INDUSTRIAL action being taken by wharfies in Sydney's Port Botany are adversely impacting the country's medicines supply chain, The Daily Telegraph reports.
The tabloid said critical medicines have been caught up in a pay dispute, with wharfies adopting "go-slow" tactics in their efforts to secure a 6% annual wage increase over the next four years, from container terminal operator, Patrick Terminals.
Pharmacy Guild of Australia Vice President, Trent Twomey, said the action, led by the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA), has led to shortages of cholesterol and cancer treatments, threatening the integrity of the supply chain.
"We now have drug shortages, and I find we have drug outages, and that results in deaths," Twomey said.
"I will be putting those at the feet of the MUA.
"Containers filled with major medicines are floating just off shore and even if companies have to divert to air, rail and road, that pushes the cost of freight up and ultimately that gets passed on to the consumer."
The Daily Telegraph reported a spokesperson for Patrick Terminals said the company was "bewildered" by the union's claims, reporting the average permanent employee on the dock earned $155,000 a year, almost double the average income of pharmacists recorded ($80,550) in the 2019 Pharmacy Daily Salary Survey (PD 06 May 2019).
Prime Minister, Scott Morrison took aim at the union, claiming it was "holding the country to ransom with extortionate claims...when we are in a COVID recession".
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