Upwards of 60 Australian longshoremen were stood down Tuesday after they refused to unload a container ship from China.
The Xin Da Lian docked at the DP World terminal in the Victoria state capital of Melbourne after leaving Shanghai on March 17. Union organizers claim the ship may be contaminated with coronavirus and should instead be held in quarantine.
The Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) says the vessel is in breach of the federal government’s 14-day coronavirus quarantine period after visiting a Taiwanese port on March 19 during its voyage Down Under, local outlet News.com reports.
Workers say shaving two days off the quarantine period is “a risk to workers and the community” and those who refused to unload the vessel over concerns about the risk of the coronavirus were sent home.
DP World Australia chief operating officer Andrew Adam says the ship was cleared to berth by the Australian Border Force.
Elon Musk pours a staggering $10M into Kentucky Senate race, backing pro-Trump business outsider
Alert: Maryland Dems Introduce Bill to Ban All ICE Agents Hired Under Trump from Ever Serving in Law Enforcement Again
The Case for Jailing Don Lemon – How the DOJ Arrested, Tried, Convicted, and Punished Three J6 Journalists
Experts warn Minnesota school closures after ICE shooting will harm kids for ‘political points’
White House-backed GOP bill would revoke citizenship after Somali fraud scandal
Law Professor: Anti-ICE Governors Are Acting Like Anti-Civil Rights Segregationists
Google Rolls Back Disturbing Policy: They Emailed 13-Year-Olds Instructions on How to Remove Parental Controls
Trump asserts Ilhan Omar should be jailed or booted to Somalia
Portland DA cracks down on drug crimes as Seattle pulls back on enforcement
Florida triple murder of 3 tourists was ‘senseless,’ ‘random,’ sheriff says
‘Protecting Child Rapists and Killers’: ICE Lists Off Illegals They’ve Caught as Liberal Protests Rage On
California gubernatorial hopefuls have a Gavin Newsom problem
Lindsey Graham meets with Mossad director during trip to Israel
Unearthed Data Makes Pennsylvania’s Puberty Blocker Payouts Look Even Sketchier
Trump’s ‘first resort’ use of military has succeeded but it has its limits
“Any crew members aboard a vessel that has been to mainland China must have been at sea for 14 days before they are allowed to dock in Australia,” he said in a statement on Wednesday.
“The union is not allowed to unilaterally declare a vessel unsafe. They are not allowed to create their own set of rules.”
MUA national assistant secretary Warren Smith said it didn’t want to see a repeat of Sydney’s Ruby Princess cruise ship debacle where the vessel was allowed to send all its passengers ashore without screening after it had docked.
“The largest cluster of COVID-19 cases in Australia … was the result of inadequate measures put in place for the arrival of ships,” he said in a statement as reported by local outlet 7News.
“What’s the difference with this ship?”
Story cited here.
