Stevedoring and maintenance employees at the Port of Broome walked off the job last Friday, initiating a two-week strike over wages and working conditions. These workers, represented by the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA), are demanding a new enterprise agreement after negotiations with the Kimberley Ports Authority (KPA) stalled. Their action highlights the ongoing struggle against wage suppression in a region where the cost of living continues to climb.
MUA WA branch secretary Will Tracey stated that Broome tradesmen receive "the lowest rates for tradesmen at port authorities in the state." He emphasized that the cost of living has "only increased since the last agreement was done," necessitating a reflection of this in the Broome area allowance. This allowance is meant to compensate for the "excessive cost of living across the Kimberley," a fact often ignored by those who profit from the region's tourism.
Capital's Lament
The strike has immediately impacted the flow of capital, particularly in the luxury tourism sector. Two livestock ships and seven cruise boats were scheduled to berth at the KPA port this week, with another 12 vessels due at an adjacent, privately owned floating jetty. Cruise boat passengers on luxury tours of Western Australia's remote north have been reduced to being ferried to shore by tenders. Provisions, normally handled by stevedores and cranes, are now loaded onto ships by hand.
Erie Astrup, owner of Discovery One Cruises, complained that her crews were "forced to load provisions from the slipway near the wharf." She acknowledged supporting negotiations but claimed the strike had a "huge knock-on effect for the whole community, all the tourism industry, the small businesses." Astrup added that this felt "a bit unfair and challenging for many because it's a short tourism season in the Kimberley," prioritizing seasonal profits over sustained worker livelihoods. Ponant Explorations CEO Deb Corbett simply stated the company was "making the necessary arrangements" for its luxury cruiser Le Jacques Cartier, which remained offshore with up to 300 people aboard. Shayne Murray, who runs a bus company servicing cruise boats and is president of Cruise Broome, echoed concerns, saying the strike "affects everyone, from the hotels to planes, the people who pay a lot of money for these cruises." Their collective focus remains on the disruption to their revenue streams, not the underlying economic hardship faced by port workers.
The State's Role
The state's response has been to manage the dispute rather than address its root causes. The KPA issued a statement affirming it would "continue to meet with employees and the union" and "bargain in good faith," with the Fair Work Commission now "assisting in conciliation." This process, designed to mediate within existing power structures, offers little to challenge the systemic underpayment of labor.
Liberal MLC Neil Thomson publicly expressed "embarrassment for our state" over passengers disembarking via a slipway instead of the "new multi-million dollar port facility." His concern was for the image of the state's infrastructure and its capacity to serve luxury tourism, not the conditions that compelled workers to strike. The state, through its representatives and institutions, consistently acts to smooth over the contradictions of capital, ensuring the continued flow of profits while offering minimal concessions to those who generate them. Workers and the MUA are due to meet with KPA and the Fair Work Commission again tomorrow, a meeting that will determine if capital is willing to concede any ground to labor's demands.