The Maritime Union of Australia is mid-way into its latest campaign to protect jobs at sea, with strikes and action on numerous fronts.

Two ships in as many months – the MV Portland and the CSL Melbourne – have sacked their Australian crews and replaced them with much lower-wage workers from the developing world.

In response, the MUA and other unions have set up a Jobs Embassy outside of parliament house to take their message straight to the decision-makers.

The union claims politicians have been deaf to the decline of long-term, skilled, once-stable jobs in manufacturing, seafaring, mining and other industries.

A mix of MV Portland crew, representatives from the MUA Southern New South Wales Branch and Labor party members have raised their voices from the embassy already.

Meanwhile, a Fair Work Commission decision that suspended legal strike action by the Maritime Union of Australia at stevedore Patrick has been overturned.

A full FWC tribunal bench upheld an appeal by the union against the moves by Patrick vice-president Graeme Watson.

Mr Watson said he prohibited the union from taking industrial action for 35 days because he “considered it would be beneficial” to ongoing negotiations.

But in the final decision, the full bench said Mr Watson sought to use the time given by the suspension “to enable proper discussion and consideration of revised positions and for the parties to access the assistance” of commission deputy president Anna Booth.

“The identification of that benefit was based on the proposition that this would not occur without a suspension because the ‘elevation of hostilities’ in the form of protected industrial action precluded such discussions and consideration from occurring,” the full bench said.

“However . . . it is clear that such discussions and consideration involving deputy president Booth were to proceed irrespective of the continuation of the protected industrial action.

“The evidence provided no foundation for the existence of the identified benefit. This, we consider, caused the exercise of (the commission's) discretion to miscarry.”

Patrick must now refile its application to suspend the industrial action, in a decision that could leave open the way for the MUA to resume industrial action.

More details are available here.