The 36 crew members of the fuel tanker Alexander Spirit have resumed work operations following the decision of Australia’s Fair Work Commission (FWC), saying that the the five-day protest by the crew was not protected industrial action, but have not left Devonport.
According to Maritime Union of Australia’s (MUA) assistant secretary Paul Garrett “there hasn’t been any order to sail, the crew is standing by, they’re working as needed,” ABC News reports.
MUA has lodged an appeal to FWC’s decision which is scheduled to be heard on Friday.
Last week the workers aboard the Caltex-owned ship were told their upcoming voyage to Singapore would be their last as they had been replaced by a foreign crew.
Following the decision, the Australian workers refused to depart from Devonport until they got more information about their redundancy entitlements.
The ship’s operator Teekay Australia, asked for FMC’s intervention in the case, as MUA claimed that some of the crew members were under mental strain rendering them unfit for the journey.
Garrett added that workers were still pending answers on their long-term employment prospects.
Hundreds of unionists and supporters hit the streets of Devonport on Monday in solidarity with the 36 crew members of the fuel tanker and some of them remain protesting at the Devonport wharf, ABC News said.
World Maritime News Staff