Workers form a picket line at Hutchison Ports in Botany, NSW after 97 employees from Sydney and Brisbane were sacked by email. Courtesy ABC News 24
Sacked Hutchison Ports Australia workers have angrily dismissed the company’s explanation for their sudden dismissal by midnight text and email as a “Clayton’s” response – one you put out when you don’t want to say anything.
The company released a statement on Saturday blaming market conditions for the mass redundancies, denying it was replacing workers with driverless cranes or automated straddles in “the foreseeable future”.
Maritime Union of Australia national secretary Paddy Crumlin said, “Sacking workers by text and email – effective immediately – is not the Australian way.”
“The MUA utterly rejects the suggestion that the company is reducing its Australian operations due to a lack of competitiveness.
“The union is seeking a fair and objective process where all labour data and modelling are put on the table to determine the true nature and scope of the problem.”