THE INDUSTRIAL dispute which has triggered grain freight chaos in Victoria is far from resolved but warring parties Pacific National (PN) and the Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) have brokered a truce which will see grain trains return to work.
PN and the RTBU have agreed that all industrial action will cease for an eight week period starting tomorrow (Saturday) except for minor bans relating to shunting at docks in Melbourne and training duties.
The news has been welcomed by grain bulk handlers and exporters, however they warn the lost shipping capacity caused by trains not operating will be difficult to make up.
During the industrial action, which has been running since March as a result of a dispute over a new enterprise bargaining agreement (EBA), both Cargill and GrainCorp have been forced to make alternative arrangements for grain exports due to port congestion and delays.
Cargill confirmed earlier this week it will now load a vessel in South Australia rather than Victoria to avoid the logjam.
Corporate affairs manager for Cargill Peter McBride said the vessel, which was due to load with 50,000 tonnes of grain at Geelong in late May, would now be loaded in two stages, with 25,000t to be loaded in Adelaide and only 25,000t now to be loaded at Geelong.
He said the temporary resolution to the transport issue would not change Cargill’s plans.
“While we welcome the decision, there will still be some congestion at the Victorian ports and we will continue with the alternative arrangements we have made.”
GrainCorp is also diverting ships to load at other ports as a result of the dispute.
Angus Trigg, GrainCorp corporate affairs director, said a ship scheduled to be loaded at Geelong will now head to Brisbane instead.
He echoed Mr McBride’s thoughts that while the temporary end to industrial action was welcomed, it would be difficult to make up for lost time.
“While this is a positive development, the industrial action has caused significant disruption to exports from Victoria,” he said.
“We will be working very hard with Pacific National to recover the lost time.”
The news comes as a relief for a Victorian Government losing revenue through Victorian shipments being cancelled.
Minister for Public Transport Jacinta Allan said she hoped the truce would herald the start of a permanent agreement between the warring parties.
"I'm pleased to hear there will be a cessation of industrial action from Saturday and I encouraged both parties continue negotiations,” she said.
"We're building the Murray Basin Rail Project to boost the capacity and reliability of our freight network -- but we need this issue sorted once and for all, to keep produce moving."
The truce comes as a relief to the grains industry following a week where train cancellations reached a crescendo as PN reacted to RTBU strikes by locking workers out.
Industry sources suggest lost train capacity for the week will exceed 50,000 tonnes with the total figure since the action began now in the vicinity of 160,000 tonnes.
Grain exporters have not been able to make up the shortfall with road freight, even with frenzied calls to get more road capacity to Victoria.
Ship loading at the Port of Geelong is close to a month behind schedule, costing exporters in demurrage fees.
PN remains optimistic of clawing into the backlog of work when full train services return, but freighters face a monumental task in clearing Victoria’s record harvest before the 2017 harvest.