MUA

In this edition

• p 4 Who’s running the Asylum? By Paddy Crumlin
• p 6 Union surge
• p 8 Near Death
• p 10 New union leadership team
• p 32 Indonesia Calling

Dear [firstname,fallback=Sir/Madam]

Things can go pear shaped in our lives from time to time. Losing on the Melbourne Cup can be tough. Losing your car keys is worse, depending on what sort of car you’ve got. Losing your house and job is getting to the top of the stress list along with losing someone close to you, and we all get together to support anyone in those dire predicaments.

Remember the tremendous outpouring of generosity and sympathy during the recent bushfires in Victoria? So you’d think the same empathy and assistance would be easily extended to individuals and families who have lost everything, including their communities, legal rights and more often than not large numbers of their friends and loved ones through institutionalised brutality and war. That’s the world asylum seekers are fleeing in their last act of reckless desperation to survive.

It’s not all that hard to reach out and frame our minds to the terrible conditions forcing this desperation. Afghanistan wouldn’t make the list of holiday destinations any more than the north of Sri Lanka would. It’s hard enough reading about the institutionalised corruption and violence, horrific human destruction and savagery and single-minded prejudice by larger ethnic and political majorities against minorities unfortunate enough to be born in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Our national respect easily extends to those Australian men and women going there to try to stabilise those destructive environments through direct military and civil intervention, but we find it much more difficult it seems to put ourselves in the place of the poor bastards they go there to protect.

Asylum seekers are not a social and political problem that any other developed nation with reasonable community support and public policy isn’t confronting. Most countries are attempting to deal with numbers of refugees far in excess of those seeking to cross the enormous distances and precarious oceans between their nightmares and our shores. We’re not a country that has historically turned our back on those in desperate need, and in fact pride ourselves on being a safe haven for many of the dispossessed peoples scrambling to survive the sheer terror of war and dysfunction.

Certainly our immigration process is the preferred mechanism, but many really have no option but to take a last desperate throw of the dice and gamble to survive – usually because they know with gut wrenching certainty they are likely to lose their lives anyway if they hang around the home town. It is hard for Australians to construct a picture of methodical murder and dispossession because it is as far from our national community experience as the ocean miles between us and the countries where these things are almost of a casual nature.

Ending up in a detention centre followed by a process of assessment and hopefully integration, isn’t exactly winning lotto. The hysteria that unless we lock these impoverished and distraught individuals out we will in time be overwhelmed by a tsunami of them is arrant nonsense cooked up by the dark little minds of cynical politicians and media commentators. All with tickers the size of a split pea and a moral fibre you couldn’t tie your shoes with.

It was our blokes and others on the Oceanic Viking who got on with the job of providing a clean and safe environment for these unfortunate human beings, setting aside the selfishness and distorted political manipulation of Australians’ emotions that the rotten bastards in the Howard government let rip to save their own skin – poor form that we will take a long time to live down as a nation. Our members pick up these flotsam and jetsam from a badly stuffed up world from their ships’ rigs and floating platforms, sometimes at great risk to their own safety. It’s time the Federal Government followed suit.

The National Council of the union together with the Mining and Energy Division of the CFMEU have sent the delegates a large donation to at least make sure the refugees have a bit of light at the end of a very long tunnel. Together with assistance from other Australian unions, it again reinforces the difference between leadership and just wanting to be elected.

Two of the Best

Deputy National Secretary Jim Tannock and Assistant National secretary Rick Newlyn are retiring from office in the MUA after an extraordinary commitment to the union and its members and the labour movement over many years – decades actually. Both are workers who came to the industry as young job seekers, Jim into the tally clerks in Melbourne and Rick as a deck boy on the Australian coast.

Like all our members, they joined the union because the connection between a decent and fair go on and off the job was greatly assisted by that membership. Through the mentoring and example of leadership from others together with their own personal qualities they gained the respect of their peers that ultimately took them to the highest positions of responsibility the union has to offer.

It is no easy matter to gain the respect needed to achieve office in a union like ours. Keeping it for such a long period of time sets both of our two comrades amongst some of the great people who have led our union. They have always discharged their responsibilities with commitment, good humour and style and are known throughout the Australian and international labour movements with respect and goodwill.

Both Jim and Rick have been instrumental in the consolidation of all of the amalgamations that have paved the way to the Maritime Union of Australia and in doing so secured the interests of stevedoring and port workers and seafarers against some of the greatest political and industrial challenges ever confronted in the long history of the union. They have been tireless on the picket lines here and internationally, in the front line of the march to remove the Howard government and in delivering successful ITF Flag of Convenience and Ports of Convenience campaigns, securing an effective trade union response to the global exploitation that drives standards in the maritime industry.

Their commitment to international human and labour rights and peace are exemplified in their work for Apheda, and through the many international alliances that define the potential and scope of a genuine trade union agenda. Together with the outstanding contribution in continuing to build the Maritime, Mining and Power Credit Union and Maritime Super Fund, both comrades have reflected and further built on the legacy of our union, its members and its leadership that we not only get the job done, we do it in a fashion admired and respected by labour activists and organisations everywhere. Well done to two comrades who, although having retired from the workforce will never retire from the struggle as our veterans put it.

Both Jim and Rick have been fully involved in mentoring young union members which has led to the MUA being one of the most progressive activists in developing new leadership for our movement. Having a smooth transition in leadership in the National Office, and the subsequent filling of positions in the Sydney and WA Branches is a great credit to Jim and Rick, the National Council and Branch Executives and Committees affected. It places the union in a strong position to continue to deliver policies and resolutions adopted by the members at National Conference in order to protect the interests of our members, their families and workers everywhere.

New Economy, New Opportunities and Old Threats

Australian workers have paid a big price thanks to the Global Financial Crisis or, as we prefer to call it, the Latest Outbreak of Capitalist Swine Flu. We were prescient as a nation not having John Howard and his politics of division and elitism anywhere near the joint when the business hit the fan. Their WorkChoices would have bludgeoned workers and their unions even further, rather than genuinely supporting our communities under great economic stress.

We are currently patting ourselves on the back that we are not sitting as low in the water as most other developed economies where unemployment is running faster than Usain Bolt, national debt bigger than Peter Costello’s ego and hope for the future lower than Peter Reith’s reputation.

As our economy continues to work itself clear a few things need to be done. The rorting, conniving and grasping banking and private equity culture must be brought to heel. Measures needed include better regulation and accountability and new opportunities for second tier cooperative banking and community investment to ensure we are inoculated from another life-threatening round of flu.

If banks can attract AAA ratings to keep them flush, why can’t we have similarly rated bonds and other guaranteed investment vehicles to build our roads, rail and ports along with the new broadband and other infrastructure projects that will secure our future national economic health and wealth? Or we can just leave it up to the banks again to invest our retirement incomes and they can have another giant piss up and only invite themselves.

As our workplaces pick up, there is also a responsibility on employers to move back to full permanent and guaranteed employment particularly on the wharves and to minimise the use of supplementary and casual labour. We have worked through many of their commercial difficulties, done our jobs efficiently and safely and expect them to invest in long-term, secure and well-trained jobs in return.

The offshore industry should settle up to the reasonable outcomes required in a productive and highly demanding industry and stop trying to be tough guys in some cases and cry babies in others. We want decent and comparable economic outcomes with other workers in the industry, a properly structured and funded training scheme and a stable working environment as we meet the great demands in constructing and expanding the industry over the next few years.

Shipping is also essential to our future economic security. National Council together with representatives from the AMOU and AIMPE welcomed the Minister for Transport and Infrastructure, Anthony Albanese, who again reinforced his commitment to revitalise our coastal and international shipping industry. The union and its membership together with all Australian seafarers need to lift our efforts to ensure the Rudd government delivers the policy framework for this to happen.

Already the international shipping interests that see any developments here as eroding their influence are whinging and carping about any change. They need to get on board too and realise the rorting of permits and the use of tax havens and developing nation crews to compete in an Australian domestic transport sector, only exposes them to the perception that they are still committed to the practices that brought the international economy to the precipice.

The Maritime Union is growing - up from just over 9000 members in 2003 to just under 12,000 members in 2009 - and most of the growth is in the west

A resources boom has fueled new jobs on the NorthWest Shelf and further north into the Timor Sea creating new work and new members. Darwin Branch has doubled along with the WA branch.
The WA resources boom in LNG and minerals have both been relatively unaffected by the world recession. And it is now, once more, full steam ahead with Gorgon and other developments – leading to around $200 billion being ploughed into WA in coming years.
The LNG boom is predicted to make Australia the ‘Middle East of gas’.
The joint venture by Chevron, Shell and ExxonMobil is already underpinned by supply contracts with China and India worth more than 60 billion US dollars, with more customers are likely to sign up before it begins operating in 2014.
Gorgon is just one of a clutch of LNG projects planned in the next decade, according to analysts, which will see Australia challenge Qatar as the world's major gas exporter.
The West Australian reports London based Compass Group, one of the biggest labor suppliers, will hire around 250 people a month in WA over the next 6-18 months in anticipation of the Gorgan led boom.
Western Australia is the centre of the LNG boom with three huge gas fields off its northwest coast: the Carnarvon, Browse and Bonaparte basins.
Other gas sources in Australia are Northern Australia, Timor Sea, Gorgon fields and Browse Basis with reserves of 100 trillion cubic feet. With the boom comes jobs in the offshore industry and the union has been hard at work organizing workers coming in.
“It’s unprecedented in our history,” said MUA Deputy National Secretary Mick Doleman. “Thousands of jobs are to come, with the Prime Minister announcing the creation of a National Resource Employment Taskforce in September. Our job is to organise and lobby to make sure they are safe jobs, with training to ensure a highly skilled workforce.
“The MUA has a reputation as an effective and efficient union, renowned for its democracy, providing a voice for workers in an uncertain world,” said National Secretary Paddy Crumln. “Our commitment to the education of workers, our global solidarity links in global industries, our fight for safe jobs, our engagement on the political stage seeking to influence the shape of industries and sustainable jobs is well known. And the union helps to provide services like Credit Union and Super that are attractive to workers and their families. We are the sort of union workerswant to belong to.”
In the Northern Territory membership in the once tiny port has
doubled to around 300 in 18 months and in the West the
strategic MUA offshore alliance with the Australian Workers’
union has netted around 300 new union members, according to
MUA lead organizer Bernie Farrelly. The unions have jointly
employed two organisers in the region in anticipation of further
organizing the influx of workers.
The WA branch has also been organizing hard on the ground,
with three organisers on the job. Branch membership is up from
just over 1,400 members in 2003 to just over 3,000 in 2009.
And the union is confident the surge is only getting bigger.
“Unions are back in a big way and they're going to get bigger,”
MUA branch Secretary Chris Cain told The West Australian.
Comrade Cain said the branch, which covers 14 ports over
13,000 kilometres is continuing to notch up outstanding growth.
“We’re training our delegates, it's a rank and file branch,” he said.
“Over the last few years the growth has been phenomenal,” Chris
Cain says in his branch report to council. “The branch has grown
nearly 40 per cent in the last two years. We are consistently up
around the 3000 mark and with massive projects starting up over
the next two years we will certainly grow even further. Not only
are we currently 95.44 per cent financial in our membership, we
are seeing a big reduction in membership debt.
Other states not enjoying the same protection from the global
financial crisis are also holding membership, union coverage and
financiality.
RIGHT OF ENTRY
As well unions now have right of entry to sites where they were
previously banned to talk to workers and recruit – sites where
workers were on Australian Workplace Agreements or un-
unionised. This was something that was not allowed under the
Howard WorkChoices regime.
Employers complained to The West Australian they are being
bombarded with unions’ requests to visit sites and that workers
did not 'genuinely require' union services.
Newly appointed MUA National Assistant Secretary Ian Bray says
the branch pumped up membership from around 1,200 to just
under 3,000. Around 1,500 new members come from diving,
stevedoring, offshore rigs and facilities and offshore shipping and
the remote operational vehicles, which are used in offshore deep
sea but driven from on deck.
“The offshore boom has helped,” said Ian. “But the union also
played a big role. We made the employers accountable for
training up new entrants to get jobs on the ships. Some of these
were already our members coming from interstate, but we also
saw dozens of trainees get work in the industry. We have had
much success but we still have a long way to go.
The offshore boom is creating jobs across the board. “Gorgon will
mean new wharves,” he said, “but it’s also down to organising. A
few years back only half the stevedoring workers at Patrick,
Fremantle were in the union. We went along and said no wonder
you got so many issues, the boss took the piss out of you. Why
would he listen to you when half of you aren’t in the union.”

Offshore job accident puts spotlight on industry safety gaps

“I couldn’t sleep for two days.
Every time I shut my eyes it would replay.
It was horrific.
The sling blew off the end of the steel pipe,
swung wide around me,
picked Andy up off the deck and flung him into the pipe like a rag doll.
It seemed like minutes, but it was probably over in a few seconds.
I thought he was dead.”

Tony Mellick, IR and Andy Poynter were mates. They’d worked three ships together over 10-15 years seafaring.

It was just on 3am on Tuesday, September 8. Tony and Andy were two of four MUA crew on the deck of the platform supply vessel Toisa Serenade offloading pipes onto the Audacia on the Woodside Pluto project off Dampier.

There had been one incident that night with the sling coming off the load. No one was hurt. The crew had a toolbox meeting and decided to keep working.

Everyone had turned in except for the four men working the cargo and two watch keepers on the bridge.

“We were down to the last four pipes to discharge before we headed back for the night when it happened,” Tony said.

Chief IR Andy Poynter was placing the wire rope sling over the 36-inch length of pipe. Using the tag line one end, his mate placed the sling the other end. One pipe at a time. It was Andy’s last shift on his last swing before heading home. Tony was in radio communication with the ship and crane operator.

“I was dogging the crane, watching everything, keeping an eye on Andy,” said Tony. “It all happened in seconds. Andy whacked his head on the end of pipe, doubled up and somehow ended up with his upper body inside the pipe and his legs hanging out. I thought he’d broken his neck for sure.”

Tony unhooked the other end of the pipe before it swung out then jumped in to check on Andy.

He was still conscious.
“Are you okay, mate?” Tony asked.
“Oh Jesus, mate I’m sore,” said Andy.

Tony called to get the other IRs up out of bed and first aid. He kept talking, comforting Andy, stopping him going unconscious.

“Andy complained he was getting cold,” he said. “He started to go grey all over. I could see he was going into shock.”

The second mate on watch came down and helped with first aid and got the oxygen going.

“I went around the other end of the pipe and crawled in to watch over Andy until the medic from the Audacia came down.”

It took a good 20 minutes. They argued about moving him.

“I told the medic I was more worried about Andy’s neck and spine than the gash on the back of his head. All the gear was Chinese built and too small. The stretcher only went to Andy’s knees.”

“Andy started to shut down on us,” he said. “He kept saying ‘I’m really tired, mate’. But we just kept talking to him telling him “Stay with us, mate. Everything’s good we’ll get you out of here.”

Once they got hold of a head block Tony was happy to pull Andy out of the pipe.

They got him transferred by crane to the Audacia, by helicopter to Karratha Hospital, then by fixed wing to the Royal Perth Hospital.

No memory

The Serenade finished unloading and returned to Karratha.

The next day Andy came to in hospital. He had no memory of the accident.

“Out of the blue Andy rang me up, asking ‘What the hell happened, mate,’” said Tony. “He didn’t know he was in Perth.”

“My word I’m a lucky man,” said Andy. “The sling is steel wire with a big eye. It hit me in the chest, lifted me off the deck and threw me back four metres where I struck the back of my head on top of the pipe. Or so I’m told. I’ve got no memory of it. It was the blow to my head. I remember an hour before the accident and the next memory I was in hospital. I don’t know how long I was knocked out.”

“The doctor says I’ve got brain damage,” said Andy. “And soft tissue damage to my neck, shoulders, lower back and arms. And some bruising to my chest. He says it could be anything from two weeks to months before my head settles. They can’t put a date on it. I still get ringing in my right ear. I still get headaches. And I’m still confused about things.”

Andy is out of hospital now but still a bit unsteady on his feet.

“The crane driver came to see me in hospital and so many people were phoning me and talking to me. That’s what got me through it.”

Andy worried about his wife at home and the company offered to fly her in.

Branch praised

MUA WA branch stood by Andy throughout the whole ordeal.

“A big thank you to Noel and Chris for everything they did for us,” said Andy. “Chris Cain is a busy man, but he sat with us in company investigation. We didn’t want to go in there alone. He made the time to make sure he was there for us.”

In a letter to the branch Andy also formally thanked the crew of Toisa Serenade and Audacia “for their quick and decisive actions on the 08.09.09 when I got struck by a wire sling and thrown into the pipes. Luckily, I suffered no bone damage or bad injuries due to the efforts of the Serenade crew (thanks boys).

“I have no memory of the event but was told of it by various people and I must say that I am very lucky. My thanks also to the Audacia crew for their assistance during my medivac.

“Whilst I was in Perth hospital I was visited by Rory the crane driver whose concern was uplifting and also his brother Nick. I also was visited by Joe Wilkinson (cheers Alfie) and Mick Canning. Also special thanks to Chris Cain and Tony Mellick for their outstanding assistance at the accident enquiry.

“The union officials and the office girls were a very big support to myself and my wife Esther who was unable to fly because of her own health issues. It still makes me proud to be a member of this great union and all it stands for.

MUA here to stay.

Yours in Unity
Andy and Esther Poynter 2694
Sons Justin and Andrew John.”

Call for action

Meanwhile the Maritime Union has called for action on safety after the near death incident.

Branch Secretary Chris Cain took the matter to the media announcing the union would stop jobs if safety was in question.

At issue is the confusion over the jurisdiction over offshore facilities, vessels and oil rigs.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) and the National Offshore Petroleum Safety Authority (NOPSA) took 24 hours to arrive at a decision on which body would investigate the accident.

"This mess between the safety regulators is absolutely no help in trying to lift safety standards in the oil and gas industry," Chris Cain said.

He said MUA members were prepared to down tools over their concerns at the situation after several near misses at the Pluto site.

"Our members have been saying if we have to stop the job ... then we will," he said. "It's not industrial action."

Meeting the Minister

At the same time national officials have been holding top-level meetings with ministers on offshore safety.

MUA Deputy National Secretary Mick Doleman, Policy Executive Officer Rod Pickette and AIMPE met with Martin Ferguson, Minister for Resources, Energy and Tourism on September 21 at the Minister’s request where he outlined a government process and timeline to reform offshore safety regulation.

Mr Ferguson invited the unions to have input in developing the legislative response to both the 2008 Review of NOPSA and the 2008-2009 Review of Offshore Regulation arising from the inquiry into the Karratha Spirit and Castorro Otto incidents in December last year.

The Minister also says the government supports the Productivity Commission recommendation for a single national offshore petroleum regulator. The body would have responsibility for resource management, pipelines and environmental approvals and compliance.

The union will be working to ensure union and labour force issues are addressed.

Martin Ferguson also reiterated his support for a nationally consistent approach to safety standards for high-risk work/lifting operations in the offshore sector in a letter to Deputy PM Julia Gillard.

MUA National Secretary Paddy Crumlin has written to the Deputy PM supporting the proposal as well as making representations to Safe Work Australia on the issue.

New faces are the hallmark at national office as two of the union’s most senior distinguished officials retire and two branch officials in their prime make their way to MUA HQ.
Deputy National Secretary Jim Tannock,
64, and Assistant National Secretary Rick
Newlyn, 57, are both retiring at year’s end
after a long and distinguished contribution
to the union.
Warren Smith, 43, and Ian Bray, 41, take
their places in the national team as
assistant national secretaries. Warren
Smith leaves his position of Sydney
Branch Secretary and Ian Bray moves
from WA Assistant Branch Secretary.
A special executive meeting held in Sydney
in July recommended the two branch
officials for national office and decided to
recognise the outstanding contributions of
both retiring officials – as rank and file
members, elected delegates and full time
officials.
“Both Jim and Rick have represented the
union at the highest levels and are
respected for their long and principled
service to the labour movement both in
Australia and internationally,” said
National Secretary Paddy Crumlin.
Both will continue their association with
the union and remain available to
support the union and membership when
needed.
Under union rules the executive
recommends the casual vacancies for the
positions until the next union elections in
2011. A special national council convened
on August 20 endorsed the changes.
The November council dinner will be in
their honour to mark their retirement on
November 5, with invitations going out
to international guests and among the
broad Australian labour movement.
Meanwhile Mick Doleman has moved up
to the position of deputy national
secretary. And both WA and Sydney branch have filled the vacuum with local
leadership changes.
Assistant Sydney
Branch Secretary Paul McAleer has
moved to the top post in Sydney with
veteran seafarer and union activist Joe
Deakin coming in as assistant branch
secretary.
A reshuffle in the West sees
long time Deputy Branch Secretary
Keith McCorriston moving to the ITF
inspectorate and Adrian White, ITF
inspector moving to the deputy position.
Branch organiser Will Tracey has been
appointed assistant branch secretary.
Independent of these leadership changes
Les (PigDog) Rayward is retiring as
SQld assistant branch secretary to be
replaced by Tony Austin, a wharfie from
DP World, Fishermen’s Island.
All branch appointments were made by
national council following
recommendations from the relevant
branch committee of rank and file of the
branch executive officers.

NEVER ALONE

WARREN SMITH, 43, comes to MUA
HQ after leading the Sydney Branch as
secretary for two years, and a further four
years as assistant branch secretary. He has
spent 20 years in the maritime industry,
working as a wharfie before being elected
to office.
Warren has a long history of political and
union activism, learning many skills on
the Patrick picket during the 1998
waterfront war. He has also led major
shipping disputes on the ground including
the Stolt Australia (Hobart, 2006) and the
Triton (Darwin, 2008).
As branch secretary he played a key role in
supporting the MUA film unit and taking
charge of the Hungry Mile campaign,
developing high levels of communication
through workers’ film, press and radio,
while developing a strong branch policy of
rank and file empowerment, building
delegate structures and empowering job
site committees.
“I come to the job with an absolute
commitment to work with branches and
delegates,” said Warren. “The branch has
been part of many successful EBA
negotiations across all areas of our industry.
“We have always involved the rank and
file in our negotiations and believe that
the union cannot do otherwise. It is
paramount that the union gets it right
industrially. We need to ensure the bread
and butter issues are fixed to allow us to
concentrate on expanding the power and
influence of the union.”
As branch secretary Warren also
continued the union tradition of
supporting causes at home and abroad,
from Aboriginal rights to workers’ rights
in Colombia and Cuba to name a few.
“Maintaining solidarity between workers
and unions both nationally and
internationally is vitally important,” he
said. “We can’t win alone. Some may
think the MUA is bullet proof and
capable of withstanding the onslaught of
whatever force takes us on. But while we
are one of the most organised and capable
unions, we cannot win alone. A single
union against the odds of international
capital just can’t win. Every major blue,
whether Patrick’s 98 or the Triton 11, has
been linked to international solidarity.
“In defending our own we have to work
to build both worker and community
support at home at the same time
strengthening global solidarity and the
international working class movement
abroad. The history of our international
work is that it delivers.”
Warren points to the lessons of 1998,
turning workers’ pickets into community
assemblies on the ground, while calling
on worldwide support on the world stage
through the ITF.
“The ILWU role in Los Angeles with the
Columbus Canada was a determining
factor in the Patrick dispute as was the
ITF role in influencing the end of the
scab operation in Dubai. Support from
the UK/Dutch union Nautilus was a
determining factor in the battle of the
Triton where MUA crew members sat in
as Gardline tried to replace them.”
As assistant national secretary Warren will
be responsible for POAGs, Toll
Stevedoring and Shipping, CSL, INCO,
DP World Terminals, AAT, Teekay, Darwin
(Port Authority/Perkins shipyard), Skilled,
NSS and port authorities, Capital
Stevedores in Tasmania - a set of key
industrial responsibilities with a focus on
blue water and stevedoring.
“In the industrial areas I have responsibility
for it will be my goal to have strong and
independent committees and delegate
structures set up that can strengthen the
operation of the union in the workplace.
Union control of the workplace comes from
sound delegate structures that send the
message loudly and clearly to the bosses
that our union is run from the bottom up
and the delegates and committees aren’t to
be messed with. Bosses need to know they
have to deal with the workers and there’s no
knocking on the back door looking for an
easy fix if the workers aren’t treated with
respect and dignity on the job.
Warren will also lead the national office
organising strategy team.
““It’s about a strategic and organised
approach,” he said. “The
inherent responsibility of the organising
team is to oversee an organising culture
in the union, implement organising
campaigns, heighten and develop focus on
the organising model, thereby
strengthening the membership and the
power of the union.
“We have to have 100 per cent strength so
the boss can’t take advantage of us and get
over us at all. We need to wage
campaigns to improve the standard of
living of members and job safety. This
approach needs to be developed in all our
areas of work, building union capacity to
fight and win.”
Warren said his many years working in
bulk and general stevedoring and in the
Port Botany terminal gives him first hand
experience of how hard and incredibly
dangerous work on the waterfront can be.
“You don’t get a second chance if you are
hit by a container or a big machine,” he
said. “It’s the responsibility of the union to
make sure every worker comes home to
his or her family each shift.”

EMPOWERMENT

IAN BRAY, 41, comes to office after six
years working as a branch official, 19 years
seafaring in both offshore and blue water
including scientific research vessels and a lot
under his belt.
He brings with him to MUA HQ
organising skills honed in the west, which
helped the branch more than double in size
to become the union’s biggest in numbers in
recent years.
Ian will be responsible for diving, the
MUA/AWU, Hydrocarbon Alliance,
FPSOs, Patrick Bulk & General, Rio Tinto,
ASP, towage, dredging, P&O, maritime,
coal terminals and port authorities.
“In the areas I’ve got responsibility for it’s
about assisting the rank and file and the
branches. It’s about empowering members
through organising and delivering outcomes
based on well-developed strategy.
“Rank and file empowerment has been a
strong point of leadership in WA. We’ve
got good industrial outcomes as well as
good political outcomes in the state.
Empowerment makes it a lot easier to go in
and assist workers identify the virtues of the
union, the collective and how that benefits
the individual and their families.
“Organising gets you in the door, but you
still have to assist workers and members to
deliver on the outcomes that they think are
important to them and ensure the rank and
file get their say.
“We worked hard to rebuild trust in the
offshore diving industry and ROV. We
listened to the members, empowered them
and organised them in a collective. They
got the best EBA they’ve ever had.
“With the remote offshore vehicle
operators it was the same thing. They
were completely unorganised in the
offshore industry. Union density was close
to zero. We built on the back of the diving
campaign. It enhanced the union’s
reputation and we used that to engage
ROV workers into a collective in the space
of four months. Soon after this their
wages increased 30-50 per cent within a
matter of months.
“The next divers’ EBA will concentrate on
maintaining what we have achieved and
working to improve living and working
conditions. There are only about 200 in
ROV but they are a highly-skilled
workforce. Strategically this gives the union
the potential to be a major influence in
anything subsea.
“I hope to implement the branch
organising success nationally and help
grow the union, using my experience from
the ground level to national. I’ll be helping
the branches get better outcomes with
their campaigns and better positioning the
union going forward.”
On Indigenous affairs: “We have achieved
some really good mutual outcomes by
having a strong relationship with
indigenous communities up the west coast.
And it’s a relationship that can be expanded
nationally. What makes it work is respect.
It’s not just about recruiting the indigenous
workers into a union; it’s about where they
are and what they need. The real goal for us
is to establish a level of trust whereby the
traditional land owners don’t sign off with
government or companies on development
projects unless there’s union labour and we
don’t sign off unless their communities get
education, facilities, real training and real
jobs at the end of it – not training so they
end up with a few hundred gardeners’ jobs
in the community but real jobs, skilled jobs
that will offer ongoing skills to the
community. The development of a social
compact with traditional land owners could
be one of the most successful outcomes that
the union movement offers this generation
of workers.”
On MUA women: “Women are playing a
great role in our union. The WA experience
is that in two of Australia’s biggest tonnage
ports, Karratha and Port Hedland, women
feature strongly throughout the delegate
structure. Identifying and rectifying
women’s issues ultimately benefits all the
membership. Examples of this are
maternity/paternity leave and the
work/family balance. Women have assisted
in developing some great union policy and I
am really looking forward to working with
the committee in the future.”
On safety: “There’s plenty of work to be
done there after the complete undermining
and gutting of the safety authorities under
the Howard Government and the move to
self regulation. Every worker has right to
come home from the job to his or her
family.”
On MUA veterans: “The union is extremely
indebted to the contribution they made
during their working lives. They’ve retired
from the workforce, but not the struggle
and I look forward to working with them
and assisting them where I can.”

Australian maritime workers were the first to impose bans on Dutch ships during the Indonesian struggle for independence (1945-49) So began a long history of solidarity between Indonesian and Australian maritime unions.
This special report examines the union relationship, the plight of maritime workers of our northern neighbour and a call from the newly elected chair of the ITF Asia Pacific region for renewed solidarity action

PORTS OF CONVENIENCE

Adang has worked on the Jakarta docks since 1962.
Nothing much has changed. Ships come and ships go.
When they come he gets paid to do the lashing work. If
they don’t there’s no work and no pay.
“It’s always been the same,” said Adang. “Low wages. Each shift
we get 62,000 Rupiah (US$6.20). If there’s no ship, there’s no
work and no money.
“I’m a day labourer,” he said. “It’s hard. Some weeks, there are
two ships. Some weeks there’s none. There’s no other work.
Those of us with motorbikes use them as taxis to earn enough to
get by. Otherwise we’re unemployed. We get some health cover.
But if we have to get treatment we usually only get a portion
back – about half. I have two wives and seven children.”
“There’s not enough to pay for my kids’ school,” said Muchtar
who’s worked at Tanjung Priok since 1972 when he was 19.
‘There’s not even really enough for food.”
It’s not that there’s no union covering Indonesia’s estimated two
million dockworkers in its 600 ports and nine container
terminals. There’s too many – five at Tanjung Priok terminal
alone. And only two are unions as we know them.
Towering above Adang and Muchtar on the portainer cranes are
workers who earn around Rupiah 5 million (US$500) a month.
Employed by the Hutchinson/government joint ventures TPK
Koja and adjoining Jakarta International Container Terminal,
they are the only ITF affiliated unions and they’re not afraid to
down tools if necessary.
Two years ago ITF Indonesia co-ordinator Hanafi Rustandi took
the microphone at a ceremony to mark May Day (and a
breakdown in contract negotiations). “Down your tools”, he
shouted.
STRIKE EFFECTIVE
“All activities at the port were halted,”
Jakarta Post reported. “Thousands of
workers bowed their heads while ships,
container cranes and trucks switched on
their headlamps and blew their horns.”
“The strike lasted just 10 minutes but it
has been effective,” said Hanafi. “We may
have lost 10 minutes but our employers
and the government suffered billions of
rupiah in losses. Some may call it sabotage
but we have the right to strike and it is
part of our bargaining power.”
POCS CAMPAIGN
After the launch of the ITFs
campaign against “ports of
convenience” (POCs) in 2006,
dockers’ unions focused on achieving
global minimum standards for labour
rights, health and safety worldwide.
MUA National Secretary Paddy
Crumlin, as chair of the ITF dockers
section has led the ITF initiative
with section secretary Frank Leys.
The ITF dockers section
secretariat organised a series of
regional strategy seminars
including Jakarta. National
officers Jim Tannock and Rick
Newlyn attended meetings in Jakarta in
2006 and 2008. The regional seminars
identified five key themes for campaigning
– casualisation, competition, Global
Network Terminal (GNT) operators,
privatisation and trade union rights.
“The Maritime Union really helped start
reforming the Indonesian ports,” said
Hanafi. “The 2006 seminar came a year
after the Jakarta terminal unions formed
and they all attended the seminar. Jim
gave examples of how the MUA
organizes and its struggles. He
inspired the port union delegates
to take a stand against the
company in the collective agreement
negotiations at the Jakarta terminals
that were about to get under way.
As a result the workers were
prepared to take action and got a
good outcome.”
“We went on strike in order to
address our demands,” said TPK
Koja Secretary Irwan Setiabudi.
“We won. The ITF fully support our strike and demands. Solidarity
from other countries came to my union through the ITF. Their
support made us confident to strike. We struck for two hours.
But this May we just threatened to strike and they agreed to our
demands.”
This time the company promised to deliver by the year’s end.
For now they are happy.
Irwan Setiabudi says it’s the solidarity of his members which has
been the key to the union’s success.
That and union training. The union was formed in 1999. They
now earn double. As well as the wage they get a five per cent
share in profit around Christmas – up from three per cent.
That’s five per cent of Rupiah 100 billion.
“Our members will get 25 million Rupiah – $2,500 each – for
Christmas,” he said. “Maybe we could share it with the other
workers.”
POC DATABASE
Rod Pickette, MUA also worked with the ITF in the
development of a POC database, providing information,
statistics and network links that could be applied to dockers
organising and campaigning initiatives all around the world,
contributing financial and other resources.
The ITF hopes the POC database helps affiliates gain a better
understanding of the GNTs that operate terminals. Where an
affiliate is negotiating or having problems with a particular
GNT, the database will indicate what other transport and/or
logistics operations the company is involved in and where. It will
show their global ranking, their global throughput; and in what
ports their terminals operate – all potentially vital information to
back up a trade union campaign.
Indonesia has not been hit hard by the recession and now boasts
a five per cent growth rate according to the Jakarta press. But
Business Indonesia also reports that growth has not translated
into improvement of unemployment and poverty for the vast
majority of workers.
SAME WORK, DIFFERENT MONEY
“Our wages are different. Why must they be different? We do
the same work,” said Tulis, a truck driver at the terminal. “I
understand if there is a bit of difference, but not like this.
US$200 a month is not enough for driving heavy equipment.”
ONE BIG UNION?
“Maybe. As long as it serves the workers,” said Tulis. “Some
unions just look for their own profit and leave us behind.”
John Wood of the ITF is based in Jakarta to work on the Ports
of Convenience campaign. But he is up against an entrenched
system. Even dealing with the ITF affiliate JICTU is complex.
Its last two union leaders have since been recruited into
management.
An estimated two million casual port workers are covered by the
national dockworkers union SBMI and the ITF is working to
modernise the union. Wages are supposed to be based on a share
of the profits but little is distributed.
SBTKBM is the Jakarta union covering Adang and Muchtar.
“We are the cheapest dock workers in the world,” said Secretary
General Yusron Effendi. “We have yet to succeed in improving
the standard of the workers. We must struggle to improve the
status of workers first. But it is hard to strike because there are
four unions, not one.”
“All workers join the union,” he said. “The problem is we have
to struggle to improve our status. I can drive a crane. But I don’t
get the opportunity. The work should be based on skills.”
If the plight of Adang and Muchtar is woeful, that of the wharf
labourers at the traditional port, Sunda Kelapa, takes us back a
century to the Hungry Mile.
See them necking 20 kilo bags of cement along a narrow
wooden plank onto the wooden sailing vessels that ply the coast
and inter-island trade. They tell us they are paid 8,500 Rupiah
(US85 cents) per tonne.
“The government and employers can no longer adopt a cheap
labour policy to attract foreign investors as it has in the past,”
Hanafi told the local press.
“It would be better for the government to eliminate rampant
corruption and red tape in bureaucracy, revise the investment
and tax laws, repair damaged infrastructure and enforce the law
to provide certainty for workers.”

SEE ALSO
HANAFI RUSTANDI, The newly elected chair of the ITF Asia Pacific region calls for Australia to
head a regional workers’ delegation to confront local governments and
demand minimum wages for transport workers.
p35

"The poor live off the refuse of the rich. Our
people are so poor they live like rats, searching
for food wherever they can find it.
Whole communities live on the tips recycling
plastic etc. They search for a living off the vilest
places, the tips, the filthy canals, and the open
sewers.
"We need an MUA delegation here, not just
leaders, but rank and file workers. We will
arrange meetings. We will show them the
wharves. We’ll get the media in. Dock work is the
same whether it is in Indonesia or Australia, but
the wages are not the same.
"Australians can say I get $6,000 a month;
Indonesians get $60 a month. They can shame
the government and make them listen. Why
should there be such a big gap? They have the
same employer. Indonesian seafarers working
the coastal trade are only getting $200 a month.
"Australia helped us get our independence. Our
struggles have always been close. Those fighting
for Indonesian independence were the workers,
Indonesian workers and Australian workers,
maritime workers who banned Dutch arms being
shipped out of Sydney.
"We must help each other and work together. "

FISHING FOR TROUBLE
p36
F or Indonesia’s estimated 2.5 million fishermen there’s not
a lot of choice. You go and get work on a foreign fishing
vessel where you may have to work 24-hour shifts,
endure abuse and lose half your pay to manning agents. Or you
stay close to home, work on traditional fishing vessels that
make up 95 per cent of the industry and find you have no
protection or basic wage, training standards or safety..."
INDONESIA CALLING
New film about the making of the film about Australian wharfies and seafarers fight for Indonesian independence.
p37
CABOTAGE FOR WORKERS and TIMOR GAP WAGE GAP next MWJ

FLICKR Jakarta Docks 09
http://www.flickr.com/photos/muaaustralia/sets/72157622661863825/