Serious industrial action at port of Melbourne on the way, VICT warns

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Industrial action looks set to return to the port of Melbourne after the Maritime Union of Australia notified the terminal that its members would strike next week in a dispute over wages at the port’s Victoria International Container Terminal (VICT). The facility is Australia’s first box terminal to deploy automation and has long been a particular source of ire for the MUA. Liner body Shipping Australia has published an analysis of the dispute, concluding that the new wage demands could make the entire terminal financially unviable. “As the first fully automated terminal in Australia we never expected to be popular with traditional waterside unions, but we couldn’t have anticipated such unrealistic demands. We’ve been in negotiations for months, however the MUA is unwilling to consider reasonable differences in VICT’s operation,” said VICT chief executive Tim Vancampen.