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Australia’s industrial umpire, the Fair Work Commission, today (18 November 2022) made an order suspending Svitzer Australia’s proposed protected industrial action of an indefinite lockout of employees for a period of six months. On 14 November 2022, Svitzer Australia gave notice that it would take an employer response action in the form of an indefinite lockout of all harbour towage employees covered by the Svitzer Australia Pty Limited National Towage Enterprise Agreement 2016 as of midday AEDT on 18 November 2022. This notice caused the Commission, on its own initiative, to consider making an order to suspend or terminate the protected industrial action by Svitzer. The Commission conducted a hearing, taking evidence from a variety of parties, and concluded that:

• the lockout of employees constituted protected industrial action that was threatened, impending or probable;
• the intended lockout threatens to endanger the welfare of the Australian population
• the lockout threatens to cause significant damage to the Australian economy

As a consequence of these findings, the Fair Work Commission concluded that it is required to make an order suspending or terminating Svitzer’s protected industrial action. “We consider that the appropriate course is to make an order suspending Svitzer’s protected industrial action for a period of six months,” the Commission Decision reads.