Australian government declines intervention in DP World port dispute

Australia's industrial relations minister has met representatives of port operator DP World and its employee union but refused to intervene in a months-long workplace dispute that is throttling traffic at major ports across the country.

The centre-left Labour government’s Employment Minister Tony Burke on Thursday pushed back against calls from DP World to intervene and said the company's campaign in the media suggested they may not have negotiated in good faith.

"I suspect because of the commitment from DP World to the media strategy thinking that somehow I would intervene ... they may not have been participating as enthusiastically in the negotiations," he said at a news conference.

"They have no doubt now, go to the table and sort this out. Every other business in Australia does. We expect them to do the same."

DP World said in a statement later on Thursday it was committed to working with the industrial arbiter on a solution and it had requested government intervention because of the "severe economic impact, customer frustration and a substantial backlog of containers."

The Maritime Union of Australia did not respond to requests for comment.

The Maritime Union of Australia and Dubai-owned DP World, which handles roughly 40% of the country's container freight through its ports, have been locked in a dispute over pay and conditions since October.

Union members have repeatedly stopped work for short periods and threatened longer, more crippling strikes in their pursuit of a 16% pay rise over two years, according to local media.

The company said in a statement last week the union's demands amounted to a 27.5% pay rise and has warned the dispute is costing the economy some A$84 million ($55 million) a week.

($1 = 1.5256 Australian dollars)