Farstad Shipping’s bid to axe 80 staff from its Australian operations has seen it land up in front of the local Fair Work Commission. The Maritime Union of Australia has been fighting the OSV operator’s decision to cut staff and has now won the right to hear the case in front of the commission on May 15.
In a release, the MUA stated: “[T]he behaviour of Farstad stands condemned by all MUA members and their union.”
Farstad appointed an ex-Maersk Supply Service executive as its new boss in Australia later last year, a man who has proven deeply unpopular with local unions.
“The new Maersk management team who have taken over Farstad are a far different outfit to the company we have had years of dealings with. They now follow blindly [the Australian Mines and Metals Association’s] non-union ideology despite the fact that most of the offshore industry have now consigned that approach to the industrial toilet where it belongs,” MUA said in a release.
Norway’s Farstad, Solstad, and Deep Sea Supply are in the midst of a merger to create a mega OSV owner.
