CBH PORT STRIKES: Kwinana Grain Terminal staff work stoppages cost farmers thousands of dollars in demurrage

A year-long tussle between Kwinana Grain Terminal workers and CBH has come to a dramatic head with 70 staff striking for four days and threatening “more to come” as they demand better working conditions on the back of the cooperative’s record surplus. Plant operators walked off the job for 24 hours on January 12, 14, and 16, causing what union representatives said was hundreds of thousands of dollars in demurrage with ships sitting at anchor. They planned to do the same on Wednesday, January 18. The 24-hour stoppages reportedly came after three days of failed EBA negotiations between CBH and the Maritime Union of Australia, with the union and workers notifying the co-operative of plans for a seven-day consecutive strike from January 27. While agreement was reached for a five per cent wage increase for the workers late last year, disagreement is ongoing about the non-financial work-related claims — with the Maritime Union of Australia claiming CBH has backflipped on eight of its promises. MUA WA branch assistant secretary Jeff Cassar said negotiations started in late 2021 and had continued “in good faith” throughout the year, with CBH and the workers eventually agreeing to a 5 per cent pay increase. He said some of the discussions had been postponed until CBH handed down its annual results in December, which revealed a record annual surplus of $497.m for the year ending September 30. However, said discussions “fell apart” at a meeting with on December 15, when CBH allegedly reneged on eight clauses. “CBH was originally negotiating in good faith, but not fast. We started to work through the rest of the claims, and CBH was bargaining proactively and we were making progress,” Mr Cassar said. “We had agreed in principal on large chunks of claims and the company has reneged... we can’t just keep walking inside the gate and assuming they are going to keep their word each time.” Amongst the eight clauses was a prosed transition to retirement arrangement the MUA claims was drafted in June. Workers have called for a job-sharing arrangement to allow two people to work in a role for 50 per cent of the pay and leave entitlements, which Mr Cassar said would help the “ageing workforce” share its knowledge amongst staff. He said CBH announced it December it would cap the job-share scenario to four employees, a move that “started the angst”. “With an aging workforce like CBH has... 50 per cent employees represent the answer for CBH,” Mr Cassar said. “If you don’t let people transition to retirement, they just leave... these are key operators. “This transition to retirement does not cost CBH any money... it is two employees working 50 per cent of the time with 50 per cent of the pay, it is literally splitting one permanent job between two people.” Mr Cassar said workers also wanted the “right to representation” enshrined in disciplinary meetings enshrined in the workers’ EBA. “The employees want to have a union official at disciplinary meetings, to help represent them... something CBH has in other areas of the business,” he said. He pointed to WA’s high CPI, the State’s record harvest, freight rate increases for farmers, the fact the CBH board had handed themselves a recent pay rise, and other factors as reasons why workers deserved a pay rise. “There was a view amongst the workforce that we needed a better than usual wage increase,” he said. “They are usually quite modest wage increases. We have been told for the past 10 years that CBH is struggling for market share against the Black Sea, and that we can’t compete price-wise.” Port workers were also angered by CBH’s lack of contact during Christmas, with Mr Cassar saying the issue had been put on ice after the meeting and he had not heard from the cooperative’s management until mid-January. A CBH spokesman said the industrial action was disappointing, saying the company had “negotiated in good faith” and the shipping interruptions posed a threat to the State’s grain industry and regional economies. The company last year unveiled plans to spend more than $4 billion on the supply chain during the next 10 years, and could be taking a financially prudent approach to other parts of the business while splashing out on new locomotives and wagons. “CBH can confirm that plant operators at the Kwinana Grain Terminal are engaged in protected industrial action,” the spokesman said. “CBH has negotiated in good faith with employees and the union throughout the process to reach a resolution. “We are very disappointed with this decision, particularly because the industrial action comes at a time when we are faced with the significant task of continuing to safely receive and outload a second consecutive record crop in WA.” The spokesman said the interruptions to shipping came at a time when CBH was trying to ship as much grain as possible. “The first half of the calendar year is the peak shipping window for the Australian grains industry when growers can get the highest prices for their grain and any impact on shipping during this window directly impacts WA grain growers’ profitability,” he said. “We are actively working for a resolution with the plant operators and for an agreement to be in place as soon as possible.” Kwinana Grain Terminal handles more grain than CBH’s three other ports — at Geraldton, Albany and Esperance — and achieved a new all-time monthly record in December. More than 914,000 tonnes were exported from the port in December, smashing the prior record of 769,303 tonnes set in January 2019. Mr Cassar said substantial progress had been made in the past week, but workers would not back down — particuarly on the clause allowing a union official to be present at disciplinary meetings and on the job-sharing agreement. “We have made it clear to CBH that the workforce’s intention is that once they go out, they don’t intend on coming back in until this is finalised,” he said. “CBH doesn’t seem to move unless they have a gun to their head.”