MWJ Summer 2016

Making History MUA Women take a leading role

CFMEU Merger Potential to create Australia’s most powerful union

THE MARITIME WORKERS’ JOURNAL SUMMER 2015

More than 100 Days of Assembly Hutchison dispute close to resolution

Contents 4-7

National Council 2015 Potential merger dominates discussions

8-12

utchison Dispute H Almost through the gate after being sacked by text

22-23 H igh Court for Cash Visa Case MUA to take Govt to court in 2016 26-27 W omen Make Their Mark Three women in three leadership positions 28-31 N ew Officials Fresh faces to take MUA forward

Pictures from the month-long Alexander Spirit dispute in Devonport, full story on page 13

42-43 C ampaigns Intensive Delivering the tools to get rid of Turnbull Govt 81-85 F inances Audited Concise Financial Report of MUA for year ended 30 June 2015

Cover: Hutchison delegates at the Brisbane assembly led by Hannah Matthewson

EDITOR IN CHIEF COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR EDITORIAL TEAM DESIGN PRINTER

Paddy Crumlin Darrin Barnett Ashleigh Telford Magnesium Media Printcraft

Maritime Workers’ Journal 365-375 Sussex Street Sydney NSW 2000 Contact: 9267 - 9134 Fax: 9261 - 3481 Email: journal@mua.org.au Website: http://www.mua.org.au MWJ reserves the right at all times to edit and/or reduce any articles or letters to be published.

Publication No: 1235 For all story ideas, letters, obituaries please email journal@mua.org.au Some articles in this MWJ were sourced from Working Life (workinglife.org.au), an ACTU-run trade union news service

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LO G G I N G O N

Open Letter to the Members of the Maritime Union of Australia

Comrades, I’d like to take the time to outline and clarify our National Council’s thinking around the potential merger with the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union.

In mid-October, the Maritime Union of Australia’s National Council resolved that the MUA would commence discussions internally and externally on the possible future amalgamation between the CFMEU and the MUA. This came after a period of consideration by Council on whether an amalgamation with another union, or unions, would be in our best interest.

This is a standing matter for review in our union policy.

A number of opportunities were considered. The main consideration was around ‘best fit’ towards strengthening MUA member’s industrial rights - particularly our right-towork. Previous amalgamations have considered this and have delivered us a stronger, more powerful organisation each and every time.

National Council noted that a possible merger with the CFMEU would bring strength not only to the MUA and the CFMEU, but would also strengthen the entire national and international labour movement. The potential merger could present a strong, effective political and industrial opposition to the ongoing attacks and orchestrated anti-worker and antiunion campaigns from neo-liberal and other right-wing forces.

Accordingly, National Council directed the MUA National Executive to open formal discussions with the CFMEU Executive regarding the opportunities for amalgamation with the CFMEU, with the view of making a report to the National Conference of Members in 2016 for their consideration and determination.

Discussions will focus on the MUA becoming a new and separate division of the merged union. This new division would retain the MUA’s current rules and assets, including democratic processes, elections and structures, other than the requirement for the MUA to find unification with the CFMEU on its own national structure. Essentially, we would maintain our unique identity and culture within the broader amalgamated union.

Discussions will also include specific issues and concerns of branches and workplaces.

There will also be a focus on outlining the benefits of a merger for maritime workers, particularly in regards to more efficient use of resources.

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There will be a focus on the capacity to deliver more effective and cost-efficient support to the membership in mutually agreed areas - such as international, legal, research, communication, organising and political campaigning - in a way that builds on the existing needs and policies of the MUA membership.

Any new division would retain the name Maritime Union of Australia (MUA).

We have started this process internally, with initial ‘report backs’ to occur at the 2015 Annual General Meetings.

National Council resolved that National Executive should report back to National Council with the recommendations and a ‘motion for endorsement’ to table at the 2016 National Conference of Members. Any final proposal would then be considered for endorsement by a plebiscite of the whole of the MUA membership. You will decide on our future, together with the rest of our membership Dates for the first executive discussions have not yet been finalised.

As mentioned, the MUA is no stranger to mergers, with a series of amalgamations in both the Waterside Workers’ Federation and the Seaman’s Union of Australia culminating in the 1993 formation of the MUA. The decision to commence discussions has attracted enormous criticism from the Federal Government and right-wing employer groups, such as the Australian Mines and Metals Association. At one point, there were calls by the Federal Government and some employer groups, alongside anti-union opinion piece writers in the Murdoch press, to introduce legislation to stop the merger and to accelerate the introduction of other anti-union legislation, such as the Australian Building and Construction Commission. This would only remove industrial rights from trade unions involved in the construction and related industries. Upon its election in 2013, the conservative Federal Government indicated that the MUA would also be a target of the revised ABCC. The trade union movement - and particularly effective unions such as the MUA - has been subject to enormous discrimination and litigation available to employers under the anti-union Federal Government industrial relations legislation. Some of this legislation has included the proposed removal of Cabotage and the by-passing of the Senate to introduce foreign workers into

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Two thirds of the CFMEU Executive, Michael O’Connor and Dave Noonan, with National Secretary Paddy Crumlin, TWU National Secretary Tony Sheldon and ACTU Secretary Dave Oliver.

the offshore industry. The MUA/CFMEU and other progressive trade unions in Australia will continue to be the focus of this discrimination, in a multi-dimensional campaign of anti-worker legislation, aggressive employer union-busting and other actions designed to diminish and remove the rights of trade unions.

that privatisation presents to their job security. The attacks we see today across our industries are becoming more complex and aggressive in the way the bosses undermine our jobs and very right to exist in the industries in which we currently work.

Chevron persists in its prosecution of a legal case against the MUA, seeking damages of up to $20 million for the union’s action in regards to a safety breach at their sub-contractor Patrick’s stevedoring operation in Henderson, Western Australia. MUA and other trade union officials increasingly find it difficult to access work sites and there have been recent moves to attempt to bust the union by encouraging individuals to bargain in workplaces such as Qube, individually rather than as part of an industrial collective. BHP is in the process of terminating its Port Hedland towage workforce and Alcoa has determined to replace its Australian ship with a full-time foreign-crewed vessel on its alumina trade between Victoria and Western Australia.

The Federal Government continues to defy the Senate, by implementing the use of foreign seafarers in the offshore hydrocarbon industry through the Migration Visa rort - and we are going to the High Court over it.

The decision to proceed to discussions by National Council was underpinned by a determination to ensure the MUA remains ‘here to stay’, with its current democratic and union structures, while being part of a larger industrial organisation that could only bring wider support in the form of solidarity and resources which would strengthen our right-to-work and have decent conditions in the maritime industry.

We see systematic attempts by stevedoring employers to remove more and more MUA jobs from the wharves through automation or pushing substandard Awards from the transport industry closer and closer to the hook.

You know we will continue fighting from the front for maritime and other workers’ rights.

In Unity Paddy Crumlin National Secretary Maritime Union of Australia

Transnationals pervade every part of our industry, and our Port Authority membership knows only too well the real threat

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The decision has been widely welcomed already, after reports to many MUA workplaces, and the national and international trade union movement – including the International Transport Workers’ Federation and Maritime International Federation– has welcomed the discussions and sees it as a strengthening of the trade union movement and for all of the progressive values, campaigns and actions on behalf of working men and women that we stand for.

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Councillors take part in discussions with CFMEU executive regarding a potential merger

Historic Move Toward MUA-CFMEU Merger

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here was much discussion at National Council around ‘taking the Maritime Union of Australia forward’. However, it was the final day’s session on a potential merger between the MUA and the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union that will mark a turning point in history.

CFMEU executive members Michael O’Connnor, Dave Noon and Tony Maher joined Councillors in a discussion on what the potential merger would look like.

MUA National Secretary Paddy Crumlin said the potential merger may create Australia’s most powerful union, which would better serve the membership of both unions.

“We have been presented with a monumental opportunity to represent working men and women in the Australian workplace, without losing the long and proud history of our union,” Crumlin declared.

“The MUA is no stranger to mergers. And since the Waterside Workers’ Federation and the Seaman’s Union of Australia amalgamated in 1993, the MUA today is here to stay and can only grow in strength in this new union.

This is an important development. But discussions to merge with the like-minded CFMEU has the potential to help fight the ever-pervasive anti-worker and anti-union attacks on workers and their entitlements and job security.

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“We will continue to work through the issues with our members, to ensure any merger is in their absolute best interest and has their total support.”

As soon as the media began reporting on the merger, the usual suspects came out to condemn such a move - in a clear sign the neo-liberal establishment were worried about the industrial and political clout a merged union would have.

Current Employment Minister, Senator Michealia Cash, was reported in The Australian newspaper as saying the potential merger should send “shivers down the spine” of all Australians. In the same article, former Employment Minister Eric Abetz said the combined union would be a “force of nature” that would be difficult to oppose.

Other opponents, such as Liberal Senators and Australian Mines and Metals Association representatives, were also happy to go on the record to express their dismay at what the merger would mean for them.

However discussions have only just begun; and any merger would only occur if deemed in the interest of the membership.

Crumlin noted: “Preserving the policies, structure and rules that make the MUA so effective and special in this country and internationally is of utmost importance.

“Any proposition on the merger going forward will, of course, be determined by the Quadrennial Conference of members next February.

anti-union bosses and Government. We have the opportunity to build Australia’s most powerful union. This move is about improving services and capacity for maritime workers to fight.”

CFMEU National Secretary Michael O’Connor said his union would welcome a merger with the MUA. “The opportunity we’ve been presented with will bring great strength to the national and international union movement,” O’Connor said.

“The MUA offers us a chance to strengthen our politics within the CFMEU, because the struggle isn’t just about increasing wages or creating a safe work site. There is also a bigger and important political struggle.

“We’re very conscious of the MUA’s identity and we want to make it clear that this is a merger of equals.

“This move will be hugely beneficial to not just the members of the MUA and CFMEU, but will lead the way for all working men and women.”

ETU’s Allen Hicks talks about campaigning to get rid of conservative governments

Global Unions Welcome Aust Merger Move

Turnbull ‘Presents A Challenge’ The CFMEU merger, although an important and central issue, was not the only item of discussion. There were a number of guests from other unions, and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten made an appearance and speech at the National Council dinner.

Despite a change of leader, Crumlin said, the need to get rid of the Liberals was just as important as ever.

“Malcolm Turnbull hasn’t changed the policy settings. All he’s done is change the language to appear more inclusive,” he said.

“However, we have to understand that Turnbull is more effective than Abbott and that presents a challenge.”

Assistant National Secretary Ian Bray discusses the discipline of the Alexander Spirit crew throughout the dispute

‘Build A Better Future’ Project Assistant National Secretary Warren Smith praises the efforts of rank-and-file, community and other unions during the community assembly at Port Botany and Fisherman’s Island

“If the merger is agreed ‘in principle’ at our rank-and file-conference, a process of finalising any requirements from our membership in the structure, rules and identity of the merged union would be clearly defined and voted on by every member in a plebiscite.

“We have already indicated to the CFMEU that we want to preserve our name, rules and democratic structures in a division of a potential new union.

“Essentially, the ability to resource-share and create strength in numbers will help us fend against attacks from the anti-worker, www.mua.org.au

A panel session was dominated by similar discussion, with the ACTU’s Sally McManus, AMWU’s Paul Bastian and the AWU’s Scott McDine.

After Crumlin’s introduction - which congratulated the ACTU on a return to a grass-roots campaigning model - campaign gun McManus took over outlining the basics of the Build A Better Future project.

“Things have changed with Turnbull. But the public has high expectations of him, (expectations) that he will drop the agenda Abbott had,” she said.

“The higher the expectations the better, and the attacks are the same: the attacks on Medicare, the attacks on penalty rates, the attacks on working people.

“And these are the core issues people think about when they go to vote.”

McManus said it was important the public was reminded that, regardless of who was in charge, it was in the Liberal’s DNA to www.mua.org.au

Leader of the Opposition Bill Shorten delivering his speech at the National Council dinner

Global union federations the ITF (International Transport Workers’ Federation) and IndustriALL Global Union have welcomed news that two of their Australian member unions are considering a merger that would create a new ‘super union’.

ITF-affiliated union the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) and IndustriALL-affiliated union the Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) have announced merger talks.

IndustriALL general secretary Jyrki Raina commented: “Strength in unity is our central conviction. I applaud the members and leaders of these two great Australian trade unions, CFMEU and MUA, in their bold merger.

“IndustriALL and the ITF are working together on the global level to build union power through strategic supply chains. The new union in Australia will advance that work.”

ITF general secretary Steve Cotton added: “This is exciting news. It means Australia’s biggest union is on its way, backed by its friends and colleagues in the international union movement.

“This merger is potentially historic and will help guarantee a better working future for those working in Australia.”

News of the proposed merger was also applauded by the ITUC (International Trade Union Confederation), whose general secretary Sharan Burrow stated: “This is great news for Australian workers, especially the members of the CFMEU and the MUA. “Organising maritime workers together with those in the CFMEU’s sectors is a major step forward, at a time when workers’ rights to union representation are under sustained attack.” n

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his union was under, he would encourage his membership to hit the streets. ““Grassroots campaigns are not necessarily something the AWU has had a central focus.

But that’s something we are changing,” McDine said.

Crumlin wrapped up the panel, by noting manufacturing, like shipping, was not dead.

“The neo-conservative agenda wants to kill off manufacturing to break the unions,” he said.

“They’ll kill off the industries and then bring them back, like they did in the United States, where in the South they had the rightto-work states, where they had no union and minimal wages and conditions.”

MUA Vice-President Garry Keane, National Secretary Paddy Crumlin talk to the panel made up of the ACTU’s Sally McManus, the AMWU’s Paul Bastian and AWU’s Scott McDine about the problem with PM Turnbull

ETU Praised For Qld Election Campaign

A minute’s silence was undertaken before proceedings kicked off for the victims of the Ankara bombing and the sinking of US Merchant Navy ship the El Faro

Deputy National Secretary Will Tracey and MUA National President Christy Cain in conversation

dismantle items important to working men and women.

As a result, she requested that the union and its activists become involved in the campaign and volunteer time to ensure the Liberal Party only governs for one term.

AMWU National Secretary Paul Bastian hammered home the importance of ridding Australia of the Liberals and the Conservatives’ anti-worker stance.

Bastian spoke about how manufacturing, particularly auto manufacturing, was one of the first targets upon former Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s election. But Bastian noted a Labor Party Government was not an outright solution.

“The Labor Party isn’t ticking all of the boxes we need to be ticked,” he said.

He then went on to speak about how his union had secured a local procurement policy, which was passed at the recent ALP Conference and noted the party would have to be held accountable to legislate these policies should they form Government.

Later in the week Electrical Trade Union National Secretary Allen Hicks undertook a presentation solo.

However that didn’t stop him receiving accolades from Councilors, particularly for his union’s efforts in deposing the Liberal National Party in Queensland.

The ETU’s anti-privatisation campaign resonated so well with the Queensland electorate that the Labor Opposition was able to ensure Campbell Newman’s Government was only in power for one term.

Workers’ Capital Power Via Super Funds Another panel session was conducted on Worker’s Capital. Invited into the hot

seats were ACTU Assistant Secretary Scott Connolly, Australian Super Director Brian Daley and former Labor Politician, honorary MUA Member and current IFM Board Member Greg Combet.

Crumlin kicked off the session in saying members’ equity, financial services and investment are critical to social partnerships.

Combet followed by saying there was more money in super funds than there was money on the Australian Stock exchange.

“In terms of super in Australia, there is nearly two trillion dollars of worker’s saving,” he said.

“One of the reasons industry funds have outperformed the banks, is that a lot of our money is invested in liquid assets. We have funds more suited to job creation.

“However, there are challenges. This pertains to the size of some of the funds.

“Costs are going up in a competitive choice environment. For a lot of smaller and medium size funds in the area, it is getting more costly. It will be getting more difficult to sustain.”

Meanwhile Daley explained how, since the Liberal Party had been elected, the attacks on Industry Super had been extensive.

“They have an agenda of supporting the banks. This is about ideology, about getting unions out of the sector,” he said.

“We are negotiating with Turnbull. We have to make a decision to see if Turnbull is fair about wanting to negotiate with us.”

Connolly spoke about a campaign and advertising strategy to better sell ‘super’ and the risks that were involved if big banks got their way.

He said there was a need to think about what such a campaign would look like.

“How do we reframe super and ensure dignity for workers?” he asked.

The ‘Vote No’ Campaign Other items of discussion revolved around the Hutchison dispute (see page 8) and the numerous disputes aboard ships (see page 13) throughout the year.

Deputy National Secretary Will Tracey also spoke about another important campaign, which at the time was about to get underway, The ‘Vote No’ Campaign.

Five offshore companies, under the direction of AMMA, were trying to undermine current conditions in an ongoing EBA. Tracey said the union urged all members to “vote the offer down”, as it was an outright affront to the hardfought and won conditions previously secured.

Many of the key claims the MUA wanted enshrined were around wage increases, permanency, skills and qualifications.

“AMMA and the ‘Offshore 5’ – as they’re now referred - have shown their arrogance in trying to circumnavigate the union. I’m sure they’ll be rewarded for their contempt,” he said. n Councillors and representatives from MUNZ, Youth and the Veterans ponder discussion

Importance Of Grassroots Campaigns Like Bastian, McDine said his union was struggling from a general downturn in manufacturing. He was calling on the ALP and wider community to support a campaign - similar to the AMWU’s - in its Reserve Our Gas campaign, which aims to have a domestic gas reservation to benefit consumers and producers.

He said because of the relentless attacks 6

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Fast-forward to the present day and Diaz has no job and, with an endless waiting list for public housing, is also staring at homelessness. It was her story - and the story of others - which hit a chord with the usually disinterested media.

People losing their jobs is an unfortunate situation; but the public - and the media that feeds it - had become desensitised.

Thousands were being punted from manufacturing. The then Abbott Federal Government was purging the public service, but it barely registered on the collective conscience.

However sacking by text and email was shocking. So shocking in fact, that the even conservative Murdoch broadsheet The Australian was sympathetic to the wharfies’ plight.

But it is not hard to understand sympathy from media workers, given that Hutchison’s Human Resources Manager publicly bragged on her LinkedIn profile that she had overseen redundancies at both Fairfax and Newscorp.

Human Resources was not the only antagonistic element, particularly when the dispute first kicked off. Hired goons brought back unwelcome memories of the 1998 dispute.

Things almost came to a head at Port

Patrick B&G bargaining committee joined Sydney members in protesting Vodafone on the Pitt Street Mall

Community, Unions & Political Parties United To Defend Hutchison 97

One of the sacked workers Leyre Diaz tells the community her story of struggle

Botany when one of the aforementioned goons was spotted wearing a balaclava on the same day as the ‘Family Fun Day’.

This was exacerbated when former Federal Employment Minister Eric Abetz stood up in Parliament and defended the use of balaclavas and German Shepherds against wharfies in the Patrick dispute, and then went on to infer that wharfies were war criminals, quoting an error-riddled and fact-light tome by Hal Colebatch – which has been discredited and widely ridiculed.

At the time of print, a resolution was ‘almost in sight’ with terminal operator Hutchison after more than 100 days of dispute.

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t the time of print, a resolution had been achieved after wharfies from Brisbane and Sydney endorsed a new agreement with Hutchison. Check the website for a full report.

After many meetings in front of the Fair Work Commission, lead by National Secretary Paddy Crumlin, Assistant National Secretary Warren Smith, Queensland Branch Secretary Bob Carnegie and Sydney Branch Secretary Paul McAleer, together with delegates from Brisbane and Sydney an agreement was in sight.

“It is an enormous credit to all involved in the campaign, which included the communities around the ports in Sydney and Brisbane, unions, churches and other supporters of labour justice,” Crumlin said.

Most importantly, all 97 workers were to be reinstated - with voluntary redundancies being offered.

Additionally, the 30-hour week had been resumed, with a transition to a 32-hour week.

Gains in safety were also made, as part of 8

the potential new agreement.

How It All started Close to midnight on Thursday 6 August, it was a life shattering shock to the 97 workers when they received the now infamous text message.

Just two lines long, the text directed each of the 97 to an even more matter-of-fact email informing them that their ‘services were no longer required’. They were not allowed to clear their personal effects from their lockers; there was no conversation, no recourse, no humanity.

The 97 included mothers, fathers, grandfathers and, in the case of the Matthewsons, a whole family.

Some had been at Hutchison since day one, opting to leave the relative stability of Patrick and DP World to help the third operator find its feet in an unpredictable container market dominated by the duopoly.

Others, like single-mother of teenage boys Leyre Diaz, had only worked in the industry

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten and Member for Kingsford Smith Matt Thistlethwaite joined Sydney Branch Secretaries Paul Keating and Paul McAleer on day one at Port Botany

Sydney Branch Secretaries Joe Deakin, Paul Keating and Paul Garrett on the infamous roundabout.

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for a year or so. The media quickly descended on the community assemblies at the two ports, hungry for a story from one of the unlucky ones. Reluctantly, Diaz offered hers up. It was one that just weeks before was filled with hope.

After years of insecure work, she thought she had made a breakthrough at Hutchison, and had sought advice from management on whether her future was secure enough to leave public housing and undertake her own rental with her two boys. It was with Hutchison’s assurances that she left housing commission and embarked upon a new pathway. www.mua.org.au

National Secretary Paddy Crumlin revs up the crowd at the Botany Assembly

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Vox Pops From Members In Brisbane & Sydney Ron Branford (Brisbane) Hutchison is just trying to get its way, to save money. They’re trying to run the company for nothing, or as cheap as possible. And why? Although they already have billions, they want more money.

They are trying to change the way the wharves are run, to get rid of everything the wharfies have fought for. They’re trying to get rid of all the benefits the union has won over many years.

Hutchison wants to divide off those of us who seem to be keeping our jobs, for now, from those they have declared redundant. But we have got to stand by the guys who have lost their jobs.

Where do we go from here? We don’t really know until the next court hearing.

Brisbane kids joined the assembly on one of the ‘Family Fun Days’

But for every opponent of the MUA and the 97, there were five times the amount of supporters. There have been so many messages of solidarity, from around the world and across Australia, that the union had to set up a repository for all of them on the website, where they can be viewed.

Assistant National Secretary Warren Smith said he had been overwhelmed by the amount of support that had poured in - not just from other unions, but from members of the public.

“In addition to messages of solidarity from around the globe, we’ve received monetary donations and piles of food, plus staples like firewood at both of the sites,” Smith said.

“It’s very reassuring for the sacked 97, and it’s heartening to me, that we’re on the right side of history in this dispute. And those who think it’s ok to dehumanise workers are on the wrong side.”

After two weeks of uncertainty - and brave souls manning the assembly through rain, hail and shine at the two sites - Hutchison reengaged with the union.

National Secretary Paddy Crumlin said at the time that the MUA welcomed a mature and normal process of consultation and negotiation with Hutchison.

“That’s what we have been after all along,” Crumlin said.

“It’s pleasing that Hutchison has returned to the negotiating table, rather than sacking workers at midnight by text and email and preventing them from clearing out their own lockers.

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A group of sacked Hutchison Botany workers stand behind Assistant National Secretary Warren Smith as he addresses the media and community on the roundabout

“We look forward to the fact that, if this new attitude is maintained by the company – because it certainly will be by the MUA – then a solution can be found that both deals with the difficult commercial reality the company is facing and repairs the damage that has been done to the company’s relationship with its workers over the past few weeks.”

Fair Work Ombudsman Enters Fray However, just as one party came to, another decided to ‘put in the boot’, with the Fair Work Ombudsman announcing it would investigate the sacked workers.

The MUA issued this statement as a response

to the FWO’s actions: “The union has become aware that the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) is attempting to communicate with members regarding the recent Hutchison Ports dispute. While this is a disgraceful waste of taxpayers’ money, it may also cause unnecessary concern among the membership.

“Accordingly, the union advises members not to communicate with the FWO and to direct all correspondence to the union’s National Legal Unit: legal.assistant@mua.org.au.

“The union also confirms the Fair Work Ombudsman does not have the power to compel answers to any questions besides a person’s name and address, and only then if the FWO reasonably www.mua.org.au

believes the person has committed an offence under the Fair Work Act. “For further information please contact the MUA’s legal staff.”

In lieu of the resolution, community assemblies have been maintained at both ports, as a signal to the company that the workers have not given in - and will remain until the very end.

As well as sacked workers, all branch officials from Sydney and Brisbane have been mainstays at the community assembly.

Despite illness, Queensland Branch Secretary Bob Carnegie has been a major feature at Fisherman’s Island.

"We have an absolute and fundamental right in this country to speak our minds freely and to demonstrate peacefully," Carnegie said in response to attempts by the Port of Brisbane to dismantle the community assembly.

"We intend to defend that right, should we need to, with whatever means are at our disposal – including, but not limited to, the political, community and industrial protest which would occur should we be attempted to be moved off the tiny parcel of land leased to us, we thought in good faith, from the Port of Brisbane.”

Meanwhile Sydney Branch Secretary Paul McAleer has all but moved onto the roundabout at Port Botany.

“We remain steadfast in our resolve to keep up this action and will stay here as long as it takes,” McAleer said.

“Nothing is achieved without stuggle.” www.mua.org.au

Paul Petersen (Queensland Organiser & former Brisbane wharfie) This dispute means everything for workers across Australia, especially in the stevedoring sector. To win this dispute means to keep unionism strong within the workforce.

Ultimately, Hutchison’s aim will be to de-unionise the workforce. They’ve come in with management which wasn’t up to the task. But now they’re trying to send a message to workers across Australia that they can operate with a non-union workforce. With backing from the Federal Government, I’m sure.

I think the company has made a lot of mistakes. They weren’t prepared for such a well-organised response from the union. So I can see the company starting to retreat and then wanting to resolve this dispute as quickly as they can.

Damien McGarry (Hutchison Brisbane) To be honest, the dispute is not about my job. It’s about getting everyone else back in the gates, and everyone treated with some respect.

I’m pretty confident about the dispute.

I think Hutchison knows they made a lot of mistakes, and they’re coming to light.

I went through the 1998 Patricks dispute. Do I see this as on the same level? Yes, I do. Being sent SMSs, with instructions just not to turn up again, is the same approach. Hutchison just didn’t lock the gates, that’s the only difference.

In 1998 I was new to the workforce.

I was led through the dispute by the senior members there. This dispute is more personal for me. I am leading newer members through it.

When I took on the delegate’s role in

the terminal, I knew what I was letting myself in for. The delegate is always the first head on the chopping block.

But I knew that. I was prepared for that. What I wasn’t prepared for was seeing the reactions when workers heard about the redundancies - seeing everyone go through their different emotions.

Everyone has a different emotional reaction; everyone has a different problem. I had members who were worried about losing money the first day, and others who seem not to worry about that at all. I had a member who didn’t like the rainbow flag at the community assembly brought by the university Queer Collective because he is a strict Catholic, and I had to explain to him that we had to be open to all those coming to support us.

As a delegate, I’ve had to deal with a lot of different emotional reactions, and keep the workforce united.

Yes, I think we went into this as a united workforce because of work I’d done before as a delegate. I set out to put everyone on an equal playing field, and establish that no-one was better than anyone else.

My work ethic is very high, and I wanted the worksite to work well. I was a shift manager, and when someone did something wrong, I made sure he knew it.

But I made sure we worked for each other and respected each other.

Only eight months ago we were going for a Christmas Party with the management. Now we don’t respect them.

We don’t even want them in our lunch room.

Alex Hood (Hutchison Brisbane) To me the dispute means an attack on Australian workers in general, and our conditions and the unionised culture we have at present.

I think we’re midway in the dispute.

The company has initiated an attack on the workforce, on the union delegates the workers have elected, and on our health and safety representatives - which is an attack on the Australian union movement. We are in combat with them legally and in other ways, and we are fighting on behalf of the whole Australian trade union movement.

This is the first industrial dispute I’ve been through. I didn’t expect the company to be so disorganised internally. I think they really are disorganised. It’s not a good cop, bad cop exercise.

I’ve learned from the dispute that the

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Australian community will back the trade union movement when we are defending our way of life. I didn’t expect such a vast support network. It’s been invigorating.

Hannah Matthewson (Hutchison Brisbane) At first, for me, this dispute was about my job. Now it’s about the broader issue of job security in an Australian industry.

We are gaining momentum. We are going in the right direction. We want everyone reinstated. If not, we’ll have the blue.

If Hutchison moves on their threat to mothball the terminals, personally I think we should then be going in stronger.

I honestly don’t think they can do it financially, mothballing the terminals.

This is the first industrial dispute I’ve been through. What’s different from what I expected? The support. I was expecting there’d be maybe 20 of us at the terminal gates. I never expected all the support we’ve got from the trade unions and the

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publicly generally.

And I never thought we would win.

We’ve come a lot further than I had thought possible.

Graeme (Hutchison Port Botany) I’m a realist. I know there is no such thing as a ‘job for life’ these days. We have all become, in effect, casuals with no long-term security of employment. I know the economy is changing and certain industries will have hard times.

But Hutchison kind of smarts. I’m a human being with bills and commitments.

I deserve better than a text message at midnight. I deserve to be treated with dignity and respect.

Holly Matthewson (Hutchison Port Botany) I’ve been here two years now. First female employed. First kicked off. It’s shocking; I’ve got a father that works here and a sister that works here. We’re all gone.

They’ve head-picked union delegates

basically; they’ve taken out all of our safety committee. Pretty much the whole site committee.

Messages of solidarity

Brad Dunne (DP World Port Botany) My father was in the Patrick’s dispute and got through it and the only difference there was they sacked everyone. Here they’ve been more divisive and not sacked everyone, and it’ll be a little bit bigger a challenge in that respect. But I am sure we’re up to it.

I can’t believe that, in modern day Australia, the Government stands by and allows an employer to do this - to a familyoriented people, who only want to go to home from work safe and put the bread and butter on the table.

I challenge them (Hutchison) to sit down, come clean and negotiate. If they were really doing it tough, we would’ve been mature and we would’ve come to a negotiated arrangement that would’ve seen them keep their head above water and our workers above water.

Part of the success of the Hutchison campaign was down to the international solidarity exhibited by the International Dockworkers’ Council and the International Transport Workers’ Federation. Working closely with these groups ensured that the company understood the long-term ramification with their international workforce after the unacceptable manner in which the treated the 97.

Hundreds of messages of solidarity were received, here are just a handful:

IDC General Coordinator Jordi Aragunde

Victorian Branch members show solidarity with their comrades in Sydney and Brisbane in holding a rally outside of a Vodafone store in Melbourne.

MUA Shows Vodafone A Real #BigLittleProtest As a result of Hutchison’s intransigence in negotiations, the Maritime Union of Australia was forced to ramp up its campaign.

On August 26 in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, members and their supporters took the protest to Vodafone, which is half-owned by Hutchison.

The groups in each city targeted retail stores and handed out leaflets informing the public of what had happened to the 97

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wharfies sacked by Hutchison.

In addition, social media campaigners took to their keyboards to join Vodafone’s campaign, which ironically encourages protest. #BigLittleProtest - which was designed to get consumers to protest inconsequential matters to do with their network provider - has been inundated with irate wharfies and their sympathisers.

Using social media and the hashtag

#BigLittleProtest, anyone can tell Vodafone exactly what you think of Hutchison’s actions.

A petition calling on Vodafone to intervene is available here: https://www.change.org/p/vodafonehelp-restore-communications-withport-workers-tell-hutchison-ports-topick-up-the-phone-and-do-the-rightthing-the-lives-of-hundreds-of-workersand-their-families-are-on-the-line

www.mua.org.au

UK Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn supports the sacked 97

www.mua.org.au

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Above: Seafarers aboard the MV Duke showing their support Below: Crew of the REM ETIVE

Above: Dockers in Hong Kong – where Hutchison is based and operates – showing their support Below: Docker in Panama in solidarity

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www.mua.org.au

www.mua.org.au

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Crew aboard the Alexander Spirit.

Credit: Neil Richardson, Examiner Newspaper

Govt Changes Threaten Future Of Aust Shipping Industry As the MWJ deadline approached, the Federal Government’s controversial amendments to the Coastal Trading Act were scheduled to hit the Senate on November 12. The Bill had passed through the House Of Representatives in October, with the Liberal-National Party Coalition utilising its numbers to ensure its passing.

Major Opponents Of The Bill Included “The Shipping Legislation Amendment Bill 2015 is a Bill that, by design, will destroy the Australian shipping industry.” Adam Bandt Vic Greens MP. “We oppose this legislation and we do so with good reason. It not only destroys an Australian industry, but it destroys Australian jobs. It is consistent with the theme of this government of destroying Australian jobs, driving down workplace wages and conditions and destroying unions in this country.” Melissa Parke WA Labor MP. “The government thinks it is its job to take jobs and prosperity away and hand it over to the giant corporations that own the shipping – which is not owned by Australians.” Bob Katter, Katter’s Australia Party Qld. “Eighty-eight per cent of the claimed deregulatory savings from this Bill are from the replacement of Australian wage standards with Third World wage standards. Frankly, and as the member for Blair eloquently pointed out, this is outrageous.” Kelvin Thompson Vic Labor MP. “The Shipping Legislation Amendment Bill 2015 is about replacing the Australian flag flying off the back of ships with the white flag on Australian jobs. This is unilateral economic disarmament. For an island continent, it is in Australia’s economic, environmental and security interests that we are a shipping nation. And that is why it is so surprising that the current government has chosen to bring this Bill forward.

This Bill, soaked as it is in ideology, sells out the national interest on each of these counts. It will allow overseas-flagged and crewed ships, paying workers Third World wages, to undercut Australian operators on domestic trade routes. It will destroy Australian jobs, damaging the economy. It will increase the likelihood of maritime accidents in our coastal waters, threatening the environment. And it will replace Australian mariners, who are subject to stringent background checks, with foreign workers whose backgrounds are not subject to the same scrutiny when it comes to security.” Anthony Albanese, NSW ALP.

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www.mua.org.au

www.mua.org.au

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he MUA has been working for more than two years to ensure ALP, Green and cross-bench Senators fully understand that deregulating the coastal shipping industry would be bad for jobs, bad for national security, bad for safety and bad for the environment.

In addition to this, the union has been working in developing a new policy that is focused on taking the Australian shipping industry into the future.

MUA National Secretary Paddy Crumlin said there were some impediments to the current policy and that, for the Australian shipping industry to remain viable, some changes would have to be made. This resulted from political compromising during the passage of legislation during the last days and weeks under the previous hung parliament when Labor was in office.

“It is integral that a vibrant Australian shipping industry is supported and maintained,” Crumlin said.

“This will require a bi-partisan approach, rather than an ideological one, as a strong coastal shipping fleet is vitally important to an Island nation with the world’s fourth largest shipping task.”

“Shipping policy historically in Australia, due to the importance to the national economy and national security, has received the support of both political parties when in Government.

“It was only the Howard Government, driven by the ideological focus on unionbusting and worker harassment that moved 17

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Assistant National Secretary Ian Bray addresses the crowd in downtown Devonport during the Alexander Spirit dispute

Senator Lambie said: “This is what happens when you don’t consult. I’m sick of the born to rule mentality.”

Independent Senator John Madigan leads the shipping summit with politicians from the ALP, Greens, Katter Party, and Jacqui Lambie Network as well as ACTU Secretary Dave Oliver

The MUA has been working for more than two years to convince ALP, Green and cross-bench Senators that deregulating the coastal shipping industry would be bad for jobs, bad for national security, bad for safety and bad for the environment. away from an influential and nation-building industry and jettisoned the wisdom and experience that was previously recognised around the world.

“The Australian shipping industry was once at the forefront in terms of regulatory governance in every aspect of safety, environmental protections, national security and labour rights.

“After six years of the ALP Government attempting to rebuild a community of interest that Australian could regain that leadership, however the new Abbott Government ran that ship on the reef, yet again.”

One such undertaking the union made, with the help of the Australian Council of Trade Unions and Independent Senator John Madigan, was a shipping summit.

The summit coincided with the release of The Australia Institute Report, commissioned by the MUA, into the Abbott Government’s proposed changes to the Coastal Trading Act in September in Melbourne.

The Australia Institute Report investigated the cost-benefit analysis of the Government’s own legislation, and found that only 18

88 Australian seafarer jobs will remain under Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss’s preferred option for policy change.

This represents a loss of 1,089 Australian seafarer jobs - or 93 per cent of the current workforce - and would mean the decimation of the maritime skills base.

MUA National Secretary Paddy Crumlin emphasised from the floor that Australia was a seafaring nation.

“Coastal shipping has successfully operated in Australia for more than 100 years and it needs to continue,” he said.

“Australia cannot function without homegrown seafarers.”

ACTU Secretary Dave Oliver added: “It is a national disgrace that the Federal Government wants to trash yet another Australian industry, due to its ongoing ideological crusade.

“That’s why the ACTU and Senator John Madigan convened this summit. We need to get the balance right by working with unions, politicians and business to ensure a long-term sustainable Australian shipping industry into the future.”

In addition to Oliver and Senator Madigan,

other participants included Senator Jacqui Lambie, Senator Ricky Muir, Greens Senator Janet Rice, Bob Katter MP, the ALP’s Pat Conroy MP, Maritime Industry Australia Ltd (MIAL) Chief Executive Teresa Lloyd and International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) Maritime Co-ordinator Jacqueline Smith.

Senator Madigan said he was concerned by the potential loss of more than one thousand Australian jobs.

“Coastal shipping goes to the very heart of our national security,” he declared. “I’m very concerned that the Government seems hell bent on doing to the coastal shipping industry, our seafarers, the same that they did to our automotive industry.

“It puts Australians out of jobs. Once we lose seafarers’ skills in this country, it will be very hard to get them back and we will be at the mercy of others.”

Madigan emphasised the point of the summit was to put politicians, unions and industry representatives in one room to try to ensure the survival of the industry.

“We’ve got to look at how we can do things better,” he said. “And that means www.mua.org.au

getting all the parties together - the workers, the unions, the companies - to work in a collaborative manner, where everybody gets a fair cut of the cake and we secure the future of the Australian shipping industry for the benefit of all.”

Importantly, key crossbench senators signalled they do not support Minister Truss’s shipping industry reforms as they stand.

The ALP and The Greens had previously indicated they would oppose the Bill.

“There won’t be enough votes. No way in hell. The Bill is not going anywhere,” Senator Lambie said at the summit.

Senator Lambie said Infrastructure Minister Warren Truss should sit down with unions and the industry for talks on amendments to the reform Bill.

“If the Government doesn’t have votes to get the bloody Coastal Shipping Bill through now, Truss has no choice,” she said.

“This is what happens when you don’t consult. I’m sick of the born to rule mentality.”

Greens Senator Janet Rice said the Bill before the house was an “ideological attack” on existing coastal shipping laws.

Senator Muir commented: “By deregulating the system and flooding our market with foreign workers and foreign ships, we’ll run into all sorts of problems.”

Senator Lambie said fellow crosswww.mua.org.au

bench Senators Nick Xenophon and Glenn Lazarus, who could not attend, were also against the legislation as it stands.

Teresa Lloyd from MIAL, Margie Thompson representing dry bulk and Rod Pickette from the MUA, met subsequently to discuss ways in which the key concerns of the bulk shipping sector could be addressed in a revised coastal trading regulatory regime.

Stakeholders reported that it was a positive and constructive discussion.

That would be the forerunner to reconvening another forum of the entire industry.

There are plans to hold another summit with all shipping industry stakeholders if the Bill is defeated, probably in early 2016.

In the meantime, the Shipping Legislation Amendment Bill 2015 was referred to the Senate Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Legislation Committee for Inquiry The committee meeting was held in Canberra on September 7 and the committee has since reported. (The findings can be found on the aph.gov.au website.)

MUA Policy Adviser Rod Pickette appeared on the union’s behalf. Pickette told the committee they had a clear choice to make: they would be supporting the national interest by acting to maintain an Australian coastal shipping industry.

“This Bill will end Australia’s long-standing commitment to the provision of preferential

The crew from the MV Portland plead to keep their jobs aboard the vessel

treatment for Australian shipping in the carriage of domestic port-to-port seaborne freight and passengers, commonly known as maritime cabotage,” Pickette said.

“Historically, that has been part of our framework, our architecture of shipping policy in this nation, basically since the British Admiralty law applied in advance of the 1912 Navigation Act. “Cabotage is a central concept linked to Australia’s maritime security and defence capability.”

Pickette also said passage of the Bill would have major negative economic consequences, as it would render many local businesses uncompetitive.

“Those businesses will effectively be destroyed, wiped out. They cannot survive under the terms of this Bill if it passes in its current form,” he said.

“It will reduce taxation revenue to Australia, and will throw on the scrap heap at least 2,000 Australian seafarers and many related jobs in the maritime sector.

“It will deny Australians the opportunity to be trained in seafaring and maritime skills, because they require ‘sea time’ on Australian ships, for which there will be so few left that we will not be able to sustain a maritime skills base in this country.”

Pickette said the Bill would irreparably damage Australia’s capacity to build a shipping industry and a maritime cluster.

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SHIPPING

ITF Secretary Steve Cotton flew in from London to join a rally against Caltex at Kurnell with MUA National Secretary Paddy Crumlin and Sydney Branch Secretary Paul McAleer

Senator Madigan said: “I’m very concerned that the Government seems hell bent on doing to the coastal shipping industry, our seafarers, the same that they did to our automotive industry.”

He noted none of these factors had been addressed in the cost-benefit analysis or the regulation impact statement.

“In other words, there is no economic justification for the Bill, in our view,” he said.

Pickette added that, for the first time in Australian history, the Bill would legitimise the employment of non-nationals in an Australian domestic industry that is linked to the mainland, without the protections and obligations of Australian labour law and without the requirement for a work visa.

“The maritime crew visa is not a work visa; it is a temporary entry permit visa,” he said.

“Would not the deliberate replacement of an Australian workforce, with a foreign workforce that does not require work visas, be an admission by Australia that it has sunk to such a state of economic and moral decline that it will not train and employ its own citizens? And for those who it imports to replace Australians, it will not offer the same protections as it does for its Australian citizens, notwithstanding that Australia is a signatory to many international conventions that require it to behave differently?

“In other words, will we take the cheap option, the low road or — and this is the other choice the committee has — the high road?

“Will the committee act in the national interest and recommend that the bill be 20

withdrawn to enable reconsideration of an alternative shipping policy, with a view to reaching a bipartisan agreement that supports an Australian shipping industry with the right fiscal, regulatory and industry policy arrangements that would command wide stakeholder and political support?

“We believe that it is achievable.”

Australian Maritime Officers Union (AMOU) Industrial Officer Jarrod Moran, who appeared with Pickette, said his union also did not support the Bill.

“This is going to cost Australian jobs and it is going to cost Australian deck officer jobs,” Moran said.

“Our members are concerned not only about their own jobs, but they are also concerned about future jobs.”

The star of the Inquiry, though, was business operator Bill Milby who was told to reflag his vessel overseas and replace his Australian crew with foreign seafarers.

North Star Cruises Australia (NSCA) representative Milby said in his submission to the Senate inquiry (into the Government’s proposed changes to coastal shipping laws) that senior bureaucrats had advised him to re-flag his vessel overseas and replace his 50 Australian workers with foreign crew.

Milby repeated his claims at a hearing in Canberra on September 7, after effectively being called a liar by both former Prime

Minister Tony Abbott and Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss in the preceding week.

Milby said he was proud of the fact NSCA was an Australian company that employed Australian workers, and he was left “speechless and dumbfounded” that public servants would canvas the option of him dumping his local workers.

Milby told the Senate inquiry: “I don’t have an issue with the people who gave that advice because, if you read the legislation and the explanatory memo, they were telling me the truth. I’m not trying to pick a fight with the Prime Minister or the deputy PM, but I don’t like being told I am lying . . . . I take very strong offence at that.”

Senior bureaucrats later confirmed they had discussed with Milby the idea of reflagging his vessel and replacing his crew with foreign workers on two separate occasions.

Asked if there had been an economic and social analysis of the close to 1,000 job losses expected with the Bill, the bureaucrats described the job losses as an “opportunity cost” and said the Bill’s regulatory impact statement assumed “they would get other jobs”.

Asked about the issue in Federal Parliament’s Question Time, Abbott again refused to apologisie, while Truss arrogantly dismissed Milby’s concerns and the loss of Aussie jobs as “trivial issues”. www.mua.org.au

ACTU Secretary Dave Oliver said an apology was necessary.

Oliver said: “(Then) Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss must apologise to Mr Milby, given his claims of departmental advice to sack Australian workers have now been proven correct.

“This is more clear evidence that the Government is not acting in the best interests of Australian workers. It is a national disgrace that the Government wants to trash yet another Australian industry due to its ongoing ideological crusade.”

Truss told Parliament that if that advice had been given, it would be inaccurate because it wasn’t possible under the planned changes for an Australian cruise ship with foreign crew to operate year-round on the Australian coast.

ALP Transport spokesman Anthony Albanese accused Truss of not understanding the policy implications of his own legislation.

He said Abbott must at the very least apologise to Milby for calling him a liar.

“It may well be that ignorance or stupidity is his excuse rather than treachery. But this is treachery when it comes to Australian jobs,” Albanese said.

A report by the Australia Institute into the Government’s legislation estimates that only 88 Australian seafarer jobs will remain under the Department’s preferred option for policy change.

This represents a loss of 1,089 Australian seafarer jobs, or 93 per cent of the current workforce.

This would result in the likely loss of these skills from the country altogether in the longer term.

Paddy Crumlin said the entire episode raised more questions than answers.

“The question needs to be asked as to why a bureaucrat advised North Star Cruises Australia to shift their business offshore, when this highly contentious piece of legislation hasn’t even passed the House of Representatives, let alone the Senate,” he said.

“Australian crews are the most highly trained in the world and all have high-level security screening. As a result Australianflagged ships are demonstrably safer than FOC shipping and have a strong record in protecting our pristine coastline. n

The MV Portland At print deadline, the union had been made aware that ALCOA intended to remove the MV Portland from its Western Australia to Victoria run.

Members will be kept updated on the fate of the ship and its Australian crew via the website. www.mua.org.au

The Alexander Spirit During July, Caltex fuel tanker The Alexander Spirit was berthed in Devonport in Tasmania for three weeks, after the ship fell below safe manning levels The crew discovered it would be replaced with foreign workers upon the ship’s arrival in Singapore.

The ongoing and significant dispute attracted significant media attention and support from locals and a community assembly was established to support the crew and protest their treatment.

Below is a statement from the crew, which was delivered on the night of the ship’s departure: When the crew compliment exceeds minimum manning it is our intention to sail, it has always been our intention to sail.

This does not allay our anger and disgust at Caltex and other oil majors such as BP, Viva, Shell and Mobil selling out Australian jobs.

The importance of every Australian understanding that it is no longer your right to have a job in this country must be pursued, and every Australian must accept that they must fight rogue governments that align themselves with multinationals, such as the oil majors who are hell bent on exploiting third world labor at our expense.

The Abbott Government is trying to remove legislation and regulation around the right for Australian seafarers to work on their own coast, which not only encourage investment in the local industry, but also serve to protect our environment and prevent exploitation of overseas workers.

The fact is Flag of Convenience (FOC) shipping is bad for Australia; it is bad for the world.

Evidence clearly shows that FOC, and the absence of any clear regulation of labour standards, safety standards and environmental standards have proven to be the ultimate race to the bottom.

You only have to look at the grounding of the Pasha Bulker in 2007, and the Kirki - an oil tanker that fell apart at sea off the coast of Western Australia in 1991 - as living proof that Australia’s pristine coast is not immune to a catastrophic environmental disaster.

Further reports from Four Corners Sage Sagittarius (the Death Ship) and a recent series of articles in The New York Times continue to highlight multinational companies’ blatant disregard for lawful conduct and accountability whilst they set up their business arrangements in registered tax havens and make all attempts to dodge any scrutiny of their unacceptable behaviour.

This disregard of national legislation, regulation and workers’ rights is leading the charge and setting the example for other multi-nationals in other industries such as car manufacturing, ship building and mining to follow suit and kill-off job opportunities for Australians now and for generations to come.

It must stop now.

Australia is already down to four refineries and two Australian-flagged vessels carrying fuel around our coast - compared to eight refineries and 11 vessels in 1996. We now import 91 per cent of our fuel, which is largely transported by foreign vessels with foreign crews paid as little as $2 an hour.

When the Alexander Spirit goes, the island state of Tasmania will be entirely dependent on international ships with foreign crews supplying its petrol. The rest of Australia will be in the same position within a few years unless something is done.

The local community in Devonport has been tremendous. The continued support around-the-clock in cold, unforgiving conditions at the community picket has been overwhelming. The community has continued to devote itself to the task of standing up for Australian workers first.

Australian workers, all workers around the world should have the right to stand up against bad laws, fight against multinational greed and raise awareness to others about injustice in the workplace.

A collective is stronger than an individual and we should have the right to fight for our jobs, not be shackled by bad laws and not to be governed to the point where you can no longer stand up for yourself.

It is up to us as workers, as community members, as concerned citizens of this country, to seek change that protects Australian workers’ rights to work in our own country.

As the crew of the Alexander Spirit, we call on our union, the Maritime Union of Australia, to take on a campaign that fights for jobs and job security.

We further call on our union to take this campaign to the streets and engage with communities to make this an election issue. Any political party that does not put jobs and job security first and foremost is not a political party, in our view, that is deserving of governing this country.

We urge all members to engage with their branches nationwide to demonstrate to all oil majors that their decision to sell out Australian jobs and the right of Australians to work in this country is not acceptable.

Most importantly, we call on the community to not let the issue of jobs and job security sail out of Devonport with us on the Alexander Spirit.

It is time to get active.

The Crew of the Alexander Spirit 21

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High Court To Hear ‘Royal Visas For Cheap Foreign Workers’ Case

Michaelia Cash shows her form in the Australian Senate

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he Maritime Union of Australia continues to pursue a legal case against the Federal Government and its continued misappropriation of visas for workers in the offshore oil and gas industry.

The union has secured a hearing in the High Court early next year, after a number of directions hearings throughout recent months.

The Government, through former Assistant Immigration Minister (now Workplace Relations Minister) Michealia Cash, is attempting to use visas for cheap foreign labour in the offshore oil and gas sector that are normally reserved for royal 22

guests and overseas dignitaries.

In a hearing in Sydney, Her Honour Justice Virginia Bell accepted the argument that the case is important and therefore should be kept in the High Court.

“In light of the importance of the matter the court will not be remitting the case to the Federal Court,” Justice Bell told the hearing.

Thousands of Australian jobs in the offshore oil and gas sector are being threatened by the Federal Government’s sneaky means of issuing Special Purpose Visas to cheap overseas labourers.

Senator Cash used Ministerial discretion

to issue the visas, usually reserved for top dignitaries including the royal family and military attaches.

The Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) and the Australian Maritime Officers Union (AMOU) have taken the Federal Government to the High Court to challenge the use of the visas.

MUA Deputy National Secretary Will Tracey said the union had been forced to take the matter to the High Court after the Government has twice undermined the finding of the Federal Court and ignored the outcome of a Senate disallowance.

“A similar case has already been heard by the full Federal Court and the MUA www.mua.org.au

thinks the High Court is the appropriate jurisdiction,” Tracey said.

“Justice Bell’s acceptance of the MUA’s argument for the case to be heard in the High Court is an important first step.

“The Government was already defeated in the Senate and the full Federal Court, and it simply beggars belief that it continues to try to deny Australian workers the capacity to work in their own country.

“These Special Purpose Visas have always been NON-WORK visas simply for visiting dignitaries.

“To use them in this underhand way, as work visas in the offshore oil and gas www.mua.org.au

industry, again displays the Turnbull Government’s contempt for hard-working Australians doing the heavy lifting in the country’s lucrative resources sector.

“Yet these hugely profitable companies are looking to import cheap workers, who don’t have to pay tax in Australia and with no security checks or Australian-approved skill sets.”

The Liberal-National Coalition Government has taken four significant steps to undermine Australian participation in offshore oil and gas projects. It has: • Introduced a Bill to repeal the Migration Amendment (Offshore Resources

Activity) Act 2013 (ORA ACT) that was passed by the Parliament in 2013 to address a flaw in Australia’s migration law. The introduction of the ORA followed a Federal Court judgment in the Allseas case, which found certain groups of workers were not within the migration zone and did not require visas to work in Australia.

• Introduced a Regulation under the ORA Act that specified an inappropriate visa class as a work visa to conform with the ORA Act (the Maritime Crew Visa, which is a transit visa for visiting international seafarers, not a work visa).

This was disallowed by the Senate.

• Following the disallowance, within 24 hours introduced a Ministerial Determination (‘Immi 14/077’) effectively making the ORA Act null and void in complete disregard to the wishes of the Parliament. The MUA and AMOU successfully appealed the decision to the Full Court of the Federal Court.

• Following the Full Federal Court decision, within 24 hours introduced another determination (‘Immi 15/073’) to again allow cheap foreign labour in the offshore oil and gas sector. The MUA and AMOU are currently pursuing this in the High Court.

“Senator Cash has made it clear she’s no friend of the MUA. But she should put her personal issues aside and allow Australians to work on their resource projects in their country,” Tracey said.

“Unemployment is over 800,000 for the first time in 20 years. But rather than address the jobs crisis, Senator Cash wants to sell out Australian jobs on behalf of her mates in big oil and gas companies.

“It’s about time Senator Cash and Prime Minister Turnbull stood up for Australian jobs and Australian workers.” n 23

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Chevron’s Aggressive Tax Avoidance Exposed at Global Summit A major report released in Geneva has revealed the extent of tax avoidance undertaken by US-based oil giant Chevron on its largest global venture: the Gorgon LNG project in Australia.

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he detailed report Chevron’s Tax Schemes: Piping profits out of Australia? - produced by the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) and endorsed by the Tax Justice Network Australia – was unveiled in September and revealed how much tax revenue may be lost through complex profit shifting schemes.

At the same time as Chevron has set aside $A352 million to settle a lawsuit with the Australian Tax Office (ATO), Chevron has developed a new tax avoidance scheme. This high-interest related-party loan, from a Delaware subsidiary, is worth more than $A35 billion.

This new tax scheme is currently being audited by the ATO. Chevron and other oil companies in Australia are being called before a Senate Inquiry into Corporate Tax Avoidance.

The potential lost revenue from Chevron’s tax avoidance scheme is more than Australia’s annual budget for education, and more than half the annual budget for health.

ITF President and Maritime Union of Australia National Secretary Paddy Crumlin has called on Governments around the world to take responsibility for closing down the loopholes Chevron and others use.

“For public confidence in the integrity of tax systems, they must be transparent and fair,” Crumlin declared.

“The gas that will be extracted from Australia’s waters and sold overseas is owned by the Australian people and, as a result, should benefit those people through jobs and tax revenues.

“If Chevron and other multinationals paid their fair share, governments would not have to cut funding for schools, hospitals and other essential public services.”

The MUA has long argued that the Gorgon project is providing minimum benefit to Australian people in terms of an ongoing legacy in jobs, training and, as the report is showing, revenue.

Deputy National Secretary Will Tracey said he was bemused that companies like Chevron were allowed to operate 24

“According to Chevron’s 2014 annual report, it has $US35 billion in untaxed profit stashed in off-shore accounts. . . . . Chevron’s tax filings have not been approved: by the United States government since 2008; in Nigeria since 2000; Angola since 2001; Saudi Arabia since 2012; and Kazakhstan since 2007.” man on the moon, we still can’t properly tax a shipment of gas to pay for our children’s schools.

“The technical solutions exist — what we lack is the political will.”

Chevron’s Gorgon project in Western Australia is the world’s largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) project. It will be a major supplier of energy to the AsiaPacific region for decades.

In addition to Chevron, Royal Dutch Shell, Exxon Mobil and several Japanese energy companies are joint venture partners.

According to Chevron’s 2014 annual report, it has $US35 billion in untaxed profit stashed in off-shore accounts.

Chevron is unable to estimate the tax it may be required to pay, given the ongoing

“Chevron has developed a new tax avoidance scheme.

This high-interest related-party loan, from a Delaware subsidiary, is worth more than $A35 billion.” freely in Australia, while putting the bare minimum back into the community.

“This is a company that, from the beginning, decided it would take on organised labour in an attempt drive down acceptable wages and conditions,” Tracey noted.

“People often forget that the gas belongs to us. It belongs to every taxpaying Australian, not Chevron. Chevron leases it from us and the return to us should come in the form of tax revenue and jobs, two areas Chevron is actively trying to undermine.”

The report was released at the Global Labour Tax Summit held at the International Labour Organisation (ILO)

in Geneva.

As inequality soars and governments claim insufficient revenue to fund jobs, healthcare and climate measures, the growing corporate tax scandals are sparking public outrage, explained Rosa Pavanelli, General Secretary of Public Services International (PSI).

“Chevron is the latest study showing how multinationals avoid taxes and starve public services,” she told the Summit. “The list now includes Apple, IKEA, McDonalds, Chevron, FIAT, Amazon and more.

“The current international corporate tax laws were written in the 1920s, before the ball-point pen and the photocopier had been invented. Yet 40 years after we put a www.mua.org.au

examinations by tax authorities in countries around the world.

The International Trade Union Confederation’s (ITUC) General Secretary Sharan Burrow has called for a global examination of Chevron’s tax schemes.

“If Chevron avoids so much tax in Australia, imagine what they might do elsewhere,” Burrow said.

Chevron’s tax filings have not been approved: by the United States government since 2008; in Nigeria since 2000; Angola since 2001; Saudi Arabia since 2012; and Kazakhstan since 2007.

Campaign Direction The detailed analysis of the company’s tax avoidance practices in Australia and Singapore resulted in a 20-minute expose

on Channel 7’s current affairs program Sunday Night.

Additionally, there have been five prominent articles in the national news papers, including two front page stories.

Following the media exposure, questions were raised in Federal Parliament about the company’s tax avoidance.

The campaign has continued to engage stakeholders around the company’s project management failures on the Gorgon Project and the investment and social risks of Chevron as a project operator.

The report is available to read on the MUA’s website at http://www.mua.org. au/chevron_s_aggressive_tax_avoidance_ exposed n

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25

WO M E N New Councillor and Women’s Liaison Officer Mich-Elle Myers and Tasmania Branch Deputy Secretary Alisha Bull

MUA’s Historic Year-Of-The-Woman

T

his year 2015 will be recorded in the union’s history as ‘Year Of The Woman’.

Three MUA women from differing backgrounds now hold positions of power within the union - not a small feat when it’s considered how male-dominated the maritime industry is.

As a result of the elections, two women – Alisha Bull and Mich-Elle Myers – now have seats at the union’s National Council.

Meanwhile 24-year-old Queenslander Sarah Maguire has become Australia’s first female and youngest ITF inspector.

Alisha Bull The Bull surname is synonymous with the Maritime Union of Australia and its predecessors.

It could be said the MUA ‘runs through Alisha’s veins’. But don’t accuse her of coasting on her ancestors’ coat-tails, because Alisha is a tough, no nonsense-type, who through her own grunt has become the first female elected branch official taking up the honorary position of Deputy Branch Secretary for the Tasmania Branch.

Many of Alisha’s family have been members and activists within the MUA. Most famously her grandfather Tas Bull was one of the Waterside Workers’ Federation’s longest serving General Secretaries and his legacy still features prominently within the union.

Alisha started her union career almost straight off the bat with the AMWU and ACTU, before heading back to her “second 26

family” at the MUA in 2005 where she worked out of the Victoria Branch. For the past eight years she has been working out of Devonport, where she remains following her election.

The union movement to Alisha is a lifestyle decision. In describing what the MUA meant to her, she emphasised it was a life, not a job.

“Trade Unionism is at the core of all that is fair,” she said.

“It embodies collectivism and the lifting up of the little guy, or gal. It is protection, security, strength and inclusion. It is the balance in the world.

“I don’t get people that ‘don’t like unions’ or believe unions are no longer relevant. I just think: wow, you mustn’t understand what trade unionism really is!”

The world has changed “not because of leaders or individuals, but because of the collective and strength within it”, she said.

Because Alisha was already entrenched in the everyday branch tasks, she noted not much had changed for her.

“All around the coast, it has been full-on since July 1 this year and doesn’t look to be slowing down any time soon,” she added.

She said it was struggle to find the time to defend the constant attacks, but that the fight was winnable and worth the go.

“I’d like to think our greatest challenge hasn’t reached us yet,” she said. “It may be knocking at the door; but so far we have proven we are stronger, smarter and more resilient than any challenge that has been thrown our way. We are still here. We will

always be here.

“What we deem today as our greatest challenge may be tomorrow’s toughest victory. Just keep on swimming!”

In terms of women’s participation in the industry and union, Alisha said she was content with the direction that was being taken.

“The thought of a female wharfie 20plus years ago was unheard of. As a child I remember going to a terminal in Melbourne and having to walk through the men’s urinals to get out to the yard. Women’s toilets were in the bosses’ office,” she said.

“Little things like that stick in your memory.

“There is still a long way to go. But I think we are getting it right with the foundation being strong and having the same opportunities to be involved, be heard and make a difference.

“I don’t think that our plight alone is union-specific or industry-specific. We have come a very long way in a short time. Our union is very supportive of women’s rights, women in the workforce, women in the movement and women in leadership.”

When asked if she had any advice for aspiring women members, she said general participation was important.

“Be yourself” she emphasised. “ Take risks.

Be curious about the world. Be hungry to see change.

“If you choose just one thing you would like to see different in the world (or workplace) don’t stop until you achieve it.” www.mua.org.au

Sarah Maguire Sarah may only be young, but what she lacks in age, she makes up for in hutzpah.

This year she transitioned from a career at sea to a career providing support to the oft-exploited foreign seafarers who visit the Australian coast.

Based in Gladstone in Queensland, Sarah is ‘still in training’ as Australia’s newest International Transport Workers’ Federation inspector. However she has already been thrown into the deep end, having to face TV cameras and the hungry press after it was discovered a Korean ship had been grossly mistreating its crew.

Without hesitation she tackled the challenge head-on and highlighted the plight of seafarers from developing countries.

Like Alisha, Sarah’s family is immersed in the MUA and, as such, she grew up with the union.

When she turned 18, she joined and began to undertake a trainee integrated rating course before she started a steady career at sea.

Not one to sit on the fringes, Sarah became heavily involved in both the Women’s and Youth Committees (including Chairperson for the latter). During her tenure, the Youth Committee underwent reinvigoration and her legacy has meant the committee has gone from strength to strength. Sarah was integral to the organisation of the Barcaldine educational May Day trip.

In the six years she has been a member – a comparatively short time – Sarah said the circumstances have dramatically improved for women within the MUA. “I have noticed a gradual increase in women in the industry since I joined,” she said. “I have also noticed a slowly changing positive opinion of women partaking in roles both on the waterfront and at sea,” she said.

“It comes down to education for both women and men. We need to encourage women to show the courage to step up and be heard. But at the same time we need to include men in this process, and ask for their input and encouragement.”

Her new role, as most MUA members would know, involves boarding ships generally crewed 100 per cent by men, bypassing an often antagonistic captain and trying to communicate with an even more hostile overseas company, in an effort to better the welfare of developing-world seafarers.

But the challenge is something Sarah relishes and is so far enjoying in her new job.

“It is better than I could I have imagined,” she summed up. “I am fortunate to represent some of the most exploited workers in the world. This is a very rewarding job, and the gratitude shown by international seafarers is outstanding.

“Every day I come across a new challenge, and none of them I have tackled alone; there is always support.

“At the moment I am focusing on learning the role. There are many aspects to the ITF. www.mua.org.au

I have never been a person to plan for the future. I will always continue to jump at every opportunity that presents itself and always continue to do what I love - and that is to be involved in the trade union movement.”

In terms of encouraging improved female participation in the MUA, Sarah said it was about being assertive.

“My best advice is to remove your gender from the equation, always show respect and never accept anything less than respect in return. Always make sure your accomplishments are acknowledged,” she said.

“The union movement is full of support and encouragement. Remember you are always entitled to your opinion, you are always welcome to debate and to vote.

“If you show initiative, if you work hard and if you have a true passion to help workers and the less fortunate, you will succeed.”

Mich-Elle Myers Mich-Elle Myers is prolific. She’s probably one of the most recognisable faces and names in the MUA. She does not have the same ancestral connection to the union that Sarah and Alisha can boast, although she does lay claim to a Norwegian seafarer who jumped ship and then became a wharfie. Unfortunately, he died on-the-job - but not before taking a role in the 1890s dispute.

Family ties aside, there is little doubting Mich-Elle’s commitment to her union family.

Not long after the infamous 1998 dispute - which tore the wharves of Patrick apart Mich-Elle became one of the first women on the Patrick waterfront in 1999. Not one to shy away from hard work, she joined the site and health & safety committees immediately.

It didn’t take long before she became chair of both.

Despite her quick ascendancy, things were not easy.

“Just being accepted in the beginning on the wharf was tough,” she recalled.

“I like to think I have many great friends there. But the beginning, as in all beginnings,

it was really really tough.”

Leaving the wharf behind, Mich-Elle is now the head of a series of committees and acts as an envoy to the Australian Council of Trade Unions, the International Transport Workers’ Federation and a number of other important bodies.

Her main role in National Office is that of Women’s Liaison Officer. However, being a small union has meant her role has expanded into other areas, including bullying and harassment, and looking after other minorities within the membership, such as youth and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander members.

As Women’s Liaison Officer, Mich-Elle has overseen a discernable increase in female members, many of whom are now active within the MUA. Other achievements have included introduction of better clothing and the introduction of more inclusive conditions for women, such as parental leave and domestic violence leave.

In addition to her work as Women’s Officer, Mich-Elle is also the union’s social media queen. There is not much about Facebook Mich-Elle doesn’t know - and she has managed to utilise the communications tool so effectively that even some of the bigger unions are playing catch-up.

Much like her first days on the wharf, MichElle’s ambition hasn’t abated. She continues to hold hopes of becoming an elected official of the union, with her sights set on becoming a national official.

In the meantime her resume is still pretty impressive: • Director on the board of the credit union; • Elected as ITF Asia-Pacific representative at the Sofia 2014 Congress; • Supervises the Dockers Ports Intelligence, as part of the ITF’s Global Network Terminal campaign; • Member of ITF’s Congress Resolutions and Procedures Committee.

When she’s not busy with all the above, she can be spotted at every union event, whether it’s a celebration, a rally or on a picket line, regardless of the season.

Australia’s newest, youngest and first female ITF Inspector Sarah Maguire (right) takes part in a rally in Panama

27

NEW OFFICIALS

New Blood To Take Union Forward

Will Tracey

After elections earlier this year, a number of new officials were welcomed into the fold – including a new Deputy National Secretary and several new branch officials who will take the MUA into a new era.

Deputy National Secretary Will Tracey Will Tracey began his role as a union activist back in the early 1990s as a shop steward in the mining industry. This started a lifetime of union activism in WA’s blue collar industrial heartland including mining, construction, heavy industrial/engineering, shipbuilding, the waterfront and oil and gas, where he built a reputation for taking on and winning against some of Australia’s biggest companies. He is well known for his unwavering commitment to the MUA and wider union movement.

As a WA Branch Official he worked hard as part of the team that delivered massive gains for all members across all industry sectors particularly for those working in the offshore.

Even before his ascent into National Office, Will was keen to drive the union’s Chevron campaign, taking on of the world’s biggest and most litigious oil and gas companies.

Now in National Office, he’s retained most of the responsibilities for the offshore sector and will also be running the usually tough EBA campaign for Patrick terminals.

Other areas of responsibility involve Port Authorities, the inshore sector and various Union management roles normally 28

associated with the Deputy National Secretary.

He started in the WA Branch in 2007; firstly, as an organiser before he was bestowed with the honour of representing the rank-and-file as Assistant Secretary in 2009.

“Our union is under attack right across the maritime industry by employers and Government. An attack more sustained, more widespread and more complex than ever before in terms of the impact on the entire union,” Will said.

“I have the experience and capacity to lead our great union, as part of the National team, through these difficult times where only a coordinated and strategic industrial, legal and political approach can win. This is a tough environment for all unions and I have a long history of fighting and winning against employers in the most difficult circumstances.

“In these difficult times, we must stand together to defend our jobs and industry as militant well-resourced employers and the Turnbull Government seek to destroy our future.

“The future will be tougher than the past and we need to prepare ourselves in a way that see’s us win against extremely oppressive odds.”

Queensland Branch Secretary Bob Carnegie Before Bob Carnegie even had a chance to warm his new seat, he was facing an industrial war with stevedore Hutchison.

Bob is no stranger to a fight. In 201213 construction firm Abigroup pursued trumped-up criminal charges against him.

After more than a year fighting, plus an intense four-day trial and facing up to five years in prison, the charges against Bob were eventually thrown out by the judge; but not before the process had taken a toll.

However Bob is not all about the fight. He is also a compassionate humanist who, in light of the Syrian Refugee crisis, offered to host a family fleeing the atrocities.

After an extended executive meeting with his branch, union members felt compelled to act.

“We want to help at least one family escape the horrors of the refugee crisis,” he said.

“We are all human beings in this world and we simply can’t stand by, in a wealthy and safe society such as Australia, and not reach out to try to assist those who have the least in this world.”

Bob was elected under a slogan: “A Union Official’s Job is to Listen, Care and Act”. www.mua.org.au

He also has big plans for the Queensland branch and will host a conference in December this year.

In his pitch for candidacy, he said he wanted the branch to have an ‘all-inclusive’ feel.

“We will make our branch the first port of call for all members,” Bob said. “A place where we all feel at home and proud of it.

“A union branch of the members, by the members and for the members.”

Victorian Branch Secretary Joe Italia Joe started working on the Melbourne waterfront in 1996, as a wharfie at Patrick Stevedores East Swanson Dock. Two years later he was blooded by the 1998 Patrick locked out.

“It was this dispute, and the attack on the MUA, which strengthened my resolve to remain a staunch unionist for life,” Joe said.

“I decided to put myself forward in the MUA quadrennial election with the encouragement and support of the rankand-file. I was confident that I could offer the Victorian members a new leadership and vision.

“It has been three months in my new role and I am finding it both exciting and busily challenging. I am continuing to build on the hard work of our predecessors, and to seek out opportunities to increase and better the proposition for our members.

“I am very lucky to be surrounded by the other officials - Mark, Jeff and Bobby - and staff all working as a team, to deliver for our members.

“As the Victorian Branch Secretary, I value transparency and accountability in

Joe Italia

www.mua.org.au

all that we do. I will work to ensure that once members reach a collective decision, it is carried through with purpose and determination. I am also focused on improving communications and getting the Victorian membership more active.

“As much as society celebrates the individual, I believe that as workers in our industry, it is our collective strength and unity that hold us in good stead to fight the assaults that continually come our way.”

When he can steal the time, you’ll find him out on Port Phillip Bay, in a dinghy sailing with his two sons. He’s not averse to a beer and a barbie either.

Mark Jones

Victorian Branch Deputy Secretary Mark Jones Mark first went to sea in 1984 and soon became an active union delegate.

His time at sea included working for ASP, T.T Line and six months on an Antarctic vessel.

In discussing his life at sea, he said there were a few challenges.

“Life as a seafarer isn’t plain sailing. Being away from family, the isolation and stresses of the job, on top of dealing with ruthless employers, really drives home the necessity and value of comradery and the MUA,” he said.

Mark is more than qualified to look after the needs of not just blue-water seafarers, but also those engaged in the offshore, having worked for Farstad, Tidewater and AOS. He said it was a huge honour to be elected into the Deputy Secretary’s spot by his comrades.

“Their trust in me to represent their interests is a responsibility I take very seriously,” he said.

“I aim to give a greater voice to all Victorian members, and will ensure that MUA women, youth, ATSI, veterans and regional members’ voices are equally heard.

“Towards this, I’m working on delivering a range of training geared at educating and empowering members to achieve our collective objectives.

“It’s still early days on the job and it’s definitely a learning curve. But I am enjoying the complexity of the role, and forming industrial and political alliances.

“In this short time there’s been an

Bob Carnegie

29

NEW OFFICIALS

Jason Miners

onslaught of attacks on our industry, and I’ve seen and understand that our mighty industrial strength is no longer enough.

“For us to be able to keep fighting for our jobs and working conditions, we need to increase our political clout. This means we all need to step up, get active and throw out this rotten Liberal-National Government.

“We need to be strategic and have a strong voice in successive governments, to determine our industry’s future on our terms.”

Mark said he was proud to protect and promote Victorian members’ interests and was committed to ‘fighting the good fight’.

“By standing together, we can strengthen our industrial and political power, save our industry - and get down to the pub for a beer,” he summed up.

Queensland Deputy Branch Secretary Jason Miners Jason’s first experience with the MUA was when the wharfies at Port Botany is Sydney put on a golf day to buy his disabled brother a wheel chair.

He recalls asking his father why a group of people would perform such an act of charity? And his dad responded: “Because we look after each other son. It’s what we do”.

After leaving school and coming to the realisation he would not be a professional cricketer, he spent his time partying and undertaking a number of unfulfilling jobs such as bar tending and cleaning.

30

Danny Cain

“All of which I either ‘got the arse’ or didn’t show up again,” Jason declared.

Following this, he picked up a temporary gig on the wharf in Newcastle; but he was still getting into trouble.

“Finally my old man picked me up from the cop shop and said; ‘You might be best suited to going to sea son’,” Jason recalled.

“I then did the pre-sea interviews and testing and I was offered a cadetship, which I declined for a traineeship as a Trainee Integrated Rating.

“I got to sea and still couldn’t quite remove the chip on my shoulder or hatred for authority - until a few old comrades I sailed with mentored me and pulled me into gear. Most notably Vince Allport, among others, taught me and believed I had something more to offer, other than returning to the vessel ‘in the horrors’ after one continuous bender on leave.”

Jason then became an on-board delegate and was chosen to represent the MUA at a Youth Conference in Melbourne.

Shortly after, with a bit of mentoring from Newcastle Branch Secretary Glen Williams, Jason was able to secure the organiser’s job on Gladstone.

It was there he cemented his position within the union and lead a number of industrial, political and community campaigns.

When asked why he put his hand up for an official’s role, he said he had found his calling.

“I’m helping workers, just as they helped

my brother many years earlier. And I intend to help working men and women with everything in my being until I burn out,” he said.

“I currently love my role in the Queensland branch, working with the team under comrade Bob Carnegie.”

Western Australian Branch Assistant Secretary Danny Cain Before Danny took over as Assistant Branch Secretary, he was well-known in union circles for his faultless dedication to the cause, and for encouraging and fostering the youth of the union.

He’s been an organiser with the MUA for more than four years, having previously been an organiser with the Transport Worker’s Union.

In that four years, he took a leadership role aboard FPSOs and other sections of the offshore industry, which have been booming in WA in recent years.

He was also elected Youth Representative for the Asia-Pacific region in 2014 at the ITF’s Congress in Bulgaria.

At the time of his ascension, he said it was important he took on the role to try and address the declining engagement of youth in the trade union movement.

“Youth complacency is an issue that needs to be addressed in Australia, and at this conference we have seen that we are not alone in this respect. We need to spread our union message and educate the young workers of the world,” Danny said. www.mua.org.au

He noted choosing to become an official was the best decision he had ever made, but it was not without its challenges.

“The role of an organiser is a challenging one. It’s 24/7. As an official it is the same, but with many added responsibilities including strategising and delivering industry campaigns,” he said.

“We’re facing tough times in our industry, with attacks both on and offshore.

“Over the next few years one of our goals has to be creating member activism within the branch and across the country. Paying the dues is part of it; but we are going to need every single member to participate, as the industrial and legal landscape continues to change and become harder for unions.”

He said despite the challenges faced by the MUA, other unions could take a leaf out of our book.

“Our strategic, militant, rank-and-file inclusive approach is one that is effective.

And it’s one that we need to maintain and to encourage the rest of the union movement to take up,” he said.

Besides being a committed trade unionist, Danny is also interested in sports and music.

Queensland Assistant Branch Secretary Paul Gallagher The sea is Paul’s life - having started as a 17-year-old deck boy in 1986. And he’s very passionate about maintaining the industry in which he got his start.

Paul said he wanted to represent the members as an official, in order to represent his profession as a seafarer. Importantly, he wanted his three sons to have the same opportunities he was afforded.

However he was keen to point out that it wasn’t just about seafaring; he was also

“thoroughly enjoying meeting so many wharfies and learning about their culture”.

The MUA and its culture is something very close to Paul’s heart.

“I treat the MUA as my family. And the trade union movement is extremely important in today’s society, because unions are the only ones left fighting capitalism, which is out of control,” he said.

“There’s a putrid push toward fascist policy by the Government.

“Someone has to stand up for the working class, and I couldn’t think of a more honourable position to be in than a union official.”

In terms of where he saw the union in ten year’s time, he said he hoped it would retain its culture.

“The MUA is a staunch union, steeped in proud history and hugely respected. It is a union that fights above its weight and looks after its own - a union that has its own unique identity ,with a highly educated and active membership and a democratic structure,” he said.

“The MUA is here to stay!”

Victorian Assistant Branch Secretary Jeff Hoy Jeff has been a member of the MUA since 1991 and, in that time, he has always shown a commitment to safe practices on the waterfront.

In 1996, his 8-year-old daughter was run over by a truck and suffered life-threatening injuries. It was during that time his eyes were opened to the wonderful work of doctors, nurses, paramedics and physiotherapists.

When his daughter started to show signs of recovery in 1997, he began working for Strang Stevedoring, where he became more resolute

about safety and the union.

“Since my daughter’s accident, everything has been black-and-white to me, and I became a stronger advocate of safety in the workplace,” he said.

“We live and work in an industry where the pay is good, although the cost to the family environment can be harsh.”

Until he became an official this year, Jeff was still not a permanent wharfie, showing casualisation is one of the biggest threats to workers.

He said he put his hand up to become Assistant Branch Secretary based on what life had taught him.

“As a union official, you can make a difference to peoples lives,” he said.

“With the team of officials Australia-wide that I’ve worked with in the past 2 months, I can honestly say we have a very good team that is well aware of what life’s priorities are.

“The key word above is: Team.”

However, he said the work of the union was not just down to its leaders.

“A National Official is only as good as his State Officials; State Officials are only as good as the Shop Committees; and the Shop Committees are only as good as the rank-andfile,” Jeff said. “It starts from the bottom up, in the members electing their Shop Committee.”

When it came to fighting off neo-Liberal attacks, it was all about being knowledgeable, he said.

“In regards to politics, the Liberals want some ideological apocalypse of unions,” he said.

“We all need to play our part in having them removed next election. The bare minimum should be members talking to families and friends.

“Knowledge is power.” n

Paul Gallagher

Jeff Hoy

www.mua.org.au

31

AC T U CO N G R E SS

ACTU Congress Sets Warpath for Federal Election

Being prepared to oust the Coalition Liberal-National Government at the next federal election was a clear priority for the approximately 1000 unionists gathered for the 2015 ACTU Congress.

Former Deputy National Secretary receiving an ACTU award for his many years of service to the union movement. Credit: Jorge de Araujo

T

he current ACTU executive of Secretary Dave Oliver, President Ged Kearney and Assistant Secretaries Michael Borowick and Scott Connolly were all re-elected unopposed at the 2015 ACTU Congress in Melbourne.

MUA National Secretary Paddy Crumlin said it was a great show of unity that no other opponents put their hats into the ring.

“It’s a ringing endorsement that these talented individuals were able to run unopposed, given the turbulent times,” he declared.

“Now more than ever, we need to be united as one, as one union movement, to ensure we don’t need to endure another term of the dysfunctional and out-of-touch Liberal-National Parties.”

32

Crumlin said he was particularly encouraged that the ACTU was launching a campaign – Build a Better Future – that drew on the hugely successful 2007 Your Rights At Work campaign.

When launching the campaign, President Kearney said the ACTU had identified “six non-negotiables”: Worker’s rights, universal healthcare, the highest quality education, ownership of public services, a secure retirement and a ‘fair go’ for all.

Crumlin said the MUA had consistently prosecuted the view that the first priority for the ACTU was workplace and community organising and campaigning around the real issues confronting Australian working women and men and their families, regardless of broader political alignments.

“Job security, personal and recreational leave, penalty rates, participative and consultative health and safety standards and genuine dialogue and social partnership between workers and their employers through assured and properly regulated industrial recognition are all essential to a healthy workplace and a functional working community,” he emphasised.

“We are fundamentally a movement promoting activities building an industrial presence that ensures respect and decent work to all Australian workers.”

The MUA had a strong delegation at the event, made up of: Former Deputy National Secretary Mick Doleman, Assistant National Secretary Ian Bray, Sydney Branch Secretary Paul McAleer, Tasmanian Branch Secretary Jason Campbell, WA Branch Secretary Christy Cain, NT Branch Secretary Thomas Mayor, Former Queensland Branch Secretary Mick Carr, Former Victorian Branch Secretary Kevin Bracken, Women’s Liaison Officer Mich-Elle Myers, ATSI Chair Paddy Neliman, Queensland Deputy Branch Secretary and ACTU Youth Representative Jason Miners, Policy Officer Rod Pickette, Veterans Chair Fred Krausert, MUA Safety and Training Officer Matt Goodwin and Communications Officer Ashleigh Telford.

Australian Of The Year Rosie Batty made a special appearance and endorsed the ACTU’s push for domestic violence clauses and leave; and complementing this was Doleman’s inspiring speech on White Ribbon.

“Domestic Violence isn’t a women’s issue, it’s a men’s issue,” he said. “We are the perpetrators and, as such, we are the ones who have to lead.”

Secretary Oliver then lead the men in the room in taking the White Ribbon pledge.

Doleman also took a lead in presenting the MUA’s motion on Coastal Shipping, which was passed unanimously and seconded by the AMOU’s Jan Thompson.

“People would be outraged if the Government proposed to import truck drivers from developing countries and let them be paid $2-an-hour for endless shifts, with basically no rights, working in a truck with sub-standard safety and with all tax being paid to another country,” he said.

“Well that’s what the Government is trying to do to shipping; and the buck won’t stop there. Just this week the Government announced its intention to unravel Cabotage in the airline industry.”

Later in the week Mick Doleman was bestowed with an ACTU Award in recognition of his long service to the MUA and wider union movement.

In a surprise diversion from the 2015 Congress agenda, ACTU Assistant Secretary Michael Borowick called Doleman to the stage, presenting delegates with a brief www.mua.org.au

overview of his achievements.

Borowick made particular mention of Doleman’s dedication to occupational health and safety. Upon receiving his award, he talked about how he knew he had made the right decision in becoming a union leader.

“You can’t have a better life than representing working people from this country and from around the globe,” Doleman said.

Not long after accepting his award, praise started streaming in and, as a result, the words ‘Mick Doleman’ began trending on Twitter.

Doleman was not the only MUA delegate to make centre stage. Women’s Liaison Officer Mich-Elle Myers was afforded an opportunity to speak on the Women in Male Dominated Occupations and Industries conference, held in Sydney in May. Myers talked about some of the issues she had come across as the first female wharfie at Port Botany.

“WiMDOI offers women who work in factories, in construction, in meat works, and all other male-dominated workplaces the opportunity to regroup and address some of the unique problems they face going forward,” she said.

“It’s an important event that I urge all ACTU affiliates to support.”

Policy Officer Rod Pickette lead the way in discussing the ACTU’s policies on superannuation and the pension, and took www.mua.org.au

WA Branch Secretary Christy Cain laments Chevron’s anti-worker actions.

Sydney Branch Secretary Paul McAleer passes a resolution on East Timor.

Credit: Jorge de Araujo

Credit: Jorge de Araujo

“We are fundamentally a movement promoting activities building an industrial presence that ensures respect and decent work to all Australian workers.” to the stage to a pass a resolution on the item.

Pickette identified flaws in the current direction of the union movement in regards to better maximising investment in ethical projects with good labour standards.

“We’re talking about a massive amount of capital when we we’re talking about super funds,” he noted. “We’re talking about the same amount of capital that the big banks control.

“But do we know where this capital is being invested?

“It is possible to maximise that capital in an ethical and responsible manner.”

Another Officer Matt Goodwin was able to speak on safety, while former branch secretary Kevin Bracken denounced the secret trade pact: The Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Sydney Branch Secretary Paul McAleer spoke to a resolution on Timor-Leste and Assistant National Secretary Ian Bray seconded a motion on migration programs tabled by CFMEU official Dave Noonan.

At the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workshop, both Paddy Neliman and Thomas Mayor were in attendance.

As a Torres Strait Islander and branch official Mayor spoke about the need for unions to better map their ATSI members.

Mayor tabled and spoke to a motion that culminated from the work which MUA ATSI Officer Terry O’Shane had done regarding land tenure.

WA Branch Secretary Christy Cain was also able to take the podium in his usual firebrand style to move a ‘condemnation of Chevron’ resolution, which was seconded by the CFMEU’s Joe McDonald.

In speaking to the motion, Cain lamented the anti-worker actions of Chevron and its atrocious safety record.

He also told the crowd that he was unable to walk down St Georges Terrace in Perth because of an injunction put on by Chevron.

The motion was passed unanimously.

Keynote speaker, Federal Labor Opposition Leader Bill Shorten’s speech was so ‘on-point’ it garnered a number of standing ovations from delegates.

“The trade union movement has been a big part of my life and it always will be,” Shorten said.

“All of you can be proud of your history, fighting for the best outcomes for people 33

AC T U CO N G R E SS

ALP CONFERENCE

MUA helps shape Labor Party policy for next Federal election WA Branch Secretary Christy Cain takes to the podium

National Secretary Paddy Crumlin passes a resolution on Coastal Shipping

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he Maritime Union of Australia was successful in gaining support for important changes to the ALP Policy Platform at the ALP National Conference in Melbourne in July.

The MUA had five delegates among the 400 or so representatives charged with setting the future direction of Labor Party policy.

WA Branch Secretary Christy Cain and Deputy Branch Secretary Adrian Evans were also part of the delegation, Jed McKellar and John Mears were registered proxies and NSW Assistant Secretary Paul Garrett was a whip for the Left.

MUA National Secretary Paddy Crumlin said that in nearly all key areas of the MUA’s key policy interests, the union - alone or in combination with allies in other unions - was able to win support for key policy refinement or additions that will make a difference when implemented by Labor when next in Government.

The MUA sponsored resolutions on coastal shipping, workers’ capital, indigenous issues and also passed a censure against APPEA Board Chair Martin Ferguson.

“The ability of the MUA to influence policy has been enhanced by the deliberate policy, supported by National Council, to strengthen the union’s relationship with the ALP and to encourage union members to join the ALP and become active in the interests of advancing key trade union policy priorities within the labour movement,” Crumlin said.

“We were instrumental in changing policy in areas such as Australian shipping, superannuation and workers’ capital,

Women’s Liaison Officer Mich-Elle Myers encourages ACTU affiliates to get involved in WiMDOI. Credit: Jorge de Araujo

in their jobs, their conditions and working constructively with employers to ensure productive, competitive, successful and safe workplaces.

“Like all of you, I believe in the creation of wealth – the pre-requisite to growth and fairness in Australia. Like all of you, I believe in the fair distribution of national income, the creative, productive outcome of what working people contribute every day.

“I understand, like you, the real heartbeat of the economy ticks over in the workplaces you represent. I know you are criticised – periodically – for being a strong, sensible representative set of organisations.

“But what unions do well, is they tell it how it really is. The anti-union stereotype, the dog-whistling of this current government, is running out of puff.”

Delegates at the Congress Dinner were treated to an inspirational address from former Prime Minister Julia Gillard at her most engaging self.

Although, most of her speech covered her current pursuits, particularly in her role as chair for the Global Partnership for Education, she did divert her attention to Australian politics in saying there was a need to remove the current government “before more damage could be inflicted on Australian society”.

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Assistant National Secretary seconds a motion tabled by the CFMEU’s Dave Noonan on migrant labour.

Credit: Jorge de Araujo

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stevedoring safety, skilled migration and job security, protection for Seacare, work health and safety improvement and restoration of IMO and ILO Conventions to the offshore oil and gas industry.

“The MUA also supported others in their struggle to improve policy in areas such as Free Trade Agreements, truth in bargaining provisions, the abolition of the discriminatory provisions against workers under the Fair Work Building & Construction arrangements and ending domestic violence.”

The Victorian Branch provided many members, as part of a protest against the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement and Trans-Pacific Partnership.

The Conference passed a resolution that: “Former Resources Minister and ACTU President Martin Ferguson is a disgrace.”

Crumlin and Cain were supported

by Australian Workers Union National Secretary Scott McDine in speaking to the motion.

“Martin Ferguson has repeatedly spoken publicly against ALP policy and in the case of the NSW election, his actions damaged the party’s chances of success,” the motion said.

“Martin Ferguson does not deserve to be considered a Labor elder and must be condemned as a disgraced former Labor politician.

“Debate and disagreement is critical in any political party, but that debate must occur at the appropriate Labor forums not in the public domain.”

Ferguson was controversially appointed to an advisory board of the Australian

Petroleum Production and Exploration Association (APPEA) within the 18 months required by the Ministerial Code of Conduct.

Ferguson argues he is not a lobbyist and should therefore be exempt from the rules.

Ferguson also wants to bring back the draconian Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC) and was seen by many to have campaigned against the Labor Party in this year’s NSW election.

Crumlin said Ferguson had a massive conflict of interest by taking a role with APPEA and was now looking after his ‘mates in big oil’.

Former MUA Victorian Branch Secretary Kevin Bracken was recently unsuccessful in his bid to have Ferguson expelled.

The WA Branch of the MUA had also called for Ferguson’s expulsion, but as Ferguson was a member of the Victorian Branch of the ALP, the case had to be heard in that state.

Cain condemned Ferguson for his repeated attacks on wages, safety, conditions and penalty rates.

Evans put up a motion calling for early access to superannuation, retirement and aged pensions for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The motion was passed.

“In recognition of the life expectancy gap between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, Labor supports exploring the introduction of early access to preserved superannuation accounts, retirement and aged pensions for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples,” the motion read.

35

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WA ALP State Conference Calls For Parliamentary Inquiry Into Royalty Payments

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he WA ALP State Conference has passed a resolution calling for a Parliamentary Inquiry into the royalty payments paid on major resources projects such as Chevron’s $US54 billion Gorgon Project.

Maritime Union of Australia WA Branch Secretary Christy Cain put up the motion, amid concerns companies such as Chevron are not paying their fair share of tax in Australia.

“Chevron has said that Gorgon, the largest resource project in Australia’s history which will make LNG our biggest export, won’t pay any royalty payments for at least the first eight years of its operation,” Cain explained.

“Once LNG flows from Gorgon, Chevron should be the nation’s single largest taxpayer. But we are concerned that Coalition governments lack the courage to collect what is owed to the Australian people from multinational corporations.

“Chevron’s tax arrangements are structured in such a way that, while generating revenues of over $2.5 billion per year, they got a $25 million refund from the ATO in 2011 and nearly $6 million in 2014.

“We don’t think it’s right that hardworking Australians, who pay their fair share of tax, are subsidising enormously profitable global giants like Chevron.”

Cain said current royalty payments to state and federal governments lack transparency and proper scrutiny is required.

“We demand a full Parliamentary Inquiry into royalty payments to make sure major resource projects are paying their fair share,” he said. “Chevron and other corporations need to be held accountable.”

The Western Australia Labor Party Conference resolution: • Recognises the state government is facing a massive budget deficit which needs to be addressed by raising revenues and not a short-sighted sell off of the state’s assets.

• Recognises multinational corporations are using loopholes to

MUA members and delegates at the WA ALP Conference

“We don’t think it’s right that hard-working Australians, who pay their fair share of tax, are subsidising enormously profitable global giants like Chevron.” syphon profits offshore, through high interest rates on related party loans and rorting Australia’s tax system.

• Supports the National ALP Policy ‘Their Fair Share’ to close these tax loopholes and to raise revenue for schools, hospitals and other essential public services.

• Condemns the tax schemes used

by Chevron and its Gorgon project partners. These schemes are estimated to currently provide nearly $3 billion a year in tax-free profits from funding structures even before gas begins to flow.

• Supports greater transparency and accountability on all forms of tax payments and royalties including those to the WA Government and Petroleum Resource Rent Tax. Greater transparency on tax payments and royalties could significantly increase state and federal revenues.

• Recognises serious concerns about whether major resource projects will pay their fair share in tax and royalty payments, given aggressive corporate income tax avoidance schemes.

• Demands a Parliamentary Inquiry

into all forms of tax payments and royalty payments, to ensure major resource projects pay their fair share, and to recommend measures to improve public confidence and integrity of tax payment royalty payments.

The conference also passed a resolution for a public inquiry on gas fracking and a moratorium until it could be shown the environment was not harmed.

Federal Labor MP and former resources minister Gary Gray spoke against the motion.

“Unconventional natural gas delivers three-quarters of the gas that is consumed, producing electricity and driving industry on the east coast,” Gray said. “This is good technology.”

APPEA chief operating officer, western region, Stedman Ellis said a moratorium would stop the exploration activity needed to encourage onshore gas investment.

Conservation Council of WA director Piers Verstegen said the ALP should be applauded for listening to communities whose land, water and health were under threat from fracking. n

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37

CONFERENCE

FPC delegates show solidarity with the Polish Docker’s contingent in their ongoing dispute

MUNZ Secretary Joe Fleetwood, PNGMTWU’s Alex Rawalia and MIF Coordinator Mick Doleman sell the concept of the federation to FPC delegates

MUA Resolutions Passed

By ITF Committee

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he Maritime Union of Australia was fortunate to have a handful of important resolutions tabled and passed at the International Transport Workers’ Federation Fair Practices Committee, held in Perth this year.

The bi-annual event is a conference of union leaders representing seafaring and waterside unions from around the globe, and dictates forward direction of the ITF on the back of the ITF Congress which was held in Bulgaria last year.

The benefit of being the ‘host nation’ meant many Australian domestic issues, focused around shipping and offshore, were the feature of discussions.

During the duration of the FPC, two important incidents took - or were taking - place. · Firstly, the crew of the British Loyalty had been delivered their marching orders; and · Secondly, Australia’s Budget was tabled and, within those papers, contained the deregulation of the coastal shipping industry.

As a result of the British Loyalty crisis, an emergency motion was introduced, explaining that the Australian tanker fleet was in crisis with the loss of three ships in the past six months.

“Australia’s reliance on shipping for its supply of petroleum is increasing, and therefore Australia needs more ships like the British Loyalty, which has an outstanding safety and service record,” it read.

“Despite this, the crew on British Loyalty was notified in late 2014 that they would be removed from the ship and the ship would be re-deployed internationally.”

ITF President Paddy Crumlin said Australia’s national fuel security is being jeopardised by BP’s plans to slash more local jobs.

“Around 900,000 tons of refined product is 38

currently being moved from Kwinana Refinery in Western Australia to Australia’s east coast each year on foreign vessels,” said Crumlin, who is also MUA National Secretary.

United States Seafarers International Union (SIU) Secretary-Treasurer David Heindel said the recent five-year anniversary of the Gulf Of Mexico disaster (which involved BP) was a timely reminder that corporations need to employ ‘best practice’ when it comes to protecting the environment.

“The Gulf Of Mexico disaster taught us that you can’t cut corners to save a few pennies,” declared Heindel, who is also chair of the ITF Seafarers’ Section.

“Instead, you want the best qualified, best trained professionals onboard your vessels.

“The British Loyalty has often sailed along the Great Barrier Reef, which is one of the world’s great nature reserves. And this pristine environment simply could not be replaced if a disaster occurred.”

The ITF motion also called for a high-level meeting with BP, to demand that the British Loyalty and its current crew are redeployed to carry BP’s existing cabotage cargo.

On the final day, another motion was passed vowing to protect Australia’s cabotage trade and support any campaign to do so.

Gorgon Declared Port of Convenience The MUA was also successful in having Barrow Island – Chevron’s Gorgon base – declared a Port Of Convenience, due to Chevron’s history of union-busting efforts in the offshore oil and gas sector.

Chevron’s Gorgon LNG project, off Australia’s north-west coast, has blown out from US$37 billion to US$54 billion due to the company’s ongoing mismanagement.

“But rather than take responsibility for its poor performance, parts of the company insist unions were to blame,” Crumlin said.

“Chevron continues to seek to exclude my union from an Australian island to export natural gas which belongs to all Australians,” he said.

“Unless this changes, when the first shipment leaves Barrow Island, it will be declared a Port Of Convenience.

“We have made attempts to reach out to Chevron on many occasions. We travelled to the USA to their shareholder meeting in Midland in Texas last year.

“It was there the MUA received an assurance from Chevron chief executive John Watson that unions were not to blame for cost blowouts on the Gorgon project.

“Mr Watson said he had ‘no intention of blaming organised labour for cost overruns or delays at Gorgon’.

“Yet Chevron’s only meaningful response to date has been to sue the MUA for more than $20 million, for nothing more than workers on the job ensuring that occupational health and safety standards are met.

“Employers need to clearly decide whether they want to work with unions - and we’ll be there - or against unions - and we’ll be there as well.”

The motion passed by the Dockers Section “condemns Chevron for its sustained campaign to undermine wages, conditions and workers’ rights in the corporation’s Western Australian operations and exploiting both Australian and foreign labour in its search for increased profits.

“The ITF stands in solidarity with Chevron workers seeking to join a union and collectively bargain, and demands that Chevron cease its union-busting against the MUA and commits to entering into a long-term and functional relationship with the MUA that respects Australian workers’ rights, wages and conditions and the MUA’s right to represent them.

“The ITF declares Barrow Island - an island 50 kilometres northwest off the Pilbara coast of Western Australia - a Port Of Convenience (POC) when the first shipment of LNG leaves the island, and calls on all affiliates to request any company or operator that has an interaction with the designated Port Of Convenience to review their existing

Aung Kyaw Lim and Shwe Tun Aung from IFOMS tell FPC delegates about the difficulties of organising in Myanmar

contractual relationships/arrangements with this port and to provide active solidarity support to the MUA and its members by any and all available lawful means.”

ITF Praise For Hunterlink Other items of discussion during the ITF’s Fair Practices Committee meeting were not so dire. An organisation close to the MUA’s heart – Hunterlink – was able to demonstrate its service to the delegates, most of whom were leaders of the world’s major transport unions.

Hunterlink Recovery Services Manager Gavin Kelso was invited to give a brief presentation on the work of his organisation and he was very well received.

Kelso spoke about the organisation’s humble beginnings as a provider of housing and counseling to those struggling, mainly with drug and alcohol addiction, in the Hunter region, through to today where the plan is to take the service global.

“The mental welfare of seafarers is often overlooked, as are the unique conditions those working in the industry face,” Kelso said.

“If a seafarer breaks a leg in an Australian port, we are equipped to deal with that in terms of medical care. However if a seafarer finds himself confronted with suicidal thoughts, or addiction spiraling out of control, there’s nothing in the way of support.

“That’s where Hunterlink comes in as a ‘first responder’ and we can either offer them direct counseling or refer them to an appropriate service provider with immediacy.

ITF Maritime Coordinator Jacqui Smith and ITF President Paddy Crumlin head up docker’s section of FPC

Assistant National Secretary Ian Bray and RMT National Secretary Steve Todd hold a discussion during the seafarer’s section

www.mua.org.au

Hunterlink manager Gavin Kelso highlights the importance of looking after the mental well being of maritime workers

www.mua.org.au

“International seafarers are also able to utilise our 24-hour helpline, which offers them the chance to talk to someone in a confidential manner and not have to worry about their boss, or manning agent find out.”

So well received was his presentation, some of the room’s most influential participants, including ITF President Paddy Crumlin and SIU Treasury-Secretary David Heindel, both vocally praised Hunterlink’s efforts.

Seafarers Union For Myanmar Another positive outcome achieved at the FPC meeting was the formation of the first true trade union for seafarers in Myanmar, a labour supply country with an atrocious record of workers’ rights.

Two men from Myanmar, Shwe Tun Aung and Aung Kyaw Lin, told the FPC of the struggles and difficulties they had faced in forming their union – the Independent Federation of Myanmar Seafarers (IFOMS).

IFOMS General Secretary Aung Kyaw Lin explained that before IFOMS, those who wanted to work at sea had to pay extortionate amounts of money to manning agents; and if they could not stump up the cash, they would have to hand over property deeds.

However there was still a lot of work to be done, he said, because those who had chosen to join were being stood over by shipping companies and agencies.

There had been some good news though, according to ITF National Coordinator Dean Summers, in that more than 1000 new members signed up within the first three weeks of the union’s existence.

“The international inspectorate should be congratulated for running a strong recruitment campaign,” Summers said.

“Burmese seafarers have, under the Burmese military junta, been the most vulnerable seafarers in the world, with almost no way to protect them and their families.

“For many years bad ship-owners, and even worse manning agents, have got away with the most atrocious abuse of these workers. Finally we have a brave new union, supported by the ITF and by strong affiliates like the MUA.” n 39

2015 NT BRANCH CONFERENCE

Strength In Diversity, Strong In Unity

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t was a full house - with more than 110 officials, delegates, traditional owners and international guests from Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and New Zealand - in attendance at the MUA NT 2015 conference in September.

Other guests included Aboriginal community members from the Tiwi Islands, Borroloola and Groote Eylandt, in addition to the traditional owners the Larrakia who, lead by MUA elder Eric Fejo, offered a moving Welcome To Country.

Fejo highlighted the long-standing relationship between the MUA and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and warmly invited all the guests to his country as MUA family.

Chair and Honorary Deputy Branch Secretary Andy Burford introduced NT Branch Secretary Thomas Mayor who, after formally recognising all of the special guests and sponsors in the room, spoke about the significance of the conference.

Mayor set the scene of the conference, emphasising: the theme “Strength in Diversity, Strong in Unity”; the importance of recognising the union’s role in the struggle for social justice; understanding the common

foe in capitalist elites; and the strategic value in embracing the diversity in our society and in our union, especially in a place like the Northern Territory.

Following Mayor was Will Tracey, MUA National Deputy Secretary. Tracey outlined the national position of the MUA and the challenges we face across all industries.

Throughout the rest of the day a number of delegates from different parts of the union movement and the industry took their time to speak. NT delegate of the year Jason Murphy delivered the stevedoring report and introduced a special guest speaker Robert O’Rourke, who had made the trek from the community assembly at Port Botany to tell his story.

O’Rourke gave an impassioned report from the dispute, which at the time was on day 43.

He told his own story about the human impact of being sacked by text message at midnight, and the absolutely disgraceful behaviour by Hutchison management which is yet to be resolved.

The final panel of the day was the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander panel, chaired by Nathan (Shrek) Barnett and comprising Kara Keys, ACTU Indigenous

MUA NT Branch Secretary Thomas Mayor addresses the conference

Officer and MUA NT Youth members Myra Leong and Andrew Sutton. Thomas Mayor introduced the panel and highlighted the significance of the relationship between Indigenous Communities and the MUA and our shared struggle and solidarity.

Kara Keys gave an excellent presentation on the history of exploitation and abuse of Aboriginal people from first white settlement, and in particular the exploitation of Indigenous labour.

Myra Leong and Andrew Sutton both told their own stories of becoming an MUA member and the opportunities and support provided by the union, transforming both their ideas of what it was to be union and a qualified seafarer. Both proud, young, Indigenous union activists, their stories brought clarity to the importance of aligning

All of the delegates from the Quadrennial NT Branch Conference

our work and our struggle with all indigenous people, including providing dedicated opportunities for young people to get an industry start.

The panel concluded with Thomas Mayor delivering a moving presentation about the work of the MUA NT branch and the ongoing dedication to supporting and actively participating in Indigenous rights’ campaigns.

“It’s what we have always done” he said.

“It is the right thing to do. And by advancing and uniting with traditional owners and disadvantaged people, we advance ourselves”.

This session concluded with a presentation about Social Compacts with Traditional Owners in various parts of the country, and how they can work in practice. Young Larrakia leader and MUA member Wayne Kurnorth announced that the Larrakia Nation Board (representing the Traditional Owners of the Darwin region) had endorsed a social compact with the union that would go to their Annual General Meeting in November for final approval.

At the end of the day’s events, the conference moved down to Parliament House and rallied against the privatisation of the Darwin Port. This was followed by a march to the Mitchell Centre outside the INPEX Head Office.

Mayor said he was concerned that INPEX would not deliver on its promises and he was demanding solid commitments in terms of training and jobs for Larrakia and local people.

“The Larrakia are rightfully suspicious after ConocoPhillips had promised the world, in terms of training and jobs for local Aboriginal people, and they don’t want to see INPEX do the same,” Mayor said.

Mayor added he hoped that community action would make INPEX pay attention, but emphasised it was also up to both the Territory and Federal Governments to make sure INPEX adhered to its commitments.

One of those commitments, he said, was

Women delegates from the NT Conference

Larrakia elder and MUA member Eric Fejo donates one of his artworks to sacked Hutchison wharfie Robert O’Rourke

that INPEX should be held responsible for the contractors it engages.

“Let me be clear on this. It is not just the people INPEX is directly employing, it’s every job from offshore supply vessels, to construction contractors, to the gas ships that carry the gas to Japan,” Mayor said.

“Larrakia people and Darwin locals are capable of training into jobs in operations

Delegates rally outside of parliament and Inpex HQ

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on the gas plant and on the ships servicing the plant in 2017. That training should be carefully planned and started now.

“The people of Darwin cannot rely on non-binding fluffy promises. We need an unambiguous legally-binding agreement, and we need action.”

Day two began with Sue Gibbs, newly elected NT Representative on the National MUA Women’s Committee, providing the NT Women’s report followed up by a brief overview by National Women’s Liaison Officer Mich-Elle Myers.

Will Tracey then gave the Federal Offshore Report and detailed all of the shocking behaviour by the Federal LNP Government to try to remove Australian Workers entirely from the offshore industry - and the valiant campaign comprising political, industrial, legal and international strategies to fight and protect the right for Australian workers to not be replaced by cheaper foreign labour.

Kyle McGinn spoke on Workplace Safety and two tragic member fatalities that he has experienced first-hand during his time with the MUA. His impassioned call for workers to take control of Safety was echoed

by Cumbo, who spoke briefly of another tragedy in the port of Brisbane where his own brother was killed through poor health and safety practices and the shocking attitude of management to workers who had been affected.

Special thanks were offered to all of the international guests and comrades, and the rest of the conference continued in-house with NT Branch members and rank and file members undertaking strategic planning.

This was followed in the evening by a ‘Darwin Formal’ Conference Dinner which will also now be a quadrennial event. n 41

C A M PA I G N S I N T E N S I V E

Geared up for the fight: MUA readies to take on Turnbull’s Liberal government Victorian Branch hosted an intensive campaigns workshop for members from around the country as we gear up for the next election.

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embers from around the country are now better equipped to take on the Liberal Government after participating in a threeday Campaigns Intensive course held in the Victorian Branch in August.

The MUA and Victorian Trades Hall Council joint initiative delivered skills-based training to more than 60 members, with a particular focus on women, youth, veterans and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander members.

The Campaigns Intensive was designed to build the campaigning capacity of each MUA branch to empower activists with new skills and tools to boost future MUA campaigning at a local and grass roots level.

The training included: ■ core campaigning theory, ■ hands-on skills development for recruiting of activists, ■ identifying campaign objectives and messages, ■ measuring campaign success, and ■ using social media to get the message out.

The response was overwhelmingly positive to our call to action: ‘I Support Aussie Jobs and Aussie Industries’.

The participants were involved in one-toone phone conversations with MUA members about jobs across the maritime industries and asking them to assist in getting the message out to the general public.

By using their own personal narrative about the key issues facing our members today, the team built up to a major doorknocking exercise in a marginal seat complete with a full debrief and role play in Geelong and 90 minutes of doorknocking.

In total the team knocked on 464 doors and had 173 real conversations with members of the public about jobs in the maritime industry and the need to remove the Coalition Government at the next Federal election.

The response was overwhelmingly positive and there were dozens of photographs or ‘selfies’ taken with Geelong residents holding up a sign ‘I Support Aussie Jobs and Aussie Industries’.

The content of the three days training was developed by Campaigns & Projects Coordinator Samantha Bond in conjunction with

National Campaigns Coordinator Samantha Bond delivers the training in the Victorian Branch.

(Above) WA Branch youth member Ryan Furtado talks to the public in Corangamite about the Liberal’s attacks on jobs

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Sydney Branch youth member Rory Hart writes down some of the important asks for the union (Below, L-R) All of the participants from the Campaigns Intensive; Young union activist Kahlani Pryah gets the Geelong community onboard

the Victorian Trades Hall Council (VTHC) Campaigns team, particularly Luke Hilakari, Wil Stracke, Edwina Byrne and Ted Sussex, the Corangamite ACTU Target Seat Co-ordinator.

All three VTHC officers gave presentations during the training and highlighted the successful ‘We Are Union’ campaign that helped remove the LNP Government in Victoria last year. Based on traditional grassroots training models, this intensive has provided skills and tools to roll out future activities in every branch, including providing direct campaign support to the ACTU Build a Better Future Campaign.

Particular highlights of the Campaigns Intensive were guest speakers Kahlani Pryah from United Voice who was able to share her story as the young woman who took on fast food chain ‘Grill’d’ for underpayment of casual workers and won. www.mua.org.au

Presentations highlighted the successful ‘We Are Union’ campaign that helped remove the LNP Government in Victoria last year.

Thomas Mayor talked about the MUA’s Social Compact work with Indigenous Communities and Mick Doleman introduced the Maritime International Federation to the course participants on the second day.

Social activities included a hearty discussion at Thursday’s Politics in the Pub featuring Mich-Elle Myers (Women), Percy White (Veteran), Thomas Mayor (ATSI) and Jimmy Harris (Youth) and

hosted by Assistant National Secretary Ian Bray. Audience members queued up to ask questions of the panel and the Victorian Trades Hall Choir surprised everyone by performing a flash mob during the discussion.

ACTU President Ged Kearney also spoke to the dinner on Friday night and inspired participants with her reminiscences of the ‘98 Patricks dispute as well as asking for our ongoing support in the Build a Better Future campaign.

Each branch team developed an Action Plan including key activities to engage with ATSI, Women, Youth and Veterans for ongoing MUA campaigning both to assist in the removal of the Coalition Government at the next election as well as maintaining the fight for decent jobs and conditions in all maritime industries into the future.

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I N T E R N AT I O N A L C O N F E R E N C E

United we stand: Your delegates’ report from the 36th ILWU Conference

lockouts they have endured to see the trade union movement alive on the west coast of the United States and Hawaii.

Standing ovation for WA Branch Secretary Christy Cain

Learning their conditions and listening to their experiences will be invaluable for upcoming Enterprise Agreement negotiations.

A large MUA delegation representing every branch attended the recent 36th International Conference of America’s International Longshore and Warehousing Union (ILWU).

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lose friends of the MUA, America’s International Longshore and Warehousing Union (ILWU), held its 36th International Conference in Hawaii in June. Along with National Secretary Paddy Crumlin and National Women’s Liaison Officer Mich-Elle Myers, a delegation of officials from every branch attended. These are their reports:

Troy Clifford, DP World Queensland wharfie ALOHA The five-day conference in Hawaii run by the ILWU was in all a special thing for not only me, but also everyone that attended. The courage and power this union has with its people, members and families is second to none that I have seen or come across in 15 years of being a union member.

It really opens your eyes to just see how many people and families the ILWU is helping, educating and organising for the better lifestyle that everyone deserves today. From Panama Canal pilots, Panama dockworkers, nurses in Alaska, Dutch harbour seafarers, Japanese dockworkers, Hawaiian pineapple and sugar workers, recycle workers and pensioners.

It really opens your eyes to just see how many people and families the ILWU was helping, educating and organising The Governor of Hawaii, David Ige, I think said it the best when he said: “The ILWU has changed Hawaii for the better”. To hear that from a powerful figure in the public eye talking about unions in a positive way is 44

unheard of.

If we work together on a common cause or goal, we can do so much more regardless of our different backgrounds. When we work TOGETHER we can accomplish so much more than an individual.

We are not separate with our struggles on the local front. The international solidarity which we were shown only cements the future.

We need to bind together and fight for what are our rights.

Special thanks to the MUA officials and delegates that are either moving on to other roles or into retirement. Your knowledge and work for this union and its people will not be forgotten. Also the new officials and delegates that are coming on board: WELCOME! Mahalo: Troy Clifford

Former Queensland Assistant Branch Secretary, Paul Sheehan Along with Rank-and-File delegate Troy Clifford (DP World), I attended the 36th Convention of the ILWU in Honolulu recently.

Paddy Crumlin led a contingent of approximately 26 Rank and File Delegates and Officials from around the country to represent the MUA. Relationships between our two unions, as well as other unions around the world are instrumental in our ability to take the fight to employers globally.

There were a number of guest speakers including Paddy Crumlin, Chris Cain, Steve Cotton (ITF Maritime Co-ordinator), Kozo Matsumato (General Secretary All Japan Dockworkers), Niek Stam (National Secretary Netherland Dockworkers), Steve Todd (National Secretary of the National Union of

Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers in the UK), and Joe Fleetwood (General Secretary of the Maritime Union of New Zealand, MUNZ).

The US wants to go down the same path as we have in Australia and legislate the current strike options away.

The opening address by ILWU President ‘Big Bob’ McEllrath was disturbing in that the legislators in the US want to go down the same path as we have in Australia and legislate the current strike options away. In all the discussions that the Aussies had with various delegates and officers of the ILWU, we stressed that they need to maintain their position and therefore their strength.

I would like to thank the Union for the opportunity to go to the ILWU Convention and wish all at the MUA, ILWU and the ITF, the best going forward.

Women’s Committee Member and Svitzer Fremantle delegate, Karen Wheatland Flying in to Honolulu for this amazing opportunity was something that I never expected and will never forget.

There were approximately 360 delegates in attendance, of which just above 20 per cent were women. They came from as far as Alaska, down to the newly aligned segment of the ILWU in Panama.

The delegation also consisted of a group from the federated auxiliary, a powerful and innovative addition to the delegation that can potentially bring our communities into our struggles, and a great way to activate people that aren’t at the coalface of our battles. I feel that this is something that we need to include www.mua.org.au

within our union, adding another layer to our ongoing campaigns and fights with the bosses and governments alike.

Unions were represented from across the globe with delegations from the ITF, MUA, MUNZ, RMT, All Japan Dockworkers Union, Netherland Dockers, and the Belgium Dockers.

The delegates were articulate and animated and very eager to put their point across.

The ILWU Hawaii Local 142 was the host and the president, Donna Domingo, was a strong and powerful presence throughout the convention. The delegates of the convention were articulate and animated and very eager to put their point across.

The Inland Boatmen’s Union is an affiliate of the ILWU, which covers the towage sector, as well as other small boat sectors, throughout the United States and Canada, and I spent some time learning about the struggles that it is facing.

One point of legislation that was alarming was the fact that these workers need to give notice to the company to attend another union’s or locals’ picket, taking the 24-hour stoppage notice that we have in Australia that little bit further.

It’s so important for us to stay connected with our fellow unions abroad so we can see what these global companies are up to in our regions. It’ll only be a matter of time until they bring similar tactics to our workplaces, and through our networks we can be prepared to beat them at their own game.

With the changing face of transport throughout the globe, we need to mobilise our mass membership through our ITF networks. www.mua.org.au

Through our networks the Labour movement can change the world.

To paraphrase the great Willie Adams, speaking on the opening day, he said that unions are essentially, “a bunch of misfits that know how to win. You can’t get strong unless you have struggle.”

Well we are all certainly dealing with struggles, and with our international solidarity and our diversity we can take bolder action on a global scale. We can globalise workers’ rights, and give it straight back to them. The workers united will never be defeated. I thank the national women’s committee, the MUA and the ILWU for this amazing opportunity, one that will stay with me for a long time.

SNSW Deputy Branch Secretary, Robert Paterson, and Kembla Qube Delegate, Greg Tarlington Comrades, On behalf of Greg Tarlinton and myself I would like to thank the SNSW Branch and the MUA for the opportunity to get some international flavour. The opportunity to fly to Hawaii with several MUA comrades from around Australia will not be forgotten, meeting several youth members from our Union on our journey, which is very encouraging for the future.

The opening of the ILWU Conference was a humble and emotional experience with all the anthems being played and Big Bob opening the conference announcing the ILWU Stevedoring sections had just signed a five year contract through difficult negotiations and it was now time for the members to go to work and do their job.

The conference then showed a video of the last three years and the picket lines and

As part of the international guests we couldn’t have felt more comfortable meeting and sharing experiences with our brothers and sisters from Vancouver, Alaska, Seattle, Tacoma, San Franscisco and all the way down to San Diego and the Panama Canal.

To see how the ILWU works as a Union and how they do business was a great experience for us, personally coming from the Towage sector it was enormous value to spend the week with Alan Chotes, President IBU (Inland Boatman’s Union), which is the marine sector of the ILWU and includes tugs and ferries.

Learning their conditions and listening to their experiences will be invaluable for upcoming Enterprise Agreement negotiations.

There was plenty of international experience at the conference including representatives from Belgian, Japanese and Netherlands dockworkers/RMT UK and MUNZ and also Steve Cotton of the ITF, but Niek Stam from the Dutch dockworkers stole the show with his speech “we got the money back” as great morale boosting victory for the international trade union movement. A seven-year battle for Dutch dockworkers and the MUA played their part with a march to Martin Place from our 2012 Quadrennial Conference in Sydney, showing the importance of international solidarity.

Greg and I would like to thank the host of Local 142 Hawaii and our brothers and sisters of the ILWU for our amazing Hawaii experience and also our MUA family for the comradery.

In Unity, Greg Tarlinton and Robbie Paterson

South Australia Branch Secretary, Jamie Newlyn Held every three years, the ILWU Convention is the supreme policy making body for the organisation and brings together delegates from all Locals (Branches) of the ILWU. The 36th convention brought together nearly 400 ILWU delegates and invited guests including a large contingent of MUA officials and rank-and-file.

The ILWU covers more than Longshoreman (wharfies) with the IR laws of the USA allowing workers to determine which union they want to cover them.

ILWU is a broad church with coverage including warehousing, towage, mining, port security (including Port Police), and nurses.

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I N T E R N AT I O N A L C O N F E R E N C E

In Hawaii the ILWU covers farm workers, hotel workers, construction and supermarket workers. Now they even have the Panama Canal Pilots and Panama dockers.

Overwhelmingly the industrial muscle comes from the Longshore section of the union where in the 1930s Harry Bridges, an Australian Seafarer who had jumped ship in America started to organise the San Francisco waterfront and ultimately after a bloody struggle, organised the waterfront on the West Coast of America. That history is a celebrated feature of the ILWU and the structures formed in the 1930s largely exist today particularly regarding the democratic functioning of the union.

Overwhelmingly the industrial muscle comes from the Longshore section of the union.

What is increasingly evident and is widely reported in our union publications is the fight waterfront unions are facing, particularly the shrinking market of shipping operators and the global nature of stevedores and shipping companies. These companies are using all their capital, political and industrial muscle to eliminate strong union influence. This is being done in numerous ways including automation, casualisation and union busting where it can be achieved.

On this subject alone the ILWU Leadership identified the need for international solidarity and many examples were provided including the 1998 Patrick dispute and the turning back of the Columbus Canada by ILWU, the Dutch Dockers Pension dispute, the ILWU Longview Dispute where MUA and other International Unions attended, the New Zealand Port of Auckland Dispute. International solidarity played a role in Unions winning all these struggles.

MUA National Secretary and ITF President Paddy Crumlin gave a rousing speech which encapsulated the need for international solidarity and union organising. He mentioned how transport unions have to win in the global supply chain. Paddy was followed by other international guests from the UK, Netherlands, Japan, New Zealand, Belgium, Canada and Panama.

The Hawaii local 142 organising committee did a magnificent job in coordinating the convention and all the associated activities.

Almost all of these people were rank and file members.

The hospitality as usual with ILWU conventions was outstanding and the associated functions were a great success with typical Hawaiian culture featured prominently.

Finally the nominations for the International Executive were called for and our great brothers were re-elected unopposed: 46

National Secretary Paddy Crumlin delivers a speech flanked by the ILWU’s Willie Adams and Bob McElrath

“Big” Bob McElrath (President), Willie Adams (Secretary Treasurer), Ray Familathe (Vice President), and Wesley Furtado (Vice President) – all great friends of the MUA and great leaders of the ILWU. The history, democratic structures, orderly debate and functioning of the ILWU convention were a privilege to witness and as long as these features exist, strong maritime unions in the world like the ILWU and the MUA will continue the struggle against the excesses of global capital.

Mahalo (Thanks) for the opportunity Jamie Newlyn

South Australian rank-and-file seafarer, Matt Burnell: Aloha.

In a week of inspiring speeches, progressive thinking and the chance to network with unionists from all over the world, it is hard not come back to Australia feeling stronger and definitely changed for the better.

I could report on a whole week’s worth of knowledge gained and fill the entire journal with my experience, but I feel that there was one thing going on in the background that has the potential to be greater than my few words here.

This is “The Docker Podcast”, run by a group of three brothers from Local 502 youth, Vancouver.

Throughout the week, the two Mikes and Dan conducted many interviews, recording it and later uploading to their Podcast channel on the internet.

They have had the opportunity to speak to some of the biggest hitting leaders in the union movement, veterans and rank-andfile members. They are now sharing that experience with everyone.

This is progressive thinking, a tool used to help educate and inform members and community alike. It is our right as a union

movement to have our stories heard in an unbiased light, without the influence of right wing media.

It is our right as a union movement to have our stories heard in an unbiased light, without the influence of right wing media.

I would like to thank Local 502 on bringing this initiative to the ILWU Convention and allowing many of the MUA delegation to participate; for providing a tool to spread the experience of the convention to the rank and file.

For the youth of the MUA, the challenge has been put out to try and go one better for our conference next year. We can achieve it. Log on to the podcast, listen and spread the word.

I would like to acknowledge the generous hospitality shown by Local 142 brothers and sisters. Throughout the week, we were treated to local food, music and culture. They spent countless hours ensuring all delegates had everything they needed and shared the Aloha Spirit with us all. ” Mahalo a nui loa” (thank you very much) for the opportunity to represent our great Union, it was an honor and privilege to be in Hawaii and be part of the MUA delegation.

In Unity, Matt Burnell * Check out the Docker Podcast here: www. thedockerpodcast.libsyn.com

Victorian rank-and-file, Dave Cullen As a representative of the MUA Victorian branch, I had the good fortune of attending the thirty-sixth convention of the ILWU, hosted by the Hawaiian 142.

The word globalisation generally evokes negative thoughts about neoliberalism and capitalism, which is largely to the detriment of people from of all walks of life – particularly www.mua.org.au

The surfboards that were made to commemorate the event which were used in a friendly ILWU v MUA surfing contest between National Secretary Paddy Crumlin and ILWU President Bob McElrath. The National Secretary prevailed.

the working class.

Throughout the convention the main message I took away with me, was that wharfies, dockers, and longshoremen, from all over the world, face the same struggles. They are forced to go up against the same rotten governments who are constantly trying to legislate their conditions and safety away.

Backed, of course, by the multi-national shipping, resources, manufacturing and agricultural companies.

It was evident that we, as a union movement, need to counteract them by networking and supporting our union brethren the world over, becoming a ‘global’ union force.

Wharfies, dockers, and longshoremen, from all over the world, face the same struggles.

The ITF is an integral piece of this puzzle, but we still have a long way to go. For example, Steve Todd, the National Secretary of the National Union of Rail, Maritime, & Transport Workers (RMTW), spoke of the attack our comrades in the British Offshore Oil and Gas Industry are facing, from the same multinationals that are intent on minimising our conditions. Moreover, these companies are tearing up current agreements, and trying to impose their own workplace contracts on members.

The key to standing strong against these companies, is solidarity. The All Japan Dockworker’s Union, the ITF and Canadian and Philippine Unions proved this when they mobilised against the Pacific Beach Hotel Group (Hawaii), after the company responded to the workers unionising and joining the local 142 by mass firings, intimidation, and refusing to bargain in good faith.

After the worldwide support of these unions, a new management company was www.mua.org.au

brought in to run the hotel group, and the first union contract was signed to the delight of the 425 workers.

I am proud to report that the MUA is viewed as one of the most proactive, and progressive unions out there. This is due, in part, to our policy of including youth and women’s committees, which are essential for the future of the global union movement. A number of internationals have now started, or are in the process of starting, to branch into these areas, encouraged by our actions.

In Solidarity, Daniel Cullen

Newcastle tugs rank-and-file, Dave Andrews I had the honour of travelling with a great delegation of union officials and delegates from around the country to Honolulu to attend this convention. I would like to thank our comrades from the ILWU and in particular Hawaii Local 142 for being great hosts.

Looking back I feel my time there really made me aware of the global attacks on organised labour through things like free trade agreements and the Trans-Pacific Partnership which will be used by greedy, profit-beforepeople corporations.

This highlights the need for our members to be proactive in our own struggles at home. I would like to thank my comrades at Svitzer Tugs & Lines Newcastle for giving me this opportunity which I feel has helped to improve myself as a proud trade unionist.

In Unity, Dave Andrews Tasmania Branch rank-and-file, Peter Van Buuren I would like to say thank you to the Tasmanian Branch of the MUA for giving me the opportunity to attend the 36th ILWU Convention. Each morning we were privileged to hear from various guest speakers from

international unions including our National Secretary, Paddy Crumlin and West Coast Branch Secretary Christy Cain.

There were a number of key points by the various guest speakers throughout the week.

Some examples of interest were: • You’ve got to do your job! Don’t let management do it for you.

• Holding onto history, strength in strong union countries and assisting countries with weaker unions • Education and effective organising within your membership and organisation • Long live solidarity and strength with our international relationships and unions.

The most important thing here is us, the working class. Throughout our long history of struggle, we experience similar situations now. We need to stand firm, united in our fight for justice, to do what we believe is right: balancing the growing wage gap by way of decent wages and conditions, and rewarded with dignity in our retirement.

Long live solidarity and strength with our international relationships and unions.

Some speakers informed us of the need to engage women, referring to gender balance and also our youth. Get them involved! These people are the new and important addition to our ports and unions, necessary for both growth and strength for the challenging times ahead. This challenge requires us to assist, due to the ever increasing pressures that modern society has placed on our families, for the need for both parents to work.

Through discussion with numerous people over the week and to summarise the convention in relation to our future with the MUA, I would like you to picture an equal arm beam scale. One side of the scale relates to our employer and the other side, employees, with the centre of balance held by our MUA. The scale should always favour the way of our employer, because at the end of the day, effective production and a healthy profit pleases our bosses. We need to deal and negotiate smart and as quoted above, “you’ve got to do your job”.

We should always be known by our first names and family names at work, and never be known by just a number or figure. Greed and power don’t interest us, technology and automation will never replace us, we are the working class and the key to our movement is solidarity. United we stand as rank-and-file members of the MUA, well respected by our international counterparts.

MUA Here to Stay.

Regards, Peter Van Buuren 47

HUNTERLINK

C A M PA I G N

Newcastle Mental Health Service Turns 5 & Looks Overseas

DP World Agreements Finalised: Big Wins For Wharfies

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Conditions for DP World wharfies have been vastly improved after a long negotiation process.

xpansion is on the horizon for mental health service provider Hunterlink, which celebrated its fifth birthday in the form of an industry dinner in Newcastle in September.

Guests went home regenerated after a string of inspirational speeches which reflected upon the significant successes Hunterlink has achieved in the past five years.

More than 100 attendees from politics, government, trade unions and business gathered to listen to a host of guest speakers and share the celebrations at Marina Views Function Centre on the Newcastle foreshore.

Prominent among them was Member for Charlton Pat Conroy, who praised Hunterlink in Federal Parliament.

In the spirit of Mental Health month, Conroy emphasised the need for specialised mental health providers such as Hunterlink.

“Hunterlink has grown from a small mental health service provider in Newcastle to a national service, with a 24-hour hotline and an employment assistance program,” he noted.

“The service endeavours to provide individualised support to maritime workers, maritime stakeholders, related industries and the local community. They do not turn anyone away, and they are particularly proud of that fact.

“Hunterlink also reaches out to international seafarers visiting Australian waters. This was recently highlighted when the coal vessel Sage Sagittarius docked in Newcastle. Hunterlink was able to provide counselling to the crew, who had lost three seafarers under very unusual circumstances.

“Gavin Kelso, Hunterlink’s CEO, is dedicated to reaching beyond Australian waters and looking to the future, hoping to help at-risk seafarers struggling with a mental illness, regardless of where the ship is sailing.”

During the Anniversary Dinner, Hunterlink managing director Gavin Kelso laid down his plans to expand its reach internationally, after presenting a tribute to Hunterlink founder Paul Karras, who passed away following a brief illness earlier this year.

“After beginning as a small mental health service provider here in Newcastle to becoming a national operator where our reach helps maritime and other blue collar workers in some of the most isolated regions of Australia, is no small feat,” Kelso said. “And that’s why we’re here celebrating.

“The next step is beyond Australia’s borders.

And with the support of the International 48

F

ollowing two-years of push back from the company, the Maritime Union of Australia has finally secured an Enterprise Agreement with global network terminal operator DP World.

Wharfies from all four ports – Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Fremantle – have voted for the latest version of the agreement, which has secured many important conditions for workers at the terminals.

Assistant National Secretary Warren Smith said although the process had been long and arduous, he was happy with the result

and congratulated the bargaining team and responsible branch officials for their tireless work.

“Some of the wins include year-onyear wage increases, income protection, cementing of penalty rates, protection of the 35-hour-week and a guaranteed transparent negotiation process should redundancies or an operational change occur,” Smith said.

“These were all sticking points as DP World claimed it was suffering from a downturn in revenue and couldn’t afford many of the measures. However we managed to get it over the line, partly because of the discipline that

was shown on our side of the negotiating table.”

Negotiations were not all ‘smooth sailing’.

Throughout the process, there was significant industrial action undertaken at the different ports.

The process saw strikes and lockouts.

However these actions resulted in significant wins for workers and held back some of the most reactionary attacks wharfies had faced, as the company was determined to smash penalty rates and slash wages.

“Unity and action won the day for DPW wharfies,” Smith summed up. n

The anniversary was celebrated with a birthday cake

“Hunterlink has grown from a small mental health service provider in Newcastle to a national service, with a 24-hour hotline and an employment assistance program” Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) we will be able to help at-risk seafarers struggling with mental illness, regardless of where they are sailing.”

ITF President Paddy Crumlin was unable to attend the event because of international commitments, but his message was read out by the night’s master-of-ceremonies, Walkley Award-winning journalist Steve Cannane, stressing the importance of Hunterlink’s ongoing work for both domestic and international transport workers.

Crumlin stressed: “The international industry in particular is renowned for even greater demands, with crews of mixed national origin, standards that fall short of best practice and the nature of seafarers often being sourced from working communities in developing countries that are effectively isolated from their families in every sense of the word.

“Hunterlink’s work counselling seafarers also traumatised by serious injury and death in the workplace is widely respected and appreciated.

“The organisation in many ways is leading in an activist approach to give comprehensive and sustained counselling and support, not only for the families affected by the injury

or death, but also those in the workplace exposed to the trauma and often tragedy of the event.”

Former Federal Shadow Minister for Mental Health Senator Jan McLucas, who was keynote speaker at the event, said it was important to recognise that looking after one’s mental health was as important as looking after one’s physical health.

She noted: “Although mental health awareness and treatment have improved dramatically in recent years, there is still a gap in services. Fortunately, organisations like Hunterlink exist to plug that gap.

“And that’s why we’re all here - to recognise the service and ongoing direction of this vital service, which has and will continue to help many.”

National Rugby League mental health ambassador Dan Hunt spoke about his personal struggle and the stigma that was attached to metal illness.

The night was wrapped up with a candid and moving speech from Dave White, a coal miner who had accessed the Hunterlink service.

The event was sponsored by Maritime Employees Training Limited and Flinders Ports Holdings. n www.mua.org.au

A full show of hands in Fremantle for the new DP World EBA

MUA Appeal Gifts Patrick Workers

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he MUA has come out on top over Patrick Stevedores after successfully appealing a Fair Work Commission decision.

Patrick had argued that its employees were only entitled to 11.25 per cent superannuation as per their Enterprise Bargaining Agreement; but the union claimed that figure was actually 11.75 per cent. www.mua.org.au

FWC Vice President Watson originally agreed with Patrick’s interpretation, but an appeal heard by the Full Bench quashed Watson’s decision.

Deputy National Secretary Will Tracey said it was a significant win for the union.

“After a lot of blood, sweat and tears, we were able to secure an extra 0.5 per cent in super, which will enable wharfies a better chance of retiring with dignity,” Tracey said.

“The work of some key people, including the legal team, some branch officials and outgoing Deputy National Secretary Mick Doleman have helped cement this win and should be congratulated for not giving up after the original ruling.”

The union will liaise with the company to ensure current and former employers entitled to the extra payments are compensated. n 49

CHANNEL SWIM

QUBE WORKERS Don’t sign away your protections!

Dean Summers Conquers Channel

Dean Summers finished the Channel crossing in a respectable time and was able to celebrate with his family and training at the end

50

Don’t let Qube undermine you and your union!

A

fter a grueling 13 hours and 19 minutes, International Transport Workers’ Federation National Coordinator Dean Summers completed his English Channel swim attempt, a feat many have tried and failed.

He was one of 11 people to attempt the swim on this occasion, but only two made it across from Dover to France and Dean surpassed the other successful swimmer’s time by six hours.

On the shores of France, Summers was greeted by his fellow Belgium ITF Inspector Christian Roos, who was waiting with a celebratory drink.

Also accompanying Summers on the trip (on a support boat) were his daughter Michelle, his partner Kylie and his swimming coach Vlad.

According to his website, Summers dedicated his swim to the 1.3 million seafarers around the world who sacrifice their time, their labour and their health, to transport the world’s wealth around on merchant ships.

“Although over 90 per cent of the world’s trade is carried by sea, seafarers are not recognised for their contributions, and they have largely become an invisible workforce,” it reads.

“Seafarers are among the most vulnerable and exploited workers in the world. These men and women can spend months, even a year, living and working in extreme conditions, and far away from their homes and families.

“While their time at sea can have devastating effects on families at home, the isolation, loneliness and deprivation a seafarer experiences can severely impact their mental health, too often resulting in anxiety, depression, and suicide.”

As a result Summers raised more than $25,000 for Hunterlink Recovery Services, which supports maritime workers from around Australia and visiting seafarers from around the world. n www.mua.org.au

Ignore any company propaganda that convinces you to work against your best interests, the MUA is the default representative:

CHUCK IT IN THE BIN

AT S I C O N F E R E N C E

AT S I R E C O G N I S E

Indigenous Constitutional Recognition: A Hot Issue For All Australians

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Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Activists Unite WA Branch Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island committee member ROGER PICKETT attended the ACTU’s Indigenous Conference in Carirn. This is his report.

T

he National ACTU Indigenous Conference for 2015 was held in the Northern part of Queensland in the beautiful city of Cairns, where the weather was just as nice as the landscape of tropical Queensland. With the backdrop in place, we were set for a very informative learning experience, soaking everything Cairns and the training conference had to offer.

There were some familiar faces from Indigenous union activists, as well as many new ones. This was encouraging to see, as it meant that each union wanted to be involved with up-skilling their Indigenous unionists.

It also gave us the opportunity to network, while identifying that the Indigenous community could be involved with making a difference in “Building a Better Future” for all Australians.

As could be expected, the MUA was present and doing its best to try and ‘lead from the front’ as many of us had been involved with some sort of campaigning, whether it was from our marches or our involvement in some of our shopping mall campaigning and experiences.

The conference this year had a specific task: “Build a Better Future”. How can we achieve this? By getting involved and being active and educating as many people as possible before the next Federal Election on the fact that our community can make a difference.

This conference gave us the opportunity to learn about some of the things we can do within our community ranging from doorknocking, to stalls in the shopping mall. Some individuals at the conference had never been 52

involved with actively campaigning and were very nervous; however with the support of experienced campaigners and the training provided in the classroom, everyone was well prepared to give it a go.

There was so much positive feedback at the end of the campaigning day that we started to get the feeling that we can help “Build a Better Future”. Throughout our in-class training we also learned about the “Snowflake Model of Leadership”. This can be used in both identifying and using leaders within unions, as well as the community, for campaigning as it encourages lots of people to share the responsibility.

This form of leadership is already being used in our communities through our sharing of knowledge of culture and stories. This made it easy to understand and showed us that we can also use this style in campaigning.

The homework that was done by the ACTU was very thorough and identified many areas we can be involved in within each state to make a difference in the next Federal Election. The numbers and mapping were well presented and easy to understand and were specific to our Indigenous community.

This highlighted the fact that if we do indeed want to “Build A Better Future”, then it is time to get active and use every means available to us - whether it be through the campaign training or word-of-mouth.

This conference also gave us the opportunity to speak to experienced union activists via a panel after dinner one evening.

There were many discussions brought to our attention and this highlighted just how involved some of our unions are in Indigenous

rights and issues.

With the current Government and its treatment of our people, we were never short of a discussion or topic; which is not something to be proud of, but in actual fact quite upsetting and disturbing as we are Australia’s First People and on so many occasions treated so differently.

One of the differences that stood out to me was the fact that in one of the States, our ATSI EAs (Education Assistants) still to this day are paid superannuation at a different rate than their non-Indigenous colleagues and are only paid super at the same rate after having served 10 years in the industry. The same amount of training, the same amount of responsibility within the schooling system and yet they are paid super at a different rate.

This was one of the many disturbing examples brought to our attention at this conference.

If we want to make a difference, we can make a difference, as we have strong numbers in many of the marginal seats. All we need to do is vote!

Are any of our Indigenous community members happy with the way this current Federal Government is treating us? Because if you’re not, then there is an opportunity to have your voice heard. And that time is the next Federal election.

The numbers presented to us from the ACTU are being publicised around Australia through a presentation from one of our ACTU Indigenous Organisers. I would suggest when they are on their way to your State, get as many community members as possible to the presentation and start doing your bit to “Build a Better Future”. n www.mua.org.au

he call for Constitutional recognition of Indigenous Australians is growing, with Indigenous leaders calling on newly installed Prime Minster Turnbull to commit to a May 2017 Referendum.

While the need to fix the historical exclusion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples from Australia’s Constitution - and to eliminate racial discrimination in the Constitution - is agreed within the indigenous population and by most progressives, a debate is continuing on just what form that change should take.

An Expert Panel - which included Indigenous and community leaders, constitutional experts and parliamentarians - consulted extensively across the nation and reported to the Prime Minister in January 2012. It recommended that Australians should vote in a referendum to: • Remove Section 25 – which says the States can ban people from voting based on their race; • Remove section 51(xxvi) – which can be used to pass laws that discriminate against people based on their race; • Insert a new section 51A – to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and to preserve the Australian Government’s ability to pass laws for the benefit of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples; • Insert a new section 116A, banning racial discrimination by government; and • Insert a new section 127A, recognising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages were this country’s first tongues, while confirming that English is Australia’s national language.

Following the Expert Panel’s work, the Federal Parliament appointed a Joint Select Committee on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

It was chaired by the two Indigenous members of the Commonwealth Parliament, with the Hon Ken Wyatt MP as the Chair and Senator Nova Peris as the Deputy Chair. The Committee held public consultations around Australia throughout 2014 and 2015.

The Joint Select Committee released its Final Report in June 2015, outlining proposed recommendations for amendments.

It provided three different options for how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples can be recognised, with wording that preserves both existing Commonwealth laws relying on section 51 (xxvi) and the www.mua.org.au

Aboriginal elder and Recognise campaigner spoke at the MUA’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander conference earlier this year.

Commonwealth’s power to make laws with respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The three options can be found in the Final Report of the Joint Select Committee at http://www.aph.gov.au/ Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Joint/ Constitutional_Recognition_of_Aboriginal_ and_Torres_Strait_Islander_Peoples/ Constitutional_Recognition/Final_Report For the first time in Australia’s history, the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition also sat down with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders in July 2015 to consider the path ahead. Both the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition agreed to a Referendum Council to progress issues such as settling the referendum question and timing (with regular reports to the Prime Minister and Opposition Leader); and to a series of community conferences across the country to provide an opportunity for everyone

to have a say and for all significant points of view to be considered. It is understood that new PM Malcolm Turnbull remains committed to these processes.

Some of the key issues still under discussion in Indigenous communities and among its leadership which still need to be considered are: the Cape York Institute (Noel Pearson) proposal for an Indigenous Advisory Council to advise the Parliament; and a possible Treaty-making power being advocated by others.

These issues will be outlined in further articles in the MWJ. In addition, the union is intending to organise a Forum on Indigenous Constitutional Recognition at the MUA National Conference in early 2016.

In the meantime, members are urged to go to the Recognise website at http://www.recognise.org.au/ to record support for Constitutional Recognition of Indigenous Australians. n 53

WO M E N

Under attack: Women members take an active role

Growing women’s strength through unity

Mich-Elle Myers, Women’s Liaison Officer, reports on the strong MUA women taking the fight up to anti-union, anti-worker and anti-women government.

MUA National Women’s Committee representative Krista Grace attended the first RMTU women’s conference in New Zealand. Her report was written prior to the Alexander Spirit dispute, of which Krista was a part.

I

was sitting in the Campaigns Intensive in Melbourne and upon looking around me it was clear this wasn’t a typical MUA event.

The room was full of young and older MUA members but new faces, fresh faces and a lot of women.

Amongst us was the first female elected branch official, Alisha Bull, the champion young woman activist that took on Grill’d and won, Khalani Pyrah, legend of the Alexander Spirit dispute, Joanne Kerin, and hero of the Brisbane Hutchison dispute Hannah Matthewson.

There were others in the room – young, new, enthusiastic and keen to make change – they were MUA Women.

There is a shift in the air. Not just for MUA members but for the broader union movement.

We are seeing people at rallies we have never seen before. People are standing up and saying enough is enough. The conservative government that is killing our industries, our jobs and our hope has got to go.

Women in our industry are strong and resilient and always have been. We now have a female elected branch official for the first time ever in Alisha; we have a full voting National Councillor in myself; and we have the first female Australian ITF inspector in Sarah Maguire, who recently took up the role. We have made a significant impact on our union, which our fellow members have recognised, endorsing us in our new roles.

We are still relatively low in numbers sitting at approximately seven percent. The industry is in a downturn which will not help, but we must retain the amazing women we do have.

It is crucial now more than ever to ensure that there are family flexible arrangements in enterprise agreements, such as parental leave provisions and carer’s leave.

We do not bargain for these because women need them, we bargain for them for all members. All members should have the right to take time to care for newborn children, bond and nurture in the early days.

Women should be able to go to sea or work on the wharves in safe jobs for as long as their bodies allow them to do so. The right to request flexible arrangements, transfer to safer jobs or transfer to shore jobs if medically required to do so should be highest on our list of requests so that women can stay in the industry – not 54

MUA Women’s Committee representative pictured with her MUNZ sisters

I The Alexander Spirit’s Joanne Kerrin and Hutchison wharfie Hannah Matthewson with ACTU President Ged Kearney

“Family flexible arrangements in enterprise agreements, such as parental leave provisions and carers leave, are more crucial now than ever.” driven out because it’s too hard to get a fair go.

All workers should be safe at work. A workplace free of harassment, bullying and violence is not just a goal or a policy, it is our commitment.

I’ve been fortunate to be on a couple of community assemblies lately, the first being the Alexander Spirit and the two women on that vessel deserve the utmost respect. Not only in the way they conducted themselves but for putting their face and name forward in the media and sharing their stories to the wider community so they too can understand what’s at stake with the Coalition Government at the helm.

Joanne Kerin and Krista Grace will forever be names in the history books of our union for being willing to take on a multi-million dollar oil company and stand up for what they believe in.

Shortly after the Alexander Spirit dispute, Hutchison kicked off. Ninety-seven workers (including most of the women) were sacked

by SMS in the middle of the night. It’s a story that everyone I speak to thinks is terrible but, as in every dispute, there are good things that come from it. The good that has come from the Hutchison dispute (Day 40 as I write this) is that young amazing women have stood up

and been at the forefront of the fight. The Matthewson family had three people sacked, a father and his two daughters. Hannah and Holly have been fighting for their jobs and their workmates since day one in Brisbane and Sydney respectively. Gabby Condon, long term member previously of DP World, and Leyre Diaz, who is always at the assembly, have been proud to stand with their brothers and fight.

These stories resonate with the community.

Leyre is a single mother of two sons and used to live in housing commission before getting a job on the wharves. Without her job she is facing an uncertain future.

Brave female warriors fighting for what is right.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the sister warriors that have gone before us to open the door, pave the way and light the darkness. Thank you to all of the women in our industry for joining us on this journey.

Please join in, get active, stand up and have a go. Get to any meetings or rallies you can, bring a friend along, help us fight to get rid of this anti-union, anti-worker and anti-women government.

Get up, stand up, sisters! See you at the next rally!

– Mich-Elle Myers. www.mua.org.au

t was with pleasure and pride that I represented the National Women’s Committee in the recent inaugural women’s forum of the Rail, Maritime, Transport Union New Zealand (RMTU), held in the scenic town of Wellington New Zealand. The theme of the forum was “Growing Women’s Strength Through Unity”.

On arrival I was greeted by the inspirational Ruth Blakeley, a ship planner with the Port of Otago on New Zealand’s South Island. Ruth briefed me quickly on what to expect and the reason for my visit. It was made apparent to me that similar to the MUA, the RMTU is challenged in respect to their female members needing to be more proactive within the union moment.

Within the MUA we have the good fortune to have an official Women’s Liaison Officer, Mich-Elle Myers, as well as a National Women’s Committee in place. The National Women’s Committee represents both seafaring and stevedoring women and was created due to the perseverance and hard work of active members, including Sue Virago and Karen Wheatland.

A Women’s Liaison Officer is something that the RMTU currently lacks and it was established quickly that the women needed to make a decision on how they wished to be represented.

During the course of the conference I was asked to speak on my experiences of being a female seafarer in a male-dominated industry.

I spoke of when I first went away to sea in 1985, working as a stewardess on board the Abel Tasman to now working as the chief cook

The MUA has empowered me; giving me strength and courage to face my adversaries knowing that I have the full backing of the union behind me. onboard one of our remaining tankers, the Alexander Spirit.

I spoke about the challenges I had faced during my time at sea; however I was quick to point out that the majority of my seagoing life has been positive, with the men I’ve worked with showing respect, friendship and comradery.

I relayed to the woman that I am fortunate to be able to rely on the MUA at state and federal levels, as well as my union sisters to help me through difficult situations. I explained that being proactive within the MUA has empowered me; giving me strength and courage to face my adversaries knowing that I have the full backing of the union behind me.

During the course of the forum the

RMTU women decided to vote for a female representative. At present this position is voluntary, however I believe it’s a step forward to the inclusion of women within the RMTU. The forum was structured, however not in so much that the women didn’t feel comfortable in sharing their experiences. A lot of grievances were shared, including sexual harassment, discrimination, bullying and exclusion.

We discussed ways for women to keep in contact, via email, newsletters and came to the decision that the best way was to start up a Facebook group, not dissimilar to our own MUA Women’s Group. This has now been implemented and is slowly gaining momentum with the RMTU members.

I enjoyed my time in New Zealand immensely, it was a pity that I had to fly back to Australia in a frantic rush to join the ship.

I thank the RMTU for inviting me and their warm and friendly hospitality. I met some amazing women, formed new friendships and made long lasting alliances.

In unity, Krista Grace

MUA Quadrennial Conference 2016 F E B R U A R Y J U P I T E R S

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G O L D

M A R C H

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C O A S T

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WO M E N

Did you know that there’s a t health fund jus for you?

Working women organise for equality in male-dominated workplaces At the latest WiMDOI event in Sydney, women shared their stories of struggle, a struggle magnified in the many workplaces that are male-dominated.

WiMDOI in Sydney this year was the biggest yet

We’ve been the health fund for Australia’s transport and energy industry workers for more than 125 years. And, the MUA has partnered with us to create a health plan that makes health cover more affordable for MUA members.

W

omen in Male Dominated Occupations and Industries (WiMDOI) gather biannually to discuss our struggles and form initiatives on how to overcome issues both in the workplace and at home.

This year, in April, Sydney was the venue with Lorraine Usher (CFMEU), Patricia Fernandez (AMIEU), Kate Minter (Unions NSW) and the MUA’s own, Mich-Elle Myers as organisers.

More than 100 Australian and New Zealand women from 20 different industries participated in Trades Hall, in what was the biggest WiMDOI ever.

Throughout the three days common themes arose around the gender pay gap, the glass ceiling, harassment, both at work and outside of work, and domestic violence.

Highlights of the event included the flash mob rally outside BP and listening to ACTU Indigenous Officer Kara Keys speak about the historical and ongoing plight of Aboriginal people in Australia. Mich-Elle Myers said it 56

MUA members enjoy*: More than 100 Australian and New Zealand women from 20 different industries participated this year in Trades Hall, in what was the biggest WiMDOI ever. was shocking to hear some of the women’s stories about harassment and abuse.

“The story of our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island brothers and sisters is similar to all women’s story. A story of oppression and lack of respect,” Myers said. “Aboriginal rights and women’s rights are interconnected and when you fight for one you fight for both.”

CFMEU Vice-President Lorraine Usher said the conference was fantastic. “We attempted to have a structure that gave every women in the room a chance to participate in every session and I believe we accomplished exactly this,” she said.

“I believe that every women took something away. Friendships were made and will be longlasting. (The event) will give the opportunity for the women who attended to exchange information and to be educated in the

attitudes of other industries.”

Myers said it was fantastic how it all came together and we probably could have gone a few extra days. “I hope everyone who attended got something out of it,” she said.

Comrade Myers said she wanted to thank every women who attended for their participation and extended particular gratitude to the rest of the organising committee: Patricia Fernandez (AMIEU), Lorraine Usher (CFMEU), Max Adlam (UFU), Jess Rogers (CEPU), Jessica Walsh (CFA), Anne Donnellan (AMWU), Kerry Inglis (ETU), Kate Minter (Unions NSW), Brynn Williams (CFMEU), Michelle Ingley-Smith (Forestworks), Jennifer O’Donnell-Pirisi (VTHC), and Sam Bond (MUA).

The women also donated $1000 to both the Vanuatu and Nepal disaster appeals. n

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immediate waiver of all 2 and 3-month waiting periods 4 $100 petrol or grocery voucher (your choice) to say thanks for coming on board 4 A special MUA Health Plan membership card for on-the-spot claiming 4 Access to a dedicated helpline and website just for MUA members.

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VETERANS

YO U T H

WA branch member gains insights at US summer school for young unionists WA branch member Phil Swanston reports on an inspirational visit to America for the ITF Summer School in Maryland. Phil attended representing the MUA National Youth Committee.

Policies Of The MUA Veterans Association

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nspirational; this is the word I would use to sum up my time spent at the 2015 International Transport Workers’ Federation Summer School, held at William W. Winpisinger, Education & Technology Center in Maryland, USA. Forty young active transport workers from 29 countries came together for an intense educational 5-day session. The participants were seafarers, dockworkers, aviation and railway delegates from ITF-affiliated unions. The ITF comprises 700 unions from more than 160 countries with a membership of approximately 10 million workers. The main challenges we face as transport workers are privatisation, liberalisation and labour competition.

The content of the school was unbelievable and it was surprising so much was fitted into the short time. A lot of focus was spent on some key items; effective use of social media, campaigning techniques, globalization, worldwide solidarity and strengthening the network of young workers within the union movement. Special thank you must go to Ingo Marowsky, Donnor Connor, Gemma Walker, Ali Howes and Alana Dave for the fantastic job they did at delivering the material.

I left the school highly motivated, inspired and refreshed and will be passing on the information that I have learnt to comrades who attend our youth meetings and throughout the union.

“The main challenges we face as transport workers are privatisation, liberalisation and labour competition.”

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hese are the policies passed at the 2012 AGM held in Sydney and are the ‘working guide’ for all branches.

The polices highlight the issues effecting working people, arising from the neo-liberal policies of attacking government spending in order to cut taxation for the corporates.

Our policies are intended to be a ‘fight back’ to preserve and expand the living standards of the workers and pensioners of this country: 1. We call for an increase in the aged pension to 35 per cent of the average male wage at this present time, and this policy is reviewed periodically to adjust as governments move towards dramatic changes in wages and pensions.

2. We call for more funding for public education and infrastructure, along with the removing of HEC fees for students.

3. We call for more funding for public hospitals, with rebates to private hospitals directed to public hospitals.

4. We call for the reinstatement of the Pubic Works Department, so that our public facilities and infrastructure are serviced and employment opportunities and

training are in place for the future.

5. We call for Dental care to be covered by Medicare.

6. We call for increased funding for Public Aged Care and oppose the ‘users pay’ policies of governments and private organisations.

7. We call for more affordable Public Housing.

8. We call for the removal of the National Competition Policy, this policy is not directed at a level playing field, many small businesses cannot compete against the multinational corporates.

9. We support Trade Union rights and the right of entry.

10. We call for the removal of the ABCC and any attempt to reinstate it.

These polices will need to be organised to promote activity for them to be achieved. The Government’s agenda of ending the “era of entitlements” makes it an urgent imperative for all branches to get activated.

Yours in Solidarity, Fred Krausert Veterans National Secretary

We have an important global alliance through the ITF and must appreciate and support it. The ITF sees young people as the future, and the youth are beginning to be noticed and standing up in leadership roles within unions across the globe.

The conversation I had with other participants was riveting and fulfilling. It was a great experience to be in a position to talk to like-minded people from all different backgrounds.

One thing that stuck out was the fact we all are facing the same challenges in our workplaces from neo-liberal governments and multinational corporations. The fight and struggle is the same. These similarities brought a bunch of strangers into a close network of young enthusiastic and active delegates. The only way we can combat these governments and companies is to unite at an international level and fight for every worker who is mistreated.

Supporting other unions in their campaigns is all part of global unity and every member should be playing their part to become more active, not just within the MUA but within the movement as a whole because, let me be clear, there is a fight coming and we will need every worker we can get, to join us in solidarity to ensure we can hold onto our conditions and rights, to be treated fairly and justly in our workplaces.

I would like to thank the MUA and ITF for making the school and trip possible and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) for hosting it in such a fabulous location. My mindset has changed for the better and I have a new look on the way I will tackle issues within the union. I hope to do more work with the ITF and will support any campaigns they have in the future.

United we stand, divided we fall.

In Unity Phil Swanston

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WA Branch Youth member Phil Swanston in action

Strength in numbers, MUA Veterans joined the sacked wharfies on the Hutchison Botany assembly

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TRAINING

2015 Biggest Year For Union Training

A collection of photographs from the Delegates Three – Leadership skills course held in St Georges Basin earlier in the year

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s the sun sets on another year boasting an activityfilled training calendar, plans are underway to make 2016 the biggest year yet for training.

While dates and locations are still being finalized - with the program to be released early in the new year - a training centre is being developed on floor one of the MUA’s building on Sussex Street in Sydney.

This will be used by not just MUA delegates, but will be rented out to other unions and organisations to deliver their own training and conferences.

During 2015, training was undertaken in every major port and most regional ports; and this year for the first time, the MUA delivered Political Awareness Training and staff training – Working For Unions.

Another notable session was when more than 20 delegates from every state, and places as far flung as Darwin, Broome and Gladstone, made the trek

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down to the MUA’s Training School at St Georges Basin in southern NSW in May to undertake an intensive three-day course to foster leadership skills.

Under the guidance of MUA Training Officer Matt Goodwin, veteran and former Sydney Branch Official Jim Donovan and Train The Trainer graduates Kieran Crumlin and Brett Larkin, the union activists were shown what it took to be a leader within the union.

Participants were also treated to speeches from Sydney Branch Secretary Joe Deakin, MUA Lead Organiser Bernie Farrelly and MUA Communications Officer Ashleigh Telford.

Goodwin said delegates were able to leave with a “well-rounded idea of what was required” to be a union leader.

“Those at the Delegates 3 level have a good idea what being a union member involves, and the next logical step is to show them what it takes to be a good union leader,” he said.

“They all come in with varying levels of ability. But most go away equipped with a sense of confidence to be able to take control of situations they’re faced with on the job, such as safety issues, EBA negotiations, dealing with management and other workplace occurrences.

“Participants were also given a run down on campaigning, including media campaigning, in order to inspire them into running their own union campaigns.”

More than 200 members attended training this year.

All courses are delivered by experienced delegates who have been specially trained to deliver MUA training.

You can register online or put your name down in the branch for Training Levels 1 and 2.

Check the web page on the Training Section of the website for the latest dates, and pick up your training calendar from your branch in the early new year. n

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STEVEDORING

ACCC Creates Stevedoring ‘Dysfunctionality’ On Eastern Seaboard

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he Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has pursued two contradictory pathways that have had a significant influence on the dysfunctionality currently being manifested in Australian east coast stevedoring.

On one pathway it has vigorously promoted, since about 2005, the need for increased competition in Australian stevedoring by advocating the creation of a third stevedoring provider in Australia’s major container ports.

On another pathway it has allowed, and argued for retention of, Part X of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (CC Act). Part X deals with international liner cargo shipping, which permits liner shipping conferences to operate where, in the absence of such statutory provisions, conference arrangements would be considered anticompetitive, due to their cartel features.

The strong advocacy by the ACCC to break the stevedoring duopoly and argue for introduction of a third stevedore in the eastern container ports was enthusiastically embraced by State Governments in Queensland, NSW and Victoria - leading to the introduction of Hutchison Port Holdings

(HPH) in the Port of Brisbane and Port Botany, and International Container Terminal Services In. (ICTSI) in the Port of Melbourne.

The combined effect of these port and shipping regulatory arrangements - as promoted by the ACCC and taken up by governments - has been to commercially constrain stevedoring operators to an extent that detrimentally impacts on labour-capital relationships, employment stability and ultimately on multi-factor productivity and efficient supply chain performance.

Over this 10-year period of relentless promotion of neo-conservative competition policy, the ACCC has not advanced any empirical evidence of the positive flow-on to consumers of the alleged benefits of competition, in the form of lower consumer prices.

It makes general assertions such as “increased competition has delivered benefits to users of stevedoring services and the wider Australian community” and “that (competition) should flow to consumers and Australian exporters by way of cheaper imports and lower costs”. But it releases no quantitative evidence for these ideologicaldriven assertions.

On the other pathway it has, through advocacy for retention of anti-competitive behaviour by foreign ship owner collusion (given effect by liner conference agreements) allowed foreign shipping companies to adopt cartel behaviour and damage Australian stevedoring business models. The stevedoring companies are squeezed on the one side by foreign shipping conglomerates, and by forced competition at the other end.

The dysfunctionality the ACCC has created is evidenced by the behaviour on the one hand of HPH, which recently sought to terminate a significant proportion of its Port Botany

workforce through dubious termination procedures in the face of its failure to secure contracts for stevedoring services from shipping companies, having invested heavily in the port. This was inevitable given the through-put volume at Port Botany, which falls far short of globally accepted minimum through-put levels to sustain three profitable stevedoring operators; but it was blindly accepted as good for NSW by the former Labor Government. The MUA had raised this very issue in numerous submissions to government on the stevedoring access regime over many years, and its analysis has proven to be correct.

Similarly, in the Port of Melbourne, the Liberal Government’s acceptance of the ICTSI bid as the third operator - based on a tender price built on an unsustainable wharfage rental fee, which then formed the basis of a Port of Melbourne renegotiation of all rental charges for stevedores - has resulted in ICTSI holding a floor rental cost almost three times those negotiated with DPW and Asciano.

It will very likely result in it being unable to secure contracts with shipping lines, at least in the absence of an attack on labour standards and employment, as seen in Port Botany.

This is stevedoring dysfunctionality at its worst - and directly flows from the ACCC’s neo-conservative policy agenda, regrettably accepted by gullible state government Ports Ministers in both major parties.

The ACCC has also asserted that “Increased competition, and the introduction of new technology such as automation, is expected to drive higher labour and capital intensity rates in Australian stevedoring over time”.

The ACCC also got this wrong. An examination of its own productivity data - extracted from the ACCC Stevedoring Monitoring Report No 16 of October 2014 shows that capital productivity (measured by the crane rate) has essentially flat-lined for the past 15 years. And the only reason multifactor productivity has improved over that period is due to the significant increases in labour productivity (measured by the elapsed labour rate).

Over the last 15 years, while capital productivity improved from around 27 to 31 lifts-per-hour (an increase of 14%), labour productivity has skyrocketed from 28 to 46 lifts-per-hour (an increase of 64%). The essential forced entry of a third operator - and all the capital expenditure that has occurred - has had negligible impact on capital productivity, suggesting the premise on which the ACCC operated (that new entrants deliver improved capital intensity and deliver

benefits to consumers) has not materialised.

Importantly however, the contribution of the workforce in lifting labour productivity by a whopping 64% has been rewarded with stevedoring company attacks on variable costs – that is, lower employment levels, increased job insecurity (higher work intensity, lower safety standards and enforced casualisation) and attempts to reduce relative wages and working conditions.

The ACCC and compliant state governments have a lot to answer for.

And stevedoring workers can righty feel aggrieved by the agencies of government like the ACCC and governments themselves, which have failed to support the very citizens who are creating the improved efficiencies and productivity in port services provision. Instead, capital’s poor performance has been rewarded.

The union has advocated the need for a renewed national ports strategy under Commonwealth leadership, which addresses the economics and functionality of Australian container ports and stevedoring services, tied into national shipping policy, as a necessary role for government in overcoming the dysfunctionality of the past.

Such a leadership role for the Federal Government is essential to improve the performance of Australia’s freight logistics supply chains. This will be a major challenge for an incoming Federal Labor Government; but it should be one of its key election commitments, to complement its policy for a strong Infrastructure Australia. n

An ANL ship docked at DP World terminal at Port of Melbourne

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S U P E R A N N U AT I O N

GOOD CAUSE

CLOSE SHAVE FOR CHARITY

MUA leads the global agenda on workers’ capital At home and abroad, the MUA is playing a central role in securing better lives for members at work and in retirement through the workers’ capital agenda.

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oth internationally and domestically the MUA continues to play a key leadership role in progressing the trade union workers’ capital agenda.

National Secretary Paddy Crumlin was earlier this year appointed as a Vice Chair of the Committee on Workers’ Capital (CWC), an arm of the International Trade Union Confederation led by former ACTU President Sharan Burrow. Comrade Crumlin spoke at the CWC Conference in London in September on the link between workers’ demands on how their superannuation savings are being invested and the quality of their lives both at work and in retirement.

Comrade Crumlin told the conference that “workers’ capital secures workers decent retirement through the long term and effective investment of their deferred wages. Through their pension fund assets, now worth trillions of dollars, workers are the indirect owners of a substantial portion of the world’s equity and other investments including community and commercial infrastructure.”

The Conference laid out a work plan that focuses on trustee leadership, shareholder activism and has established three task forces on tax avoidance, infrastructure and climate change.

The union, with ITF support, continues to expose the poor corporate behaviour of companies like Chevron, whose corporate tax practices are now under the spotlight. The MUA and other unions, both in Australia and globally, are increasingly using their shareholder power to hold companies like Chevron and Rio Tinto to account and to expose their deliberate corporate strategy to shift the risk of their poor managerial practices onto the governments in whose jurisdictions they operate and onto the workforce who work on their projects.

There is an awakening within sections of the trade union movement of the power of workers’ capital, which increasingly is becoming another feature of the organising and campaigning armoury available to the trade union movement.

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CWC leader, ITUC Secretary and former ACTU President Sharan Burrow

“Workers’ capital secures workers decent retirement through the long term and effective investment of their deferred wages.”

– Paddy Crumlin Within Australia, under the leadership of the ACTU, supported by a group of active union-nominated trustees from the mid-size not-for-profit (NFP) industry superannuation funds, is building a campaign to ensure the defeat of the Turnbull Government’s Superannuation Legislation Amendment (Governance) Bill 2015. This Bill aims to force all APRA regulated funds to move to 1/3 independent directors. Targeting specifically those funds which are effectively governed under an equal representation model, such as the NFP industry funds, this will be to the detriment of Australian workers. The Bill also contains other features detrimental to workers, such as: • requiring Boards to report on an “if not, why not” basis as to why their Board doesn’t have a majority of Independents on it; • overriding shareholder rights to have a say in the construction of the Boards of

the companies they own; • giving the Regulator (APRA) the power to determine the status of individuals as to whether they satisfy a manufactured definition of Independent; • placing regulatory tenure limits on experienced Directors and requiring Boards to have plans to “manage” people off Boards during transition periods; • establishing nomination structures which self-perpetuate the independents’ control of the organisations; and • removing the requirement to have a representative system of governance, thereby taking away a requirement that there be a form of member representation amongst the Trustees.

These requirements will severely weaken trade union nominated Trustee supervision of workers’ accumulated superannuation savings and will inevitably result in these funds becoming a target for corporate takeover by the banks and other financial institutions. Members’ benefits and protections for their savings will be diminished in the process. Furthermore, the capacity to influence the investment decisions of these NFP funds and to hold the entities, in which the NFP funds invest, will also be diminished. That is the very intent behind the Turnbull Government’s attack on the NFP funds.

An important new development is that the Australian union trustees are backing a project to develop and implement an Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) risk rating product/ service for application by pension funds, not only in Australia but globally.

The central feature of the proposal is development of an ESG ratings product (or service) that includes methods and guidance for adoption by NFP pension funds aimed at assisting fund trustees, CEOs and CFOs (and their advisers) to “rate” or “screen” current and potential fund investments on ESG performance, across all aspects of the upstream and downstream supply chain of a pension fund investment, with a particular emphasis on rating of labour standards.

Trustees view this task as an essential www.mua.org.au

extension of good risk management practice aimed at ensuring that investment risks are mitigated associated with poor practices by an entity in which the pension fund has or is considering investing, and do not adversely impact on the rate of return from the investment or the quality of the investment. It is also viewed as an expansion of “social dialogue”, the original foundation principle on which the NFP industry super funds were founded in the 1980s.

Discussions have taken place with a number of organisations with an interest in the project aimed at securing funding partners so the project can commence by the end of 2015. National Secretary Paddy Crumlin is a member of the project steering committee, while MUA policy adviser Rod Pickette is part of the project management team.

The MUA continues to remain central in progressing the workers’ capital agenda in the maritime industry. The MUA has made submissions to: • Northern Territory Legislative Assembly Inquiry into the Port of Darwin Lease Model (privatisation) • NSW Ports Long Term Master Plan (NSW Ports is majority owned by IFM Investors on behalf of 4 Australian pension funds and holds a 99 year lease for Port Botany in Sydney and Port Kembla in southern NSW) • Senate Standing Committee on Economics Inquiry into Privatisation of state and territory assets and new infrastructure In addition, the union is preparing a

The Turnbull government changes will inevitably result in funds becoming a target for corporate takeover by the banks and other financial institutions. strategy to respond to the proposed sale of the Port of Fremantle in WA, and is keeping a watching brief on the actions of privatised ports in Brisbane, Newcastle and South Australia, noting that the port of Brisbane and SA ports have varying levels of pension fund ownership.

The union has maintained a dialogue with NSW Ports (majority owned by IFM Investors on behalf of 4 Australian NFP superannuation funds) around 3 issues: • Establishment of a port stakeholder advisory group in each port (Port Botany and Port Kembla) to advise on strategic and port-wide issues including overall port productivity, investment planning and execution, seaside and landside interface issues, beyond the port supply chain issues, maritime security and port safety; • Appointment of a director on the NSW Ports Board with expertise in workforce development and labour relations from a workforce perspective; and • Implementation of its Master Plan.

The union has taken a number of steps in preparation for the possible sale (long

term lease) of the Port of Melbourne.

We have: veryday 36 • opened a dialogue with the Victorian Australian women Government to address privatisation; are diagnosed with and if the sale proceeds (aswith nowmore breast cancer appears inevitable), on the than 13,600 newExpression cases are of Interest process, andeach future port diagnosed year.

With governance and regulatory28% issues; approximately of all • conferred with the Victorian cancer cases diagnosed Governmentinon a Bill before the being Australian women Victorian Parliament to establish the breast cancer, Tasmanian port lease arrangements; Branch member Janet • sought meetings with thoseNo.9004196) investors Harris, (Union with pensiondecided fund involvement to sacrifice who her have publiclylovely declared inof locksanininterest the name the long term lease –research.

IFM Investors medical and HastingsJanet Infrastructure; is Workplace Support • written to allfor the theemployee MUA andTrustees TT Line on the Ontario andMunicipal is a tirelessEmployees worker for Retirement System women’s(OMERS) workplace rights Trustee Board on the raised basis ofover public in Tassie, $3000 statements that Infrastructure fromBorealis MUA members for the (underwritten in part by OMERS) is a Australian Breast Cancer potential bidder for the port; Research Foundation.

Janet • made a submission to active the Victorian is also an member of Legislative Council inquiry Wing into the the Tasmanian Chun lease arrangements forand theher Port of Academy close Melbourne. shave contributed the lion’s At the international level, Paddy share of the Academy’s Crumlin, as ITFannual President, has written fund-raising drive, to the union-nominated Trustees which raised $4788 on all three Australian (MTAA uppension for the tofunds the ABCRF .

Super, Australian Super,effort, and Statewide Fantastic Janet, you’re Superannuation Trust) which have a legend! invested in the Macquarie Global Infrastructure Fund II (GIF II) regarding Macquarie’s investment in the DCT Gdansk port, where it is a majority owner and is represented on its board. n

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W.G. McNally Jones Staff LAWYERS

Tattersalls Building, Level 10, 179 Elizabeth Street SYDNEY NSW 2000 Phone: (02) 9233 4744 Fax: 02 9223 7859 Offices also in Perth & Fremantle PERTH: (08) 6142 6200 FREMANTLE: (08) 6420 9580 Email: law@mcnally.com.au We have accredited specialists in Employment and Industrial Law & Personal Injury. We can also provide legal advice andrepresentation to all MUA members on: Litigation I Free Wills I Family Law including De Facto Relationships I Police Matters I Discrimination I Conveyancing Deceased Estates I Superannuation & Disability Claims I General Legal Advice As members of the MUA you are entitled to free Wills and the first consultation is free of charge upon presentation of a referral letter from the MUA.

Proud to be the lawyers for the MUA for over 40 years www.mua.org.au www.mua.org.au

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R A L LY

Huge MUA Showing At May Day Rallies

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M

UA members were out in droves over the May Day weekend, taking part in marches held in all capital cities and most regional towns.

This year speeches were centred around the need to be prepared for a snap Federal Election and to start organising against the Coalition Government now.

At the Sydney event, Branch Secretary and May Day Committee Secretary Paul McAleer spoke on the steps of Town Hall to a crowd of a couple of thousand observers.

“May Day is a day to remember that we still have a long way to go until we have true equality in Australia,” McAleer said.

“And we can never truly achieve absolute equality until we, as a free society, are afforded the right to strike; the fundamental human right to withdraw our labour.”

In Fremantle, MUA WA Branch Secretary Christy Cain said May Day was a day of solidarity.

“Now more than ever, we have to stand together as one to fight the anti-workers forces such as Chevron and their Federal Government cheerleaders such as Senator Michaelia Cash,” Cain said.

“These are the people who would happily give your job away to an exploited foreigner, so they can work them into the ground, with no rights, no conditions, just because it’ll save them a couple of dollars.”

In Adelaide, South Australian Branch Secretary Jamie Newlyn rallied the crowd, calling for an end to the Coalition Government’s attacks on workers.

“It’s no secret the Liberal-National Party Coalition hates us South Australians. They’ve closed down, or are threatening to close down, pretty much every unionised industry there is,” Newlyn said.

“Well, comrades, time has come to say enough is enough! And we’ll do everything in our capacity to ensure that this rotten Government won’t get a second term.” n www.mua.org.au

A collection of pictures of members taking part in May Day activities around the country

www.mua.org.au

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VA L E

VA L E

Former SUA Secretary Pat Geraghty with Kevin and Judy Cook

Vale Kevin Cook (Cookie) 1939-2015 Kevin Cook (Cookie) passed away peacefully at the nursing home in Summer Hill, where he has lived since the passing of his partner Judy a couple of years ago.

Cookie was a proud and much admired member of the Wandandian mob from the South Coast of NSW, and was one of the giants of the Australian and international labour movement and Indigenous movement. His brother Ron, a seafarer, is a longstanding member of our union from the WA Branch.

Cookie is probably best known in more recent times as the long-time leader of Tranby Aboriginal Cooperative College in Glebe in Sydney. But he had a long history as an Indigenous activist spanning many of the great pioneering struggles of the late 20th century - including land rights, legal services and indigenous education and training as the basis of indigenous self-determination, for which he had a great passion.

Cookie was one of the leaders of the NSW BLF - along with Joe Owens, Jack Mundy and Bobby Pringle - at a time when it was at the ‘cutting edge’ of innovation in trade union organizing. They led many of the great social struggles of the 1970s and 80s that have shaped Australian society and ‘the left’ since that time: the urban environmental movement, trade union democracy and workers’ control, support for the culture of the working class, the peace movement, the anti-uranium mining movement, woman in non-traditional work and a host of other progressive and radical initiatives.

Cookie had a long association with the MUA and its leaders in the WWF and the SUA, particularly through the Reverend Alf Clint 68

advocate than Cookie.

Cookie was a compassionate and much respected elder who attracted, encouraged and inspired so many people in his indigenous and trade union work in Australia and in the international movement for selfdetermination and liberation of indigenous people. He will be greatly missed by his family, his clan, his friends and all those whose life he has touched.

We will never forget you Cookie. We will miss you comrade. Rest in peace after a wonderful life of humanity and humility. The world is a better place for your presence.

going back to Elliot V Elliot, Pat Geraghty and Jim Healy. A number of MUA leaders have served as Directors on the Tranby College Board, including Taffy Sweetenson, Laurie Steen, Paddy Crumlin and Robert Coombes.

Cookie had a close personal relationship with many MUA officials, officers and members, and he loved the MUA, just as we loved him.

Cookie’s life story, and his relationship with all the people, movements and causes he was associated with, is contained in the book that Cookie and Heather Goodall wrote called Making Change Happen published in 2013. The book contains interviews with MUA leaders and its production and launch were supported by the union. The book is essentially a manual for organising and networking, for which there was no better participant and

MUA Activist Terry O'Shane's Thoughts on Kevin Cook: Kevin Cook passed away on 25 July 2015. On that day we lost a Working Class hero.

Cookie, as he was affectionately known, had suffered for many years with emphysema which confined him to bed and eventually took his life. Kevin was a Wandandian Man, born in 1939 and grew up in Wollongong.

It is not possible to speak about Cookie without mention of his soul mate and life’s partner Judy Chester and their children. They complemented each other in every way; Judy, like Cookie, was a tireless worker around issues of social justice.

Cookie was a lifelong member and friend of the unions. His basic tenet was ‘working class’, from which he never strayed. He lived his life in accordance with this tenet. He was always accessible to everyone - possibly to a fault from an outsider’s view. But at the end of each day, he gave clarity to the chaos.

Visiting Cookie in hospital he was just so proud to show off the photos of his grandchildren and speak about their

Cookie with Terry O’Shane and Paul Torzillo

www.mua.org.au

personalities, their achievements and progress in life. His eyes used to light up in any of these conversations.

Being bed-ridden didn’t affect his thinking.

Cookie was lucid until the end. He was a person who always promoted those around him. He was a master organiser and had his finger on the pulse at the local, regional, national and international level of politics. He was a great one for giving people opportunities to advance. He was the word of caution for those among us who may have been a little impatient. He would identify where support should go to achieve the best outcome for the majority, and was never burdened down with self-promotion.

In passing on the sad news, one response was: ‘Cookie was an institution and Tranby was there for us before there was anything else’. Another response from one of the original dance members of NAISDA: ‘I will call that mob in Sydney to attend his funeral on behalf of all of us. Our first performance was at Tranby ,in recognition of all the work and support Cookie and Tranby had given to the dance theatre’.

Paddy Crumlin from the Maritime Union of Australia, when notified of Cookie’s passing responded: ‘Oh no! Beautiful man and lifelong Comrade’.

Kevin Tory, Cookie’s forever comrade, called to make sure we had received the sad news and said: ‘I have to hang up now. I am shattered’.

And so it was with Dr Paul Torzillo, Geoff Clark, Jack AhKit, Pat O’Shane, Mike O’Shane and from all of those who knew him and with whom we have spoken - diverse responses, every one endorsing the character of, and love for, our comrade Kevin Cook.

Cookie was a ‘one-off’. I had the good fortune in life to enjoy his company on many occasions. Joe McGinness, another great man,and great friend of Cookie’s, introduced me to Cookie - different generations, different personalities, both in the same mould.

From his small office in Tranby, Cookie worked with the organising committee under the National Coalition of Aboriginal Organisations to organise the 1988 march - the biggest gathering of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People at any time in Australian history. Marching from Sydney’s Redfern Park to Hyde Park, we were met by thousands of supporters at Belmore Park: trade unionists, political activists, migrant groups, conservationists and all manner of supporters, who joined in and finished off in Hyde Park. It was a day we will remember for the rest of our lives.

Cookie organised representation from us to attend 10 years of the United Nations Working Group in Geneva, developing the Declaration On The Rights Of Indigenous Peoples. He www.mua.org.au

organised our participation at the World Council Of Indigenous Peoples, while ever it remained relevant. He organised our inclusion in the ACTU delegation in attendance at the International Labor Organisation’s twoyear revision process of Convention 107. He ensured Indigenous People welcomed Nelson Mandela to Australia, linked ourselves into the Kanaky struggle, developed relationships across the Pacific Rim, welcomed and hosted South African Trade Union Delegations before the barriers of ‘apartheid’ were pulled down.

He organised delegations from the World Council of Churches to visit some of the most impoverished communities in Australia, to bring attention to the plight of Aboriginal people in Australia back in the 1970s.

There is a whole lot more that Cookie did which I am sure will be mentioned by other commentators in coming days.

Tranby was the cross-roads for all the political activists traveling to Canberra or Sydney for street marches, demonstrations, overseas delegations or all manner of things during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. Visiting Tranby, you would never know who you were likely to meet there: Bruce McGinness, Gary Foley, Helen Corbett, Jacki Katona, Chris Kristofferson, Patrick Dodson, John AhKit, Geoff Clarke, David Ross, Josie Crawshaw, Mick Miller, Clarrie Grogan, Michael Mansell, Rob Riley, Bishop Tutu, Joe McGinniss, Warren Mundine. The list just goes on and on.

Everyone from everywhere would drop into Tranby to see Cookie. This was the meeting place; this was where the struggle was given focus, where the peripheral material was stripped away and the focus was on the ‘nuts and bolts’. This was the measure of the man small in statue, a giant in the struggle.

Cookie was a very humble man. It is virtually impossible to know the extent of his influence and networks, unless you were working alongside of him at Tranby. Most of those who worked with, and were involved with, Cookie and Judy were beneficiaries of their collective knowledge and experience and charity, as there was always a bed at Cookie’s place if needed.

Friendships that will last a lifetime started with an introduction at Tranby - people like Doolan, Torzillo, Heather, Jody and Janet. It would be impossible to name them all here.

Suffice to say we are, all of us, better persons for having known Cookie. The legacy he left us was - as he did all his life - to make the world a better place than the one we inherited. Vale Kevin Cook.

Vale Ian (Shifty) Harwood Long time member ‘Shift’ Harwood passed away in May of a heart attack, finishing his

career on the Gladstone-Weipa run.

Upon his retirement he moved in with another member Bill Badde. Bill and his wife Judy looked after Shifty until his passing.

Youth representative and active member Phil Hansen said Shifty was a staunch union man and an asset to the union movement.

“Shifty was a greaser who loved terrorising the ginger beers. A great teacher to the youth and a man that never wavered,” Hansen said.

Another member Clive Nobbs said Shifty was a man you either loved or hated.

“But no one can deny he epitomised the seafarer of yesteryear. He loved life with a passion, but with no thought of the consequences of his actions,” Nobbs said.

“He played hard and he worked hard, and had little time for those who wouldn’t back their mates no matter what the situation. I for one find the world a little more depleted by the departure of Shifty Harwood.”

Vale Kevin Joseph King Kevin Joseph (Kingy) King passed away on 6 October after a long battle with the most debilitating illness dementia, where you witness a life lives ebbing away in front of your eyes.

Kingy was a Balmain boy through-andthough, with an outlook on life that appeared complicated, but in essence was very simple.

Family, Balmain people, the Labor Party as priorities: Kingy - like a lot of Balmain boys at the time - gravitated to sea and in 1953 joined the AUSN freighter Caloundra and after many more ships, 40 years later, through complications Kevin retired.

I had the pleasure of sailing with Kingy on the Empress Of Australia and found him a staunch shipmate, a great negotiator and, above all, a great mate loved by all on board.

Kingy was a punter of some repute, regularly parlaying small amounts into a sizable outcome. He had a philosophy that you always bought something with your winnings which you could not give back to the bookies.

In a debate, you took on Kev at your own peril. Like the time Reg Oppenshaw, the HR Manager for ANL, explained after dealing with Kev: “He is the only bloke that has ever got the better of me”. It was over a long service leave claim Kingy dazzled him with science and got an extra 17 days; the lesson there is always be well briefed on the subject in discussion.

Kingy will be sorely missed by all who knew him. Kev was a giant of a man. No airs, no graces; what you saw is what you got.

Farewell old mate. ‘Fair Breeze and Following Sea’. Condolences to Christine, Matthew, Alison, Max, Alex, family and friends.

Bob Johnson Tasmanian Veterans 69

LETTERS

VA L E

Vale William Horace (Bill) Langlois The MUA is in mourning after Seamen’s Union legend Bill Langlois passed away at age 92 on September 26.

MUA National Secretary Paddy Crumlin said Bill would be remembered as a tough activist with a big heart, who loved the SUA and the comrades he met along the way."Our thoughts are with Bill's family and his many comrades, as we remember Bill, who was the embodiment of a merchant seaman," Crumlin said.

Born in 1923 in Holloway, North London, he began his career on Thames Barges at just 13-years-old. It was not long before World War 2 broke out and Bill found himself working on the North American Convoys, which he recalled in his interview for Diane Kirkby’s Voices From The Ships. “(It) weren’t the safest way to earn a quid, because if you got sunk you lasted about two-tofive minutes in the water,” he said.

Bill was decorated for his war time service and honoured for his great contribution to the war effort as a merchant sailor as well: he fought in the battle of Normandy, as well as his

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trips to the Soviet Union in cargo vessels along the supply chain through enemy territory in the North Atlantic. It was here that ships were continually torpedoed by German U Boats, or blown out of the water by mines positioned in their thousands by German raiders.

Following the War, Bill moved to Australia in 1948, where he continued his life as a merchant seaman and ramped up his political life. He was a member of the Communist Party and Secretary of the Australian Peace Committee at a time when the Cold War was at its height. For this action, Bill found himself, like many other active Communists at the time, on the ASIO watch list.

He was also active around the solidarity campaigns with Greek seafarers, and joined former Deputy National Secretary Mick Doleman and another famous Sydney seaman John Benson on the One Million March For Peace in New York in 1982.

Apart from being a seafarer, Bill was a teacher at the Australian Maritime College in Launceston. It was there he met his ‘partner in crime’ George Martindale.

It was at the AMC, according to Sydney Branch Secretary Joe Deakin, that they taught

up-and-coming seafarers not only seamanship, but also the political requirements of the working class.

“Bill was a people's person as well. He never went around boasting about what he had done in his life, but always, always, placed great emphasis on peace being the total objective of all the world’s peoples,” Deakin said.

“He was an outstanding delegate and political mentor. He was one of my mentors and I will be forever grateful to him for steering me the right way, the revolutionary way.

“When E.V.Elliott, Federal Secretary of the Seaman's Union of Australia was being harassed and threatened by the thugs and groupers, Billy was there to look after him.

“This wonderful man leaves behind such beautiful memories, memories of the struggle that he was up to his eye balls in; the struggle for national independence for developing

countries; the struggle against the ruling class hegemonists who wanted to turn the world into a fireball, with their dreadful promotion of a nuclear war as the only alternative to combating the growing movement for national sovereignty and independence, and comrade Bill Langlois was a strong and influential advocate of this movement.”

Despite his political nous, Bill will still be remembered as a good mate.

Another contribution he made to Voices From The Ships was about mateship.

“If a bloke needs a hand, you give him a hand.

You go to sea and, unless you can rely on your shipmates, you’re dead. Your shipmates are your background, they’re your sidearm, they’re your everything,” he explained.

Bill was a proud husband of Gloria and leaves behind children and grandchildren, as well as a legacy of stories and will be remembered for the numerous framed ship’s knots dotted around the country.

He will not be forgotten, as Joe Deakin put it: “People like Bill Langlois don’t come by everyday.” www.mua.org.au

Vale Stephen Charles (Flea) Whitton It is with deep regret that we acknowledge the passing of Steve Whitton, affectionately known as ‘Flea’ to his seafaring comrades.

Steve passed away suddenly on the 12 August at the Mount St Vincent’s Nursing Home Ulverstone, where he and his wife Doreen have been residents for the past 12 months. Steve was nine days short of celebrating his 82nd birthday.

He was born in Hobart and attended primary schools in West Hobart. Following a year at the Hobart Junior Technical College, he left to work on his parent’s small fruit farm and fishing boats.

His first extended sea trip was in 1950 on the ketch Alma Doepel as a deck boy, the round-trip from Hobart to Melbourne taking two months.

He subsequently lost this position when the skipper discovered he was colour blind.

Not to be deterred, Steve joined the Royal Australian Navy in 1951 and served for six years on HMAS ships Australia, Barcoo, Woomera and Sydney. He trained as a diver and stoker mechanic.

Following the stint in the navy, he returned to southern Tasmania and did a variety of jobs, as Steve stated to “keep the pot” boiling, including truck driving and skippering fishing vessels.

In 1970 he joined the merchant navy and worked on various ships, culminating in the Zincmaster when he finished at sea in 1987 on workers’ compensation (a result of diving in the navy in 1955).

Steve had met and married Doreen in 1979 and they set up home at Birches Bay in southern Tasmania, where they lived until 1992 when they moved to Ulverstone on the North West coast of Tasmania. They intended to stay there until, as Steve put it “they fell of the perch”.

Unfortunately this was not to be the case and, as their health declined, they moved into the Mount St Vincent Nursing Home.

While living at Ulverstone, Steve became an active member of a number of community groups including the Australian Lung Foundation, Ulverstone RSL and Tasmanian Ex RAN Association. He was also an active and passionate member of the local branch of the ALP. Steve’s greatest passion was for his comrades in the MUA/SUA and his concerns for the future of the industry in Australia. He was a regular scribe to the local newspaper on those matters close to his heart - people not getting a fair go.

Steve would have been chuffed to see one of his letters attacking the local conservative member published two days after his passing. That would have brought a smile to his face: getting the last word.

Steve is going to be sorely missed by his loving wife Doreen, stepson Len, daughter-in-law Patty www.mua.org.au

and their family. He was a kind and generous man who cared for his family.

Rest In Peace Steve. We will miss you.

Stepson Len Boxhall, former Tasmanian Branch Manager MUA

Vale Andrew Kelly The Maritime Union of Australia passes on its sincerest condolences to Andrew Kelly’s family, after the seafaring member was crushed between two containers working off the coast of Dampier on July 14.

The 39-year-old Newcastle member was working aboard the Programmed Marine vessel, the Skandi Pacific, when the tragic incident occurred.

Andrew leaves behind a wife and four children, all under the age of ten, including a six-month-old baby.

MUA National Secretary Paddy Crumlin said at the time it was a sad and tragic day.

“My and all the MUA’s thoughts are with the Kelly family in particular, along with his workmates, on this unfortunate day,” Paddy said.

“The offshore industry is an inherently highsafety-risk environment, the highest in the country and the world, due to the isolated and unstable nature of seagoing work and the 24/7 requirements placed on seafarers.”

The MUA is a relentless and unapologetic advocate for appropriate national safety and welfare programs, including equal time rosters and Employee Assistance Programs.

Election Thanks To Bill Giddens & Team As an official scrutineer in the counting of the ballots in the MUA elections, I thought it necessary to thank and pay respect to the returning officers, personal assistants and office staff led by the indefatigable and irreplaceable Bill Giddens.

It was an exemplary effort from every individual involved, and the dedication and commitment to the cause - which often ran late and started early - showed the conviction that has made our union so great and so proud.

Whatever the result, we should recognise the enormous efforts from these members and their families, and express our sincere appreciation to their unfailing loyalty to the MUA. Martin De Bovay 6000790

Botany MUA Supports West Papua Patrick’s Port Botany crew sends their solidarity to the people of West Papua in their campaign for selfdetermination.

Newcastle Wins 2015 MUA Cup

Vale Martin McGarry Martin was an SUA member up until amalgamation, when he got his skipper’s ticket.

Most recently he was skippering Port Hedland tugs.

He left behind a wife Sharon and daughter Erin, as well as his mother and brother.

His father, who was also an SUA and MUA member, had only recently passed away too.

Comrades, Congratulations to the Newcastle Branch for winning the MUA Cup 2015 at Hervey Bay. The team sportsmanship from all the ports was very ‘strong’’, but the Newcastle boys were all on deck and held the surge from the other ports to win the MUA Cup. Scores: Newcastle 10 wins + 141; Port Kembla 7 wins + 68; Port Melbourne 7 wins + 67; Port Sydney 6 wins + 64.

We would like to thank your company for your support to make this company a great success and accept this winning trophy.

Our next carnival will be held in Sydney in September 2016.

Many thanks for your sportsmanship.

Mick Henry Vet 77 Bowls President Newcastle Branch 71

LETTERS

LETTERS

ETV Coral Knight In Torres Strait Rescue

Doleman Family Thanks To MUA Members

The Australian-flagged and crewed Emergency Towage Vessel (ETV) Coral Knight recently conducted a successful two-day rescue and repatriation operation in northern Torres Strait waters.

On the afternoon of the September 27 the Coral Knight had just completed routine maintenance of Aids to Navigation (AtoN) structures in the northern sector of the Torres Strait and was proceeding south (to a location north of Thursday Island) for similar works in that area.

At approximately 1600 hours the ship was contacted by the Canberra-based Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (JRCC) and tasked with attending to a group of PNG Nationals marooned on a small, uninhabited island in central Torres Strait. The Coral Knight responded immediately, setting a northerly course at full speed with an estimated time of arrival on site of 2000 hours.

Whilst en-route further details were communicated to the Coral Knight by the JRCC as they emerged. (Information would continue to be exchanged between the JRCC and Coral Knight over the next two days).

A patrolling surveillance aircraft had spotted the group’s rescue signals and directed a nearby helicopter to their location on Tudu Island to investigate. It was learned that a group of 21 Papuans (comprising 14 adults and 7 children) was returning to their home on the PNG mainland (having attended an event on Warraber Island in the Torres Strait) when mechanical failure and poor weather conditions forced their two “banana boats” ashore. The helicopter crew had confirmed that there were no injuries among the group, but they were without food or water (beyond a few litres the helicopter crew was able to provide). Before returning to base, the group was informed that a ship would be at their location within the next few hours.

Following receipt of this information, the crew aboard the Coral Knight commenced operational planning and preparations for landing on Tudu Island using the ship’s dedicated workboat/landing craft. Provisions, medical supplies and communications equipment were loaded. Particular emphasis was placed on planning a passage for the landing craft, as the island was surrounded by a comprehensive reef system. Strong winds, swell, and the fact the operation would be conducted in darkness, presented further challenges.

At approximately 1900 hours a signal fire was spotted and the Coral Knight proceeded to a suitable anchorage within sight of the shore. The landing craft was launched and landed on Tudu at approximately 2030 hours. Having thoroughly assessed the situation, it was agreed the group would remain on the island for the evening (a basic but sound shelter was on site). Provisions and communications equipment were offloaded with the landing craft returning to the Coral Knight about two hours later.

The following morning (28 September) instructions were received from the JRCC that the group was to be repatriated to PNG via the Coral Knight. A number of shuttle runs ensued utilising the landing craft. The final run involved towing the two banana boats to the Coral Knight where they were subsequently recovered onto the aft deck, using the ship’s main crane. The PNG Nationals were accommodated on board and expressed their appreciation for the hospitality afforded to them.

After sailing north for approximately three hours, the Coral Knight made a rendezvous with a Border Force vessel which was to receive the passengers and continue on for the final run into PNG. The Coral Knight was to proceed to the PNG island of Saibai south of the mainland, where the banana boats were to be offloaded. Late in the afternoon, the vessel arrived at its anchorage south of Saibai for the final stage of the rescue. Once again reefs and shallow waters warranted the use of the landing craft, which would tow the two boats to an agreed location on the northwest shore of the island.

Conditions once more posed a challenge. However the landing craft crew successfully completed the task, returning to the Coral Knight at approximately 2300 hours that evening. The vessel then weighed anchor and set off once again for an overnight passage back to the waters immediately north of Thursday Island. It had been a long and, at times, challenging two days - particularly for the ship’s ratings and deck officers. However the crew had been buoyed by the successful outcome. Much of this success can be contributed to the professionalism and compassion displayed by the Coral Knight’s MUA crew members – traits which to continue to characterise Australian seafarers and their Union.

The ETV Coral Knight is a multi-purpose offshore support (AHTS) vessel operated and manned by Gardline Australia on charter to Australian Maritime Systems (AMS). It provides a dedicated emergency towage capability in the Great Barrier Reef, Torres Strait and Coral Sea, with capacity to undertake preservation of life operations such as the rescue scenario described in this article. Additional first-strike capabilities include fire-fighting, environmental protection/incident response and escort duties. The vessel is also engaged in maintenance of the extensive network of Aids to Navigation (AtoN) in its area of operations.

Hayden MacGinnes, Integrated Rating, #9031022 Photos courtesy of Dan Brooks

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Pyrenees Crew Congratulates MUA Winners Comrades, The MUA members on the FPSO Pyrenees Venture wish to congratulate you on your recent election victory and want to thank you in advance for the amount of work that you will be doing over the next 4 years representing the workers in this great organisation.

The officials who were returned to office know they have our full support. And to the newly elected officials, we welcome you to the role and offer our unconditional support as we face the many challenges ahead together. Congratulations Comrades.

In Unity MUA Crew FPSO Pyrenees Venture.

Retirement Wishes To Jim McGarvey After 49 years at sea. enough is enough. Our chief Steward James McGarvey Is calling it a day at the end of this swing.

Jimmy - originally from a hamlet called Strachur on Scotland’s west coast - started his working life at 16, making his way to the training vessel the Gravesend outside of London on the Thames (a former floating women’s prison).

His first trip as bellboy in 1966 was on the castle union line the Pendenni, a passenger ship sailing along the African coast to Cape Town.

He was able to migrate to Australia after a simple chest x-ray in 1974, but was not able to work on our coast, as the union’s books where full at the time. Jimmy was able to get away in 1979, after being signed up in the Stewards and Pantrymen’s Association, by the Mullins brothers. His first vessel on the Aussie coast was the Troubridge. He worked there for 10 years and finished as chief steward.

It has been a great pleasure working and getting to know you Jimmy. Your debaucherous tales from a golden era at sea will be missed by all. Thank you and congratulations on a great career at sea. All the best comrade for your well-deserved retirement.

MUA Crew of the Far Sirius.

www.mua.org.au

Comrades, It’s with the utmost appreciation I wish to inform members of the good will my family and I have been fortunate enough to receive in a time of uncertainty and hardship.

Numerous comrades from ships around the coast were so generous to donate money to a hardship account opened up with the MMPCU by Adam Smith and Mark Jones, to assist us during this time, to help ease the pressures that accumulate whilst unemployed and unable to work due to an incident that I had happen to myself whilst at home some months ago.

The injuries sustained are going to take some time to heal, and we foresee it taking a very long time before I will be even able to put my hand up to gain employment.

A special mention, and extended thankyou must be singled out for our newly elected official in Melbourne, Mark and his wife Silvia Jones, who gifted our family a very reliable, and trustworthy vehicle. This station wagon has helped ease the stress and burdens we were previously experiencing and placing on others to attend countless doctors’ appointments at the Alfred Hospital and other specialist clinics required for my rehabilitation. We sincerely appreciate the good will and luck we have received from these very generous and kind gestures that the MUA family have sent our way.

Thank you In Unity Thomas Doleman and family #6022541

Thanks To Mick Carr

Activism Is The Essence Of Change

Good-day Mick Carr, I would like to wish you all the best in your retirement Mick (if I said it too early I apologise, as you know me Mick, timing has never been my strongest point).

On behalf of those that we know as the genuine people in life’s journey, we hope you have many more happy years ahead of you.

From my perspective personally, you will be missed in the Dredging Industry. We had many issues, almost all resolved through your enduring efforts - many of which never make the headlines or receive the ‘pats on the back’ or thankyous they deserve.

From myself Mick, you will be missed.

You are a true unionist giant in the spirit it should be, and who will always be welcomed by me. Hope to catch up later once you are settled.

Warm Regards, Richard Kemps

Hi All, I was flying home from Sydney the other day and reading The Australian and came across an article where Ruddock, Taylor, Nikolic and Hawke had some comments on how the referendum should just focus on Indigenous Recognition or risk rejection.

I was prompted to pen some comment back to those who believe they have a right to set the parameters on what should be the scope of debate in the lead up to the referendum.

If there is to be a referendum, they try to use the scare tactic of saying we might lose the referendum - as though recognition in the Australian Constitution is all that we want. If there are no practical benefits flowing as a result of the recognition, then it’s of no use to us. The lie of Terra Nullius was exposed in the Mabo decision. We now need to roll out the practical responses to that. We have to stop the obscenity of the wealth of people like Gina, while the people from whose land these minerals are being mined can be living in abject poverty. We need to see a realignment of the criminal justice system to stop the incarceration rates of Indigenous People.

Besides all that, the Constitution belongs to all of us. So we collectively need to become active, engage with Les Mazler from Congress, Tanya and Tim from RECOGNISE, Noel Pearson from Cape York Institute etc. But have your say, don’t leave it to the politicians that will be the death knoll of any real practical changes.

Political Activism, politics is the essence of life. Activism is the essence of change. Let’s assist the rest of Australia to change for the better, come out of the dark ages and allow some sunshine on the mischief that gets peddled in the protection of self-interest. We have to own this debate over the next 18-24 months.

Terry O’Shane, #9033963

www.mua.org.au

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I N T E R N AT I O N A L

Top Unionists Visit Palestine To Promote Justice & Workers’ Rights

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delegation of top trade unionists met Palestinian government ministers and senior PLO officials, and were warmly welcomed by union leaders and activists in Palestine, during a three-day visit in October to promote justice and workers’ rights.

ITF president Paddy Crumlin and general secretary Steve Cotton, along with Mamadou Diallo of the ITUC (International Trade Union Confederation), Peter Kennedy from Unifor (Canadian labour union) and Sharon Li from the Singapore Organisation of Seamen, visited Ramallah, Nablus and Qalqiliah.

They met: Shaher Saad, PGFTU (Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions) general secretary; Naser Younes, head of the General Union for Transport Workers; the mayor of Nablus, Ghassan al-Shaka (former Palestinian transport minister); and transport and other union workers and activists.

They visited the Palestinian truck drivers support project at the Ertah crossing – which the ITF and Unifor have been assisting for several years – and discussed concerns with the workers waiting there. Transport is critical to economic and social support to Palestinian working communities and is the only essential infrastructure for trade and development.

Check point functioning remains a major

MUA Officer Witnesses Ankara Bombing

issue, particularly for Palestinian truck drivers. The delegation also paid a condolence visit to the Dawabsheh family in Duma, following the deaths of a child and his parents when their house was burnt down, allegedly by settlers, on July 31.

The ITF delegation also spent two days in Israel, where they met trade unionists in Tel Aviv, Sderot and Ashdod to explore Union leaders including National Secretary Paddy Crumlin and a co-operative approach to ITF Secretary Steve Cotton getting a tour of Palestine the easing of the problems for Palestinian truck drivers at check points. They to both places again demonstrated the ITF’s went on a port inspection and held a meeting solidarity with Palestinian trade unions. with dockworkers over industrial issues in the He added that the ITF’s support for building port sector, including automation and private strong, well-resourced and functional trade port development. unions in both Palestine and Israel provided Steve Cotton explained: “This moving visit an important part of the essential foundation was important to demonstrate our continuing for reconciliation and constructive next steps and strong support for trade unionists and for workers and their communities, who were workers in Palestine in the face of conflict and labouring under extraordinary humanitarian injustice in the region. duress and hardship.

“We discussed what further practical The visit was part of the ITF’s four-year assistance we could offer the unions in future, programme to support workers and members so that they can step up their fight for workers’ of ITF-affiliated trade unions in the region. rights and equality.”

Find out more and see how you can donate Paddy Crumlin commented that the visit to the ITF Gaza support fund. n

Liverpool Dockers: Lessons Learned From Pivotal Dispute

M

UA National Secretary and ITF President Paddy Crumlin has highlighted the importance of “learning from past mistakes” in a passionate speech delivered to delegates at the 20th Anniversary celebrations for the Liverpool Dockers.

Crumlin said it was because of the “neoconservative agenda” that a target had been painted on the docks of Liverpool twenty years ago.

“If you’re going to send a signal to the international working class, start in Liverpool,” he said.

He pointed out that although the strike action was ultimately unsuccessful, there was much to be taken away from the dispute.

“It’s a salutary lesson on what you need to do and what you can’t do,” he said.

“Sometimes failure is just as important as success. Because if you didn’t fail like that, you wouldn’t learn from it and we wouldn’t be in the position we are now.”

Instead of dwelling on the past, it was important to look forward, Crumlin noted, pointing to Oxfam statistics that show the richest 85 individuals in the world control the same amount of wealth as the poorest 74

T

he Maritime Union of Australia kicked off its annual National Council by holding a minute’s silence, remembering the victims of the Ankara peace rally bombing.

MUA National Campaigns and Project Coordinator Saadet Ozdemir was present when the attack, which killed more than 100 people and injured hundreds more, occurred.

When Saadet spoke to the MUA about her experience, she was still very shaken by what she had witnessed.

“I’ll never not see what I saw,” she said.

Saadet was in one of five busloads of mainly union activists from white-collar unions who had trekked from Istanbul the night before. She had gone to undertake some errands and was in a taxi returning to her friends at the rally when the first bomb went off.

She jumped out of the taxi and made her way towards where the disaster was unfolding, and was on the phone to one of her friends when she lost contact and the second bomb was detonated.

“It was worse than anything I have seen on film. It was raining body parts. It was surreal,” she explained.

“People were running and screaming, they were scared. One woman, who I won’t ever forget, had lost her friend. That will stay with me forever.”

In the aftermath, Saadet tried to find survivors from her group and made her way to hospitals to see how she could help out.

On reflection, she said the death and injury toll would have been a lot higher had the rally been in full swing - referring to the fact the bombs detonated prior to the rally actually starting.

However, Saadet said the majority of the victims were young people and many unions had lost their key people.

Although it wasn’t clear at this point, she said, who was responsible, the general sentiment from those in attendance was one of suspicion of the Turkish Government.

Not one to be put-off by the event, Saadet confirmed she and others were resolute.

“The people are more determined than ever and the unions are more determined than ever,” she declared.

MUA National Secretary and International Transport Workers’ Federation President Paddy Crumlin said the shameless attacks could not be forgiven.

“They must be fully, effectively – and transparently – investigated. That process must be open to international observers,” Crumlin said.

“We don’t yet know who was responsible for this outrage. We do know how grievously they have damaged the causes of peace and democracy.

“We also know that even as the innocent

- some of them our friends - are dying or in hospital, the values they were defending will be upheld and promoted and carried on in their name by trade unionists and people of goodwill worldwide.

“It is in that spirit that trade unions in Turkey declared three days of mourning and a two-day strike in protest at this appalling attack. We fully support them.”

ITF General Secretary Steve Cotton also commented on the event via a statement.

“A nation’s heart is breaking today,” he said. “These attacks targeted what is best about Turkey, and some of its most idealistic and motivated people. We in the international union movement share that grief.

“Among the main organisers of this peaceful demonstration were trade unions affiliated to the ITF. Among the dead are good friends of ours such as Ali Kitapci of the Birlesik Tasimacilik Çalisanlari Sendikasi (BTS) union.

“I can personally attest to the fact that for years Ali upheld workers’ rights in Turkey and the duty of unions to protect them. It is typical that he should have been attending an event designed to defend peace and democracy.

“The loss of such a man, and the loss of all those killed, is immeasurable.”

Members can donate to help victims of the bombing via the MUA website. n

Dutch Dockers Celebrate: “We’ve Got The Money Back”

I The MUA delegation outside of the infamous Casa

3.5 billion.

“Is that sustainable? It’s inevitable almost when you see the elitism, and the corruption and the negligence,” he declared.

The solution Crumlin offered to combat the entrenched inequality was for the working class to “reclaim its institutions”.

He noted: “We’re here to reclaim our communities, in Liverpool, in Sydney, in Charleston, in Los Angeles.

“We are here for the future. We want to reclaim this world, and you’ve given us the courage and determination to go forward.

Congratulations, Liverpool Dockers!”

Held at the Liverpool Dockers cultural heartland – the Casa – the MUA delegation was well received, particularly the contingent of sacked Hutchison workers, who shared their story with the other attendees. n www.mua.org.au

In recognition of an historic win, Dutch wharfies from FNV invited international supporters to a celebration as an acknowledgement of their solidarity during the successful ‘Put The Money Back’ campaign. https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=XER1UTyPJxs On September 30, a delegation including MUA National Secretary Paddy Crumlin and MUA President Christy Cain attended the event in Rotterdam.

The MUA and ITF played a pivotal role in supporting the Dutch dockworkers, who had seen their pension funds disappear from in front of their eyes.

After seven years of hard slog, FNV was able to recover more than 500 million (approximately $A700m) which pension fund Aegon had blocked, after it took over the Optas pension firm in 2007.

All of the money will benefit retirement

www.mua.org.au

arrangements for approximately 8,000 dockworkers in the Netherlands.

FNV chairman Niek Stam, who sits on the ITF Docker’s Section with Crumlin, attended the MUA 2012 Quadrennial Conference, which included a memorable march through the streets of central Sydney to Aegon’s office.

Clearly elated with the result, Stam opened the celebrations by declaring: “We’ve got the money back!”

Crumlin was also invited to speak on stage and he began in emphasising the success of the campaign was a “victory for human beings”.

Crumlin noted: “This money isn’t about power. Money is about decent lives; money is about community; money is about securing yourself against infirmity; money is about securing yourself against ill-health; money is about giving you a home and giving your children an

FNV leader Niek Stam at the 2012 MUA Quadrennial Conference

education; money is about justice and nothing else. And as long as we have moral leadership like Niek Stam, we’ve got a future and a future we can all look forward to.”

Chirsty Cain added that “justice had been served” and summed up: “It’s a real good working campaign put together all over the world, you know, whether it be in Sydney, whether it be in the UK, whether it be in Europe. It’s just been a fantastic result for working people.” n 75

C A M PA I G N

C A M PA I G N

MIF Formally Established After years in the making, the Maritime International Federation has cleared the final hurdle in being established.

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t the Maritime Union of Australia Special National Council meeting in Sydney in July, the MUA along with Maritime Union of New Zealand, the Papua New Guinea Transport and Maritime Worker’s Union and Timor Leste’s SMETL, formed the Maritime International Federation in order to build capacity in the Asia-Pacific region.

Leaders from the newly formed Independent Federation of Myanmar Seafarers (IFOMS) and from the long established Indonesian seafarer’s union the KPI, were also in attendance as observers and expressed an interest in joining.

The structure was also formalised, with MUA National Secretary Paddy Crumlin elected general secretary, the MUNZ General Secretary being elected as president and former MUA Deputy National Secretary Mick Doleman starting in his new role as the Federation’s executive officer.

Crumlin said the formation of MIF was just an extension of the historical partnerships the unions have had with each other in the past 150 years.

“The Federation is a mutually beneficial program, which will help raise the standards for maritime workers in the developing affiliated unions, while providing opportunities for our members on projects in the region,” Crumlin commented.

“We have to be progressive and we have to project ourselves out towards what the world requires today.”

Following Crumlin’s introduction, Doleman outlined his tentative plans in taking the MIF forward.

He mentioned that he had witnessed the atrocious health and safety practices for maritime workers in Timor Leste in a recent visit.

“The joint resources of the unions can be used to implement better safety practices in Timor, to stop the rate at which people die on the wharves and at sea,” he noted.

“This is a real, practical and immediate project we can get up.”

The Federation is a registered entity and the Constitution was also endorsed by the Executive.

Doleman will now, working with the

ITF, pull together a work plan with the members of the Federation outlining the work that needs to be done in our region and elsewhere in the interests of maritime rank-and-file MIF members.

“This is a significant event, with unions across different nations working closely together in a structured and committed way to build power within the MIF and within each of the federation members,” he said.

The PNGTMWU’s Alex Rawali said his union had already seen an increase in membership and other benefits through regional cooperation and these beneficial outcomes would only continue as part of MIF. Paulino Da Costa and Mario Guterres de Oliveira from SMETL, Hanafi Rustandi from the KPI and Aung Kyaw Linn and Shwe Tun Aung from IFOMS all joined in the discussion before Fleetwood wrapped up proceedings.

“Cooperation across borders is the way forward,” Fleetwood said. “This Federation will allow us to grow, better organise and evolve.” n

NT Chief Minister ‘Sells Out’ Over Darwin Port

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he MUA condemns the Northern Territory Chief Minister Adam Giles for selling the publiclyowned Darwin Port to a private Chinese investment firm.

From day one, the deal was shrouded in secrecy and Giles refused to properly engage with both the union and workers at the port on the decision that will negatively impact every Territorian for years to come.

MUA NT Branch Secretary Thomas Mayor said the Port of Darwin was a profitable piece of infrastructure that

provided a revenue stream for much needed health, education and other public services. But it had all been sold off for a short-term windfall.

“In the absence of good judgement on this deal, I am now demanding the Giles Government and the new owner come to

the table and discuss the future for the workers engaged at the port,” Mayor said.

“The workers want assurances that their conditions are protected for the life of the lease and that jobs will not be contracted out. No jobs should be lost as a result of this sale.” n

New Employment Minister ‘Already Has Form’ Allowing Cheap Foreign Labour

N

ew Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has shown he wants to keep employment and industrial relations as an ideological battleground, with his surprise decision to promote Western Australian Senator Michaelia Cash to Minister for Employment.

The new PM says his government will seek to achieve more workplace flexibility and higher levels of business activity, while business lobby groups such as the Australian Industry Group are urging a re-shaping of the industrial landscape to favour big business.

Senator Cash - well-known to the Maritime Union of Australia for thumbing her nose at the Senate and insisting on the use of cheap, foreign labour in the offshore oil and gas sector - was formerly a senior industrial relations lawyer at union-busting legal firm Freehills.

With unemployment currently stuck above six per cent, unions were outraged that Senator Cash as Assistant Minister for Immigration and Border Protection oversaw a substantial increase in temporary work visa programs.

The new appointment of Senator Cash followed outgoing Minister Eric Abetz’s final act - to promote or commission four ideological warriors at the Fair Work Commission.

“Many see Malcolm Turnbull as a leftleaning progressive with his historical stance on issues such as marriage equality, climate change and the republic,” MUA National Secretary Paddy Crumlin said.

“Not only has he walked away from those key issues in his bid to wrest leadership of www.mua.org.au

his party, but it doesn’t look like industrial relations will get any better either.

“Senator Cash has shown a singular stubbornness and inflexibility in her failure to stand up for Australian jobs. The new Minister has form as anti-union and antiAustralian worker.”

Crumlin urged Senator Cash to follow her own advice when speaking in the Senate on 28 June 28 2013 - following another change of Prime Minister - when she declared: “You can take the photograph away and put up another photograph, but guess what? Unless you change the direction of your policy, unless you realise that you have made mistakes, the Australian people will judge you.”

Crumlin noted: “It is time for Senator Cash and Prime Minister Turnbull to admit the mistakes of the Abbott Government and stand up for Australian jobs and Australian workers.”

However Senator Cash talked up her credentials upon beginning her new role, suggesting the Government had done a terrific job on all fronts.

“We have reinstated fairness and integrity to Australia’s visa programmes and have streamlined and simplified processes. These will have long lasting benefits for skilled migration,” she said.

“The Employment portfolio is a pivotal one, with its role being to build Australia’s workforce participation and productivity.

Employment is central to national economic strength and social wellbeing.”

ALP Shadow Minister for Employment Brendan O’Connor described the current government’s workplace agenda as “unfair, unworkable and ideologically obsessive”,

urging Senator Cash to withdraw legislation pursued by her predecessor Eric Abetz.

“Labor believes the Liberal Government has failed to win support for its workplace relations legislation, because each and every Bill that remains in the Senate is fundamentally unfair and would leave ordinary Australian workers worse off,” O’Connon said.

O’Connor explained the ‘hit list’ of legislation which should be withdrawn included: • Th e Fair Work Amendment Bill, which is an example of this Government’s crusade against the employment conditions of workers and introduces changes to Individual Flexibility Arrangements, Greenfield Agreements and the right of workers to access independent advice and advocacy at their workplace; • Th ree Comcare Bills, which risk reducing worker safety, disadvantage workers under state workers’ compensation regimes and immediately and significantly reduce the rights and protections of workers covered by the scheme; • A Bill to re-establish the Australian Building and Construction Commission, which has excessive, undemocratic and unwarranted powers in terms of regulating civil laws; • Th e Fair Entitlements Guarantee Bill, which will strip away entitlements of workers who, by no fault of their own, lose their job through the liquidation or bankruptcy of their employer; • Th e Fair Work (Bargaining Processes) Bill, which is an assault on employees’ democratic right to bargain effectively in the workplace; and • Th e Registered Organisations Bill, which would result in volunteers working for nothing, being subject to the same penalties as directors of ASX 100 companies earning more than $200,000 a year.

O’Connor also criticised the AbbottTurnbull Government’s public sector bargaining, which is “stifling real opportunities for improved productivity in the public sector”.

He added: “All the Liberals have done for two years is fight for their jobs, while attacking Australians’ jobs - and that won’t change now.”

Prime Minister Turnbull admitted that IR reform “has been a very vexed issue and a pitched battle in some respects between the government and the unions, and business and the unions. n 77

METL

METL: Leading the way for tomorrow’s seafarers Trainee Integrated Rating Blake Sayer was recently nominated to represent METL at the TSTL program held at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) in Canberra.

Blake Sayer in his element aboard a vessel in Antarctica

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he Today’ Skills: Tomorrow’s Leaders program is focused on working with an elite group of outstanding apprentices and trainees, who were selected based on their demonstrated high levels of performance, maturity and leadership throughout the duration of their apprenticeship or traineeship.

This year 21 group training apprentices and trainees - high achievers in their chosen professions and potential industry leaders of the future - were chosen to participate in a five-day intensive professional development

program. They came representing all states and territories and from varied industry backgrounds.

Blake was very enthusiastic about sharing the experience with such a wide spread of people.

“I got to experience this program with 20 other of Australia’s best apprentices and trainees from all walks of life - such as male and female electricians, fitters, carpenters, school teachers, government, pattern makers and scientists. I can now call these people friends and I look forward to staying in touch with them,” he said.

The program offers a unique opportunity for participants to develop their leadership and self-management skills. They are challenged to take their current training successes to the next level, and are provided with practical tools to assist in clarifying their vision for the future and in working towards making this a reality.

Participants were able to interact with elite athletes from the Australian Institute of Sport – learning how passion, commitment and goal achievement are applied in a variety of contexts.

“Without a doubt this was the best program I have ever done,” Blake declared.

“I’ve taken so much away from this experience which I know I will put into use in the future. A massive ‘well done’ to Leonie Stanfield from Group Training Australia and Ian Hutchinson from Life By Design who ran the program.” n

METL’s Simon Earle, TIR Blake Sayer and ASP’s Phil Jones

Governor General Peter Cosgrove with all of the trainees, including Blake Sayer

An invitation was sent to all GTOs and Host Employers to attend the program.

His Excellency the Honourable Sir Peter Cosgrove AK MC (rtd), Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia, launched the program at Government House in Canberra.

Simon Earle, CEO of METL attended the program launch, along with Phil Jones representing as both the Host Employer ASP and as a Director of METL. “We caught up with Blake and some of the other participants and you could really see the enthusiasm and focus that the program had given them. Blake has some pretty serious aspirations, and he spoke about how the program has made him realise that he can achieve anything,

www.mua.org.au

simply by breaking goals down into manageable components,” Earle said.

On meeting Governor General Sir Peter Cosgrove and Lady Cosgrove, Blake said: “As a proud Australian it was a real honour for me to meet him. Meeting our Governor General and his wife has given me more motivation, confidence, a great new outlook on my future and the tools to pursue my dreams and goals.”

Of special note is the fact this is the first time in the history of the program that there has been a representative from the maritime industry.

ASP’s Phil Jones said it was important to attract quality candidates, support them and provide leadership opportunities and pathways if they want

that challenge.

“It’s key to retention and vital for the survival of the industry. I am sure Blake will do exceptionally well and make a valuable contribution. We are proud to be part of that journey,” Jones said.

Blake extended his gratitude to both ASP and METL “I really appreciate the support. I was very honoured to be there on behalf of the Maritime Industry,” he said.

Blake is keen to knock over his final swing as a TIR, and then get stuck into his Deck Watchkeeper understudy as the next step to becoming a Master Mariner. METL congratulates Blake for being selected and thanks him for putting Maritime on the map in the world of Group Training. n

79

WHITE RIBBON

THE MARITIME UNION OF AUSTRALIA AND ITS SUBSIDIARY

ACTU congress takes the White Ribbon pledge to change the face of unions At the ACTU Congress in May, former MUA Deputy National Secretary and White Ribbon Ambassador of the year Mick Doleman led the male delegates at Docklands Stadium to take the White Ribbon pledge.

Van Badham* covered the historic moment.

All of the men at the ACTU Congress took part in the White Ribbon oath. Credit: Jorge de Araujo

CONCISE FINANCIAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2015

The Concise Financial Report is an extract from the Union's Full Financial Report for the year ended 30 June 2015. The Financial Statements and specific disclosures in the Concise Financial Report have been derived from the Full Financial Report. A copy of the Full Financial Report is available to members at any branch of the Maritime Union of Australia.

AUDITOR'S OPINION The audit of the Financial Report of the Maritime Union of Australia for the financial year ended 30 June 2015 resulted in an Unqualified Independent Auditor's Report.

OPERATING REPORT The names of the officials in office at any time during the financial year and to the date of this report are:

T

he most memorable visual of the Australian Council of Trade Unions’ triennial congress was the assembly on stage of all the union men, led by former seafarer Mick Doleman, a 31-year veteran of the Maritime Union of Australia.

For all the stereotypes of Australian unionism associated with burly, blue-collar men, this was no tableau of macho. Doleman was rallying his male comrades en masse to take the White Ribbon pledge. The activity on stage was exclusively male, but the sentiment was explicitly feminist.

“Domestic violence is not a women’s issue,” Doleman called, “It’s a men’s issue. Women are the victims. Men are the perpetrators.”

Doleman’s line here is unadorned fact that many others in public life aren’t always willing to acknowledge. Recently, writers Tanveer Ahmed and Sallee McLaren have respectively suggested feminists and victims themselves are somehow to blame for the male violence that’s already killed more than 40 Australian women this year.

But Doleman’s words and the throng of male union officials trying to squeeze into frame for female delegates snapping them with cameras weren’t refreshing just because they were direct. Nor was this one action significant because the participating delegates and officials represent a movement which, containing more than 1.8 million Australian people, is the largest membership organisation in the country.

Their action was significant because it did not occur in isolation. Amid the 20 new policies and 200 resolutions adopted by the ACTU congress were campaigns to demand family-violence leave provisions for women in the workplace, a commitment to fight government attacks on paid parental leave, and – in response to an internal Women in Unions report – to improve the current 40% representation rate of women in union leadership positions to meet a 50% quota.

80

If there are any remaining doubts that women’s rights are union business, the guest speaker at the congress was anti-violence campaigner, Rosie Batty, Australian of the Year.

As the participation of women in the workplace has increased, so has their membership of unions and activism within them. While men are still the Australian membership’s slight majority as well as presently holding 62% of ACTU delegates and 60% of the union leadership, the congress made clear that decades of feminist activism have proven its legitimacy with the organised working class.

Of course, it wasn’t always so. Unionism in Australia was born at a time when society either prevented women’s participation in certain workforces, or ignored the ones they were in. Unions campaigned bitterly against retaining women in the Australian workforce after the second world war. The tram union’s ban on women drivers was only overturned in 1975 after a 19-year battle and the famous cry, “I don’t need a penis to drive a bloody tram!” from activist Joyce Barry before she was finally allowed to grasp her own controls.

And while the Australian Workers Union may have allowed radical writer and feminist Dame Mary Gilmore to become its first female member and write for its paper in the 1920s, by the 1980s it had spawned notorious sexist Ernie Ecob as a secretary, whose gendered disparagements were so legendary there are annual ‘awards’ for sexism named after him.

In a 2007 ABC debate, former ACTU president Sharan Burrow, now the general secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation, made the point that women workers “fought the ACTU and the unions” for three decades to recognise equal pay. It was the “magnificent victories fought by women in the courts” that were responsible for unions recognising equal pay as a principle cause, even if it is not yet a universal practice.

ACTU Secretary Dave Oliver leads the White Ribbon Pledge. Credit: Jorge de Araujo

It’s Burrow’s point that perhaps explains how the feminist message gained union traction. Whether it’s the right to drive a tram, get equal pay or live without discrimination, violence or harassment, doggedly pursuing a cause for decades before a “magnificent” victory accumulates political legitimacy and moral authority.

For a union movement engaged in the ongoing battle to equalise power relations for the underdog, the visible achievements of organised women are inspiring. The last three ACTU presidents – Jennie George, Burrow and current president Ged Kearney – started their careers in teaching and nursing, both industries with traditions of female organising.

Australian feminists have spent decades fighting systems of gender inequality that allow men to justify, excuse or ignore harms against women, the worst extreme of which is murder. The campaign against male violence is raging and the male-dominated movement of Australian unionism is now a powerful ally to the feminist cause.

The question must then be asked of those who insist that modern feminists are ineffective, or insular, or doing feminism wrong: can you not see what’s being achieved because of some privilege? Is it a class occlusion or a gender bias that’s making you so blind? * This article was first published in The Guardian. See: http://www.theguardian.com/ commentisfree/2015/jun/04/say-goodbye-tothe-burly-blue-collar-face-of-unions-theyrenow-feminist www.mua.org.au

Bracken, K (deposed 30/6/15) Bray, I Bull, A * (elected 1/7/15) Burford, A * Cain, C Cain, D (elected 1/7/15) Campbell, J Carnegie, R (elected 1/7/15) Carr, M (retired 30/6/15) Cassar, J (elected 1/7/15) Clothier, C * Crumlin, P Cushion, D (retired 30/6/15)

Deakin, J Doleman, M (retired 30/6/15) Evans, A Gallagher, P (elected 1/7/15) Garrett, P Heath, D (resigned 28/4/15) Hill, I * (deposed 30/6/15) Hoy, J (elected 1/7/15) Italia, Joseph (elected 1/7/15) Jones, M (elected 1/7/15) Keane, G Keating, P Mayor, T

McAleer, P Miners, J (elected 1/7/15) Myers, M * (elected 1/7/15) Munday, T (deposed 30/6/15) Newlyn, J Outram, D * Patchett, R Paterson, J * Schleibs, D (deposed 30/6/15) Sheehan, P (retired 30/6/15) Smith, W Tracey, W Williams, G

* Honorary Electorate

Officials have been in office since the start of the financial year to the date of this report unless otherwise stated.

No significant changes in the Union's state of affairs occurred during the financial year.

The principal activities of the Union during the financial year were the provision of Trade Union services to its members. No significant change in the nature of these activities occurred during the year.

No matters or circumstances have arisen since the end of the financial year which significantly affected or may significantly affect the operations of the economic entity, the results of those operations, or the state of affairs of the reporting unit in future financial years.

The Union operates predominantly in one business and geographical segment being Trade Union services in Australia.

All transactions and balances are reported in local currency unless otherwise stated.

Revenue from member contributions is recognised on an accrual basis. These comprise of actual contributions received during the year and contributions due at reporting date.

The lead Auditor's Independence Declaration for the year ended 30 June 2015 has been received and can be found on page 5 of the Full Financial Report.

The Financial Report of The Maritime Union of Australia for the year ended 30 June 2015 was authorised for issue in accordance with a resolution of the National Council on the 16th of October 2015.

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION

Consolidated 2015

Current assets

Federal 2014

2015

2014

7,053,197

9,661,598

1,927,627

4,068,209

Non-current assets

44,269,267

39,405,016

42,237,975

38,241,293

Total assets

51,322,464

49,066,614

44,165,602

42,309,502

Current liabilities

6,323,498

5,583,633

6,670,748

5,303,616

Non-current liabilities

5,179,496

3,662,225

5,179,496

3,662,225

Total liabilities

11,502,994

9,245,858

11,850,244

8,965,841

Members' funds

39,819,470

39,820,756

32,315,358

33,343,662

1 www.mua.org.au

81

THE MARITIME UNION OF AUSTRALIA AND ITS SUBSIDIARY

THE MARITIME UNION OF AUSTRALIA AND ITS SUBSIDIARY

CONCISE FINANCIAL REPORT

CONCISE FINANCIAL REPORT

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2015

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2015

CHANGE IN MEMBERS FUNDS STATEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME

Consolidated

Operating income and expenses

2015

Revenues from operating activities Employee benefits expense

Federal 2014

22,357,420 (11,531,553)

2015

22,659,571 (11,431,200)

At 1 July 2013

19,073,160

(11,521,442)

(11,431,200)

Finance Cost

(195,416)

(152,369)

(195,416)

(152,369)

Depreciation and amortisation expenses

(876,461)

(882,798)

(834,169)

(855,394)

(11,036,431)

(11,775,658)

(9,213,710)

(8,532,137)

(1,282,441)

(1,582,454)

(2,183,169)

(1,897,940)

Other expenses from ordinary activities Operating (deficit) Non-operating income and expenses Increase/(Decrease) in investments

564,805

791,475

Income from managed investments

597,924

Investment fees

(11,242) 14,155

Foreign currency exchange gain Interest received

Revaluation Reserve

Other Reserves

Retained Surplus

Total Equity

CONSOLIDATED 2014

19,581,568

Fighting Fund Reserve

564,805

766,335

380,445

578,988

307,972

(9,468)

(10,712)

(9,468)

-

14,155

-

268,739

2,849,966

3,389,785

33,870,204

40,378,694

Net surplus/(deficit) for the year

-

-

139,329

(447,268)

(307,939)

Other comprehensive income

-

-

-

-

-

Total comprehensive income

-

-

139,329

(447,268)

(307,939)

Transfer to Reserves

(250,000)

-

677,692

(677,692)

(250,000)

18,739

2,849,966

4,206,807

32,745,244

39,820,756

Net surplus/(deficit) for the year

-

-

45,616

(46,902)

(1,286)

Other comprehensive income

-

-

-

-

-

Total comprehensive income

-

-

45,616

(46,902)

(1,286)

At 30 June 2014

Transfer to Reserves At 30 June 2015

-

-

(1,442,496)

1,442,496

-

18,739

2,849,966

2,809,927

34,140,838

39,819,470

115,513

112,063

7,629

26,944

Non-operating income and expenses

1,281,155

1,274,515

1,154,865

1,091,783

At 1 July 2013

268,739

2,849,966

648,728

30,632,386

34,399,819

Net (deficit) from ordinary activities

(1,286)

(307,939)

(1,028,304)

(806,157)

Net (deficit) for the year

-

-

-

(806,157)

(806,157)

-

-

-

-

Other comprehensive income

-

-

-

-

-

Total comprehensive income

-

-

-

(806,157)

(806,157)

Other comprehensive income Total comprehensive income for the year

(1,286)

(307,939)

(1,028,304)

(806,157)

FEDERAL

Transfer to Reserves At 30 June 2014

Consolidated

CASH FLOW STATEMENT

2015

Federal 2014

2015

2014

CASH FLOW FROM ORDINARY ACTIVITIES Receipts from members Payments to suppliers and employees

19,838,004

21,845,613

19,677,782

20,479,667

(20,506,725)

(24,879,550)

(19,607,472)

(21,711,027)

Rent received

419,085

421,146

380,451

353,379

Other receipts

1,180,543

1,355,684

922,990

1,058,368

843,909

1,750,843

105,074

45,875

1,774,816

493,736

1,478,825

226,262

Interest received from investments

56,317

100,186

2,101

15,067

Repayment of Official loan/member's loan

35,800

220,145

7,983

220,145 6,500

Donations received Net cash provided by operating activities

(250,000)

-

470,556

(470,556)

(250,000)

18,739

2,849,966

1,119,284

29,355,673

33,343,662 (1,028,304)

Net (deficit) for the year

-

-

-

(1,028,304)

Other comprehensive income

-

-

-

-

-

Total comprehensive income

-

-

-

(1,028,304)

(1,028,304)

-

-

(1,036,364)

1,036,364

-

18,739

2,849,966

82,920

29,363,733

32,315,358

Transfer to Reserves At 30 June 2015

End of Concise Financial Report

CASH FLOW FROM INVESTING ACTIVITIES

Proceeds from sale of property, plant and equipment Purchase of investment property Purchase of property, plant and equipment Net cash (used in) investing activities

193,955

6,500

193,955

(3,804,762)

-

(2,862,000)

-

(978,400)

(673,341)

(967,490)

(639,307)

(4,497,090)

(346,510)

(3,625,451)

(397,595)

CASH FLOW FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES Proceeds from borrowings

1,626,712

Repayment of borrowings

(322,924)

(232,922)

(322,924)

1,303,788

(232,922)

1,303,788

(232,921)

(1,418,486)

(85,696)

(842,838)

(404,254)

Net cash provided by/(used in) financing activities Net (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents

-

1,626,712

(232,921)

Cash and cash equivalent at the beginning of the financial year

7,126,950

7,212,646

1,636,919

2,041,173

Cash and cash equivalent at the end of the financial year

5,708,464

7,126,950

794,081

1,636,919

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