Tugboat deckhands at Australia's main iron ore port have agreed to a new wage deal after more than a year of negotiations.
Tugboat deckhands at Australia's main iron ore port have agreed to a new wage deal after more than a year of negotiations.
The Port Hedland deckhands, represented by the Maritime Union of Australia, have talked US-based Teekay Shipping into giving them four weeks of paid leave a year.
In a statement today, Teekay said the new agreement provided for a salary increase of 0 per cent in the first year, followed by a 2 per cent increase in the second, third and fourth years.
"Employees will receive an additional 28 days' annual leave," the shipping company said.
"These increases will be offset by the removal of travel days, some allowances and penalty rates."
It's understood tugboat masters, represented by the Australian Maritime Officers Union, have agreed to a similar deal.
Tugboat engineers, however, are set to take industrial action this week after their negotiations stalled.
The workers, represented by the Australian Institute of Marine and Power Engineers, plan to stop work for four hours from 6am on Wednesday.
The decision was made shortly after Teekay and Fortescue Metals Group lashed out at the decision of 56 tugboat workers to bring Port Hedland to a halt for four hours on Wednesday.
Tekay said the industrial action by the workers whose salary packages ranged from $280,000-$390,000 a year was regretful.
Meanwhile, Fremantle-based MMA Offshore, formerly Mermaid Marine Australia, has been subject to repeated threats and strikes by the MUA as workers at its Dampier Supply Base announced three separate strikes in three months, amid continued negotiations around wages and job security.
When the workers initiated its third strike in October, which lasted five consecutive days, the Australian Mines and Metals Association labelled actions by the MUA as "irresponsible and misguided".
AMMA chief executive Steve Knott said the resource industry had put up with MUA threats to hold critical parts of the economy to ransom in the pursuit of inflated wage increases, unreasonable allowances and attempts to control business operations for far too long.
