STRIKES * Australia - Trucking feels the pain from Patrick strike

Patrick Queensland,Australia -The Queensland Business Review, by Brad Gardner -May 25, 2011: -- The trucking industry is bracing for a financially painful fallout from the Maritime Union Australia’s (MUA) decision bring stevedore Patrick to a halt... Ignoring a last-minute plea from Patrick, the MUA has forged ahead with industrial action in a bid to secure better pay and conditions under a new enterprise bargaining agreement... Strikes will run for six days in Brisbane and for seven days in Sydney and Fremantle, which Patrick estimates will directly affect 27,950 containers. Action at the Port of Melbourne was called off... Johnston’s Transport General Manager, Mike Moylan, says transport operators will incur substantial costs due to a lack of work... Operators will also face scheduling headaches and higher wage bills, with Moylan saying drivers will need to work overtime and on weekends to clear a backlog of tasks once industrial action ends... (Photo from lloydslistdcn.com.au: Patrick and MUA to resume talks)

STRIKES * UK - Fuel distributors agree to meet with Unite to avoid strikes

London,EN,UK -Road Transport, by Joanna Bourke -6 March 2011: -- A number of fuel distributors have accepted Unite's invite to discuss tanker driver terms and conditions (T&Cs) to avoid industrial action. But some believe certain discussions are best left between employers and employees...  BP, Hoyer, Suckling Transport, Turners (Soham) and Wincanton have confirmed to MT they have accepted Unite general secretary Len McCluskey's invite to talks on 10 March at the union's London headquarters...  McCluskey says he wants a "no strings summit" to examine how operations can be improved in what he describes as "the increasingly volatile but essential national industry". Discussion topics include wages, pensions and safety conditions...

STRIKES * Canada - Cascade Carriers O/Os vote to strike

Sherwook Park,ALB,CAN -Truck News -18 Feb 2011: -- Drivers for Cascade Carriers are poised to go on strike, after 92% of CAW Local 4050 members voted in favour of strike action, if necessary...  The union says Feb. 25 is the most likely date for its 56 owner/operators to walk off the job. The affected owner/operators deliver throughout Alberta, B.C. and Saskatchewan, delivering powered concrete, flyash, sand and other materials to customers in the cement and oilfield industries...  Cascade's largest customers include: Lafarge, Rolling Mix, Inland Cement, BJ Services, Schlumberger, Trican, Sil Industrial, Trans Alta (Sundance), Badger Sand, Sand Source and indirectly, Syncrude...  "These owner/operators are seeking a fair first collective agreement that provides for income stability, indemnification from rising fuel costs, recognition of their business costs, as well as fair and equitable treatment," said CAW national tepresentative Todd Romanow...  (Photo from cascadecarriers)

* Colombia - Riot Police Face Striking Truckers in

Bogotá,Colombia -The Wall Street Journal, by DAN MOLINSKI -February 16, 2011:    -- Antiriot police began assembling Wednesday in front of striking Colombian truckers, who for three days have been causing major traffic jams by setting up roadblocks on this capital city's main arteries...  The truckers' strike, which began nearly two weeks ago over deregulation of the industry, involves the majority of some 200,000 Colombian truckers and is proving to be the toughest confrontational challenge yet for the six-month-old administration of President Juan Manuel Santos...  The strike is having a growing adverse impact on coffee and other export sectors that rely on the trucking industry to deliver product to shipping ports...

* Australia - TNT strike escalates into violence

Sydney,NSW,Australia -Transport & Logistics News -16 Feb 2011: -- Police were called in following a confrontation between striking workers and contractors at Wednesday's TWU straike at TNT... TWU national secretary Tony Sheldon claims “[Wednesday] morning TNT contacting companies were told to run their trucks through protesters at a peaceful community protest... TNT has issued a press release denying involvement in violence. The press release says: "TNT Express remains focussed on its customers today as it attempts to minimise disruption and maintain service levels throughout its network..."