Pacific National coal train crew in Australia call 48-hour strike

https://www.chemnet.com   Oct 17,2017 Platts
Several hundred Pacific National train workers are planning a 48-hour strike from 12:00 pm Saturday (0:00 GMT) in an escalation of their industrial dispute with the coal train services company in Australia's New South Wales state, the Rail, Tram and Bus Union said Monday.

The industrial action is concurrent with a ban on overtime working by members of the RTBU at Pacific National, and has the potential to paralyze most coal exports traffic to Newcastle and Port Kembla over the coming weekend.

"We are hopeful the company will come back to the table before Saturday when the stoppage is set to begin, but at the moment that is not looking promising," RTBU Secretary in New South Wales Alex Claassens said in a statement.

The official said union members in Pacific National's coal haulage unit in New South Wales had been forced to consider going on strike because of a lack of apparent progress in negotiations for a new collective workplace agreement.

"Workers didn't want things to get to this point, but unfortunately we have been left with no other option," said Claassens.

RTBU-aligned workers at Pacific National started at the weekend an indefinite ban on working overtime.

In addition to this, unionized train workers are to stop from 12.01 am Tuesday "lifting up and laying back," that is attending work earlier than scheduled or working after the official end of their shift.

Claassens said the union had been met with silence from Pacific National since its overtime ban started a week ago.

"Despite constant requests, the company has not been in touch with the union since the overtime bans began, to discuss the situation," he said.

Around 600 RTBU members working within Pacific National's coal haulage unit in New South Wales voted in favor of a long list of strike options in a postal vote last month, according to the Fair Work Commission, an employment relations agency.

Pacific National said in a statement Monday that it continues to negotiate with the RTBU in good faith in seeking a reasonable outcome for its employees to the dispute, and expressed its disappointment with the planned strike.

"Pacific National is continuing to work towards a timely resolution in the best interests of our employees, customers and the business, and we are working around this industrial action to meet our customers' needs," said the company.

In the financial year ended June 2016, Pacific National's southeast Australia division which includes New South Wales carried 102 million mt of coal products on its trains, according to a 2016 company report.

Pacific National has the largest market share in the New South Wales coal haulage market, and a 48-hour strike has the potential to delay 550,000 mt of coal exports from hitting the seaborne market, according to S&P Global Platts calculations.

In a separate development, members of the Australian Maritime Officers' Union have voted by a majority of nine to five for a range of work stoppages lasting for up to 24 hours against their employer Newcastle Port Corporation, according to a notice on the website of Australia's Fair Work Commission.

The port authority for Newcastle port in eastern Australia, it is responsible for providing vessel traffic information, pilotage services to ships, and port safety and maritime security, according to its website.
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