IR Minister not impressed by midnight sackings

Published Monday, 10 August, 2015 at 12:18 PM

Treasurer, Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations and Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships
The Honourable Curtis Pitt

Treasurer and Minister for Industrial Relations Curtis Pitt has condemned the midnight sacking of 41 maritime workers via text message last Thursday night.

Mr Pitt will today meet with some of the sacked workers at a community rally on Brisbane’s wharfside.

“I’m not impressed at all by what Hutchison’s has done to these hard-working wharfies,” he said.

“Losing your job is hard enough, but to get sacked via text message in the middle of the night is a really bitter pill to swallow.

“The Palaszczuk Government will provide any assistance it can to the affected workers and their families.

“This is a government that fights for jobs and we’re with these workers every step of the way.

“Labor will always stand up for workers, unlike the LNP which has already shown its callousness by attempting to justify these sackings.

“Federal Employment Minister Eric Abetz says that Hutchison’s got it right, but I think most Queenslanders would say they got it hopelessly wrong.

“It’s unfair and unjust, and high time that Lawrence Springborg and the Queensland LNP condemned the outrageous manner in which these sackings took place.”

Hutchison Ports Australia terminated the Brisbane maritime workers via text message shortly before midnight on Thursday.

The Maritime Union of Australia is fighting the sackings through Fair Work Australia and the courts.

Media contact: Martin Philip 0427 919 548