Barely a week into the new year and stevedoring firm DP World Australia’s protracted industrial battle with the Maritime Union of Australia was grabbing headlines and threatening to inflict major economic pain. While the dispute over wages and rostering began in 2023, it kicked up a notch in January amid reports a massive backlog of containers was costing the economy $84m a week. By February a settlement had been reached.
Barely a week into the new year and stevedoring firm DP World Australia’s protracted industrial battle with the Maritime Union of Australia was grabbing headlines and threatening to inflict major economic pain. While the dispute over wages and rostering began in 2023, it kicked up a notch in January amid reports a massive backlog of containers was costing the economy $84m a week. By February a settlement had been reached.
The biggest scandal of the month belonged to ASX-listed Worley after The Australian revealed an international tribunal had found the contracting giant had engaged in “conduct amounting to corruption” in Ecuador more than a decade earlier. The board and management spent the start of the year in damage control, and chair John Grill was still reassuring investors at November’s AGM that “Worley didn’t breach any corruption or bribery laws”. Worley shares slumped almost 25 per cent over the year.
The closure of the Savannah Nickel Project in Western Australia, costing 140 jobs, following the appointment of administrators to Panor.
