Maritime Union of Australia: Workers Journal: : Index

May-Jun 2008

Journal - April 2002

Cuba

How maritime workers do their bit for the children of Havana

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General

O'Leary resigns

Mick O'Leary, compassionate, intelligent, talented, hard working, determined, dedicated, a good comrade & the first MUA bloke to be made an honourary woman, takes his leave

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MUA: Reshuffle at the Top

MUA: Reshuffle at the top SYDNEY, APRIL 8: National Council appointed Assistant National Secretary Jim Tannock to replace outgoing Deputy National Secretary Mick O�Leary and SA Branch Secretary Rick Newyln as the new assistant national secretary. The new SA branch secretary is Keith Ridgeway, (previously deputy) with Jamie Newlyn the honourary deputy branch secretary. Other new positions are WA Branch Secretary Terry Buck who is now also deputy presiding officer and Victorian Branch Secretary Mick Cottrell, vice presiding officer. All positions were unanimously endorsed by councillors. Jim Tannock was elected from the Melbourne branch to National Office in 1989. Rick Newyln was first elected branch secretary in 1992, after 24 years working in the maritime industry, first as a seafarer and then as a stevedoring worker. Newlyn was first seconded to national office to co-ordinate the election campaign in September last year. He has since co-ordinated the Yarra Shipping campaign.

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Birthday in Havana

Union veteran and aid chief Tas Bull celebrates his 70th in Cuban capital

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Paul Blanch, Westernport waterside worker with wife Terri and sons Jake and Luke: "Juggling the kids and work - that's the hardest. My wife works days, I work shifts. I had to take holidays when my son was in hospital having an operation. It was a struggle. Anyone who does shiftwork knows it buggers up your social life and your family life. In our job you never know a week ahead when you're going to work. Ships can be a day ahead of schedule or two or three days behind. You just don't know what work is going to be there and what's not. And if we have a fair bit on I just don't see the kids for days. Night shifts are the worst. It's trying to get some sleep during the day on weekends. My wife has to try and keep the kids out of the house." Paul, an ex-seafarer and Newcastle wharfie, also asked that this message go out: "Hello to all my old mates in Newcastle and to all my mates who went to Kembla, I pulled the right rein."

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Stressed Out

Shiftwork, stress and sleeplessness are all taking a toll on the health and family life of waterside workers, according to a new study

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Crane Crash

P&O Ports, West Swanson Dock, Melbourne, January 17. Two MUA members were seriously injured - one critically - after two straddles collided on the twilight shift. One man is still off on compensation after suffering serious head, eye, spinal and internal injuries. The other man was trapped in his cabin for 30 minutes while emergency service workers undertook the rescue operation. Ambulance men praised the quick thinking of waterside workers who performed first aid before they arrived. PHOTO: Courtesy NewsPix

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The Rack

Patrick Stevedores stands accused of torturous working conditions & injuring workers

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Fatigue

"We live in a world where commerce is conducted around the clock and by the click of a mouse. A world where goods and services are expected to be available when and where the customer wants. "Human ingenuity has created these expectations. And, for the most part, they are met. But they come at a cost. One of these costs is human fatigue."

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Law of the Jungle

Turning the clock back on civilised working hours is turning the workplace into a concrete jungle threatening health, family, & the community

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Shipmate Vale

VALE COBBER

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Shipping news

Abbott intervenes

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Ship Shape

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history

Bombing of Darwin

On 19 February, 1942 Japanese planes launched the first attack on Australian soil by an enemy force. It was the first of 64 Japanese raids over northern Australia. The official death toll from the raids on that first day was 243 service personnel and civilians and 300-400 people wounded. Eight ships were sunk in the harbour in the first raid. The USS Peary went down stern first, guns blazing, with a loss of 91 lives, along with the vessels Meigs and Mauna Loa, the trader Zealandia, and the tanker British Motorist. Four more ships were later sunk or put out of action. Two were sunk north of Bathurst Island and several others damaged, including the hospital ship Manunda. Twenty four waterside workers and 11 seafarers died during the bombing. Limited edition prints of Bombs over Darwin (above)are available from artist James Baines (Phone or fax 07 965 915). A framed print is being donated to the union by the artist?s uncle retired tally clark Max Cooper-Durant.

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shipping campaign

ACTU resolves to support Australian shipping

ACTU executive passed the following resolution on March 7, 2002.

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FOC Terrorist Threat

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Talking Tactics

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A Tale of Two Ships

The Yarra and the Pacific. Spot the difference. One a ship sailing under the Australian flag with Australian crew about to be flagged out, the other already a flag of convenience employing exploited labour from the Ukraine. Both in dispute. Both related by the once proud, Australian owned, National Line. But the tale of two ships soon becomes a tale of two more as both the sinking asylum seeker hulk and the ANL Progress sail into the picture.

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