6 minute read
Next Generation – MUNZ Youth represent
SHANAYA HUNTER ‘NO LAST BANTER, NO GOODBYES, NO LAST HUGS’ NATIONAL YOUTH CO-REPRESENTATIVE Next Generation: MUNZ represents
at MUA Youth Conference
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It has been a busy few months and it is fair to say us delegates and union officials are making up for lost time networking and building links since the pandemic has hindered that for the last couple of years.
Matt Hayward and I took 7 youth activists from across our MUNZ branches to Melbourne in August 2022 to attend the MUA’s national youth conference. The other attendee from Lyttelton was Sam Hand, our new local youth rep and Cargo Handler at the Lyttelton container terminal.
The MUA Youth Conference was an eye opener to say the least.
Our MUA comrades know how to build those all too important international relationships with the likes of the IDC (International Dockworkers Council), ITF (International Transport Workers Federation) and CFMMEU, the big Australian union that the MUA is a part of.
These events are how we build fraternal international relationships around the world at the personal level so we can all continue to fight, not just in our industry but for all of our trade unionists.
The biggest thing I took away is the how everyone showed the ability to put egos’ aside and work for the greater good of the members. Not to focus on tit for tat but to work on our solidarity and a united front!
We need to forget what happened a million years ago and make things work for our memberships.
Power comes in numbers after all.
I was amazed to hear of the relationship our MUNZ and RMTU women delegates who recently travelled to Canberra have built with our sisters across the ditch.
We wear solidarity on our shirts, we end our emails with in unity, but some of us need to get better about fighting for the bigger picture and our members.
These MUA guys and girls have proved time and time again that they have some crazy power on the waterfront and they are using the piss poor levels of health and safety in our industry as an organizing tool to fight against these massive companies on the waterfront.
They don’t let much slide and everyone plays a part in their branches. They have stop work meetings with most members in attendance and invest heavily in their youth because they believe we’re not the future, we are the now! And someday soon we will have to take the reins and lead our union. We heard from MUA officials Warren Smith, Adrian Evans, and Jaimie Newlyn and MUA leader Paddy Crumlin. They spoke on the results they got when they refused to unload a ship that was loaded by scab labour, and the delays that ship incurred right around the Australian coastline. They also picked on one of the worst ships on their coastline to target under health and safety which meant that across all branches they refused to unload this vessel. This vessel moved around the different ports as each branch refused to work it. This meant it had to go back to Singapore and be unloaded and the cargo loaded back on to another vessel that met the minimum health and safety standards. What a message to send! Next up was Kyle McGinn who is a former MUA youth rep and now a Labor MP for the West Australia Legislative Council. This was new to us Kiwis. He talked about how much he hated being called a politician but it’s great to see someone sitting in Parliament getting our issues across. Kyle was lovely and a little rough around the edges and likes to occasionally drink his beer from his shoe. His comrades still couldn’t believe he’s a politician, but he’s worked at sea as a cook and on the waterfront and has our best interests at heart. It was great to see an event that wasn’t too PC and we could all have a laugh. We later heard about of their superior conditions MUA members have across the ditch in the waterfront industry. 8-hour shifts, no rolling 8’s, fatigue management, true time and a half on afternoon shifts and double time rates on nightshifts and weekends! 32 hour working weeks with the ability to make yourself available for overtime and to be able to bank those days for later. This was just the tip of the iceberg for some of these port companies.
Once Sam and I had picked our jaws off the floor we all headed out for our first rally. We had no idea what we were in for. We all piled on to buses and fronted up to the NOPSEMA offices in Melbourne.
NOPSEMA are the regulators for the oil and gas majors in the industry. The MUA Youth wanted to highlight the importance of NOPSEMA doing their job and forcing the Oil and Gas Majors to clean up their operations when they’re done sucking oil from the wells.
They say Oil and Gas operators have had it too good, for too long. For years they thought they could cut the top of the rig and leave the rest under the sea where pipe and other materials would be left to rust away.
There have been claims that dumping materials and other waste on the sea floor is good, as it creates new homes for fish and other species to live in!
The MUA have put NOPSEMA on notice that they need to force the Oil and Gas majors to clear up the mess they intend leaving behind on our ocean floors.
We sent them a reminder by leaving a hideous 30 metre PVC pipe structure on the front steps of their building. Unfortunately on the day we were unable to make it up the multi storey building with this object as it wasn’t going to fit through the revolving doors, but I had no doubt the MUA members had something ruthless in mind.
Even though the MUA has struggled to keep their youth committee afloat during the pandemics and lockdowns, they couldn’t stress enough how important is to keep educating our youth and sending them to these events.
The MUA are fantastic with their image, branding and apparel for their branches. They keep it simple, but no member goes without good gear, lanyards, stickers and banners. You name it. The employers hate it. I also noticed at every rally and for every other union striking there was always a MUA flag or banner in the background showing their support and solidarity. They also preach about how active they are on social media. They say read it and pass it on, share it, like it. Comment on other unions and branches being dogged by these big companies – just don’t do it on your own company and get yourself in trouble! Social media
is at our fingertips and we need to keep up with the times.
It was a fantastic opportunity to take the new youth activists to Melbourne, Sam from Lyttelton has come back with a staunch attitude, he’s now speaking up at toolbox talks and quoting a lot of union language. So that’s really positive to see. All in all, it was by far the best conference I have attended. It’s great to see us replicating a lot of what they do.
So thank you to Russell Mayn and Craig Harrison and our members for helping with this trip and to the other branches who sent some of their members along. And of course a big thank you to our MUA comrades for inviting us!
