Australias Fair Work Commission Orders Alexander Spirits Crew Back to Work

zoom Australias Fair Work Commission (FWC) has ordered protesting 36 crew members of the fuel tanker Alexander Spirit, docked in Devonport, north-west Tasmania, to return to work. According to FMC Commissioner Ian Cambridge, who handed over his decision at a hearing in Sydney, the dispute constituted unprotected industrial action and should stop, Australias ABC News reports. 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the workers aboard the Caltex-owned ship were told their upcoming voyage to Singapore would be their last as they had been replaced by a foreign crew.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 ships operator Teekay Australia, asked for FMCs intervention in the case, as the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) claimed that some of the crew members were under mental strain rendering them unfit for the journey. However, according to Commissioner Cambridges decision the prospect of some abstract psychological condition does not translate into a risk to health and safety and was not grounds for an exemption under the act, ABC reports. MUA said it would appeal the decision. Australias labor party called on the Abbott Government to come up with a real plan for jobs after major Australian oil company Caltex confirmed it would replace the 36 Australian crew members of the Alexander Spirit with foreign workers. The party also said that it would oppose the Shipping Legislation Amendment Bill 2015 proposed by the government, as the bill is claimed that it would allow foreign-flagged vessels working between Australian domestic ports for up to 183 days a year to pay Third World level wages. World Maritime News Staff; Image: MUA