Patrick Stevedores owner Asciano has applied to Fair Work Australia to resume conciliation talks with the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) over an enterprise agreement dispute following strikes at Fremantle container port.
MUA Western Australia secretary Chris Cain confirmed there was a bid to get people around the negotiating table again, but he said a strike was planned at Patrick's maintenance contractor ATIVO on Thursday.
The company says the 18-month dispute is over wages and conditions and has resulted in more than 60 stoppages across its Patrick business, costing the company more than $15 million.
On Tuesday, Asciano's Patrick Container Terminals division said company officials had met with federal Infrastructure Minister Anthony Albanese and Workplace Relations Minister Bill Shorten on Monday, and progress had been made to end the impasse and get the parties back to the table.
It said high-level talks had been held between lead negotiators Alistair Field for Asciano and MUA national secretary Paddy Crumlin.
Mr Field said following those talks, Asciano on Tuesday applied to Fair Work Australia to restart conciliation and the MUA had agreed to attend to resolve outstanding issues in concluding the agreement for Patrick Container Terminals employees.
"We are encouraged that progress has been made, and the MUA has agreed to return to the bargaining table," Mr Field said in a statement.
"This is not about the money, this is about ensuring that as a business we retain the right to manage our operations while working within the appropriate industrial relations framework," Mr Field said.
He said Asciano was responsible for more than 50 per cent of Australia's import/export container freight so it was essential to finalise the enterprise agreement to minimise the impact of any industrial disruption on Australia's farmers, manufacturers and exporters.
Mr Cain confirmed the move to return to the negotiating table, but said a strike was planned at the workshops at Fremantle on Thursday.
"If we're round the table before then, then obviously we might be wanting to get some sort of agreement," he said.
Mr Cain said on Tuesday the main sticking point had been over arbitration of any and all disputes by Fair Work Australia, which Asciano had declined.
