Australian port workers will be the latest group to hold nationwide strikes over wage disputes which may affect Christmas deliveries, following previous truck driver and parcel delivery worker strikes. Container terminal operator Patrick Terminals and the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) have been holding extensive negotiations over wages since Feb. 2020. However, discussions boiled over after workers rejected Patrick’s latest offer of a 2.5 percent year-on-year wage increase for four years. Patrick was notified that hundreds of its wharf workers would go on strike for 24 hours in Port Botany, Sydney, next weekend. While in Melbourne, there will be 12 hours strikes every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for the entire month of October. Patrick CEO Michael Jovicic called MUA’s actions “bewildering,” and the industrial action demonstrated no regard to the suffering of everyday Australians who have been impacted by lockdowns, restrictions, and job losses. “We have bargained with the MUA …