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The Full Bench of Australia’s Fair Work Commission has upheld today its ruling over a dispute onboard the Alexander Spirit according to which the crew’s industrial action is illegal, dismissing the Maritime Union of Australia’s (MUA) appeal.

FWC ordered protesting 36 crew members of the fuel tanker Alexander Spirit, docked in Devonport, north-west Tasmania, to return to work earlier this week.

The ship’s operator Teekay Australia, asked for FMC’s intervention in the case, as MUA claimed that some of the crew members were under mental strain rendering them unfit for the journey.

The oil tanker has been in Devonport for almost a week after the Australian crew refused to sail the vessel when they learnt they would be sacked upon arrival in Singapore.

The crew was contracted until 2019 and Caltex has cited changed trading arrangements as the reason for dismissal.

Shore workers told crew members late last week that they were about to make their last voyage and congratulated them for their camaraderie over the years.

After asking for a guarantee from their employer, the crew was eventually issued with a letter from Caltex telling them that once they got to Singapore they would be replaced by an international crew.

MUA Assistant National Secretary Ian Bray said: “This move by Caltex is driven purely by the desire for increased profit.”

“The company today posted a 45 per cent increase in half yearly profit to $251 million yet at the same time they are sacking 36 honest Australian workers onboard the Alexander Spirit and replacing them with exploited foreign workers on as little as $2/hr.

“We’re disappointed by today’s decision but we’ll continue to stand up and fight for Aussie jobs.”

“The Abbott Government is giving the green light for shipping companies to dump Australian crews through their failure to act on the issue of fuel security and their plans to remove the current legal protections for Australian employment in the Coastal Trading Act,” he added.