Timor Revisited

Mick Killick with conference delegates

When National organiser Mick Killick, was in Dili in February for the Timorese council of unions (KSTL) national conference he was warned Australians were not very popular in Timor Leste.

"There's a lot of dramas going on there and anti-Australian feelings," he said. "The guys were concerned about our safety the whole time we were there. But we didn't feel in danger because the unions are well respected in the community and they looked after us. We were always accompanied."

Mick said the government was in lockdown with all government offices shut. No representative from the Department of Labour showed up.

"The streets are pretty dangerous with all the goings on over there," said Mick. "And of a night time everyone locks themselves in. But the workers still came. It was a credit to all those who attended given the situation. There were UN police and Australian soldiers on the roads. It was worse than Fort Knox."

Mick was back in Timor as the MUA/ITF representative for the conference. In 2003 he spent a year there, starting off roughing it in a container, to help set up a Timorese Maritime and Transport Workers' Union. In those days Australians were welcome everywhere.

A year back, in January 2006, when the first Conoco Phillips shipments of Timor gas to Japan began out of Darwin's Wickham point LNG facility Timorese workers called on Australian comrades to protest against US based multinational for excluding Timorese workers from the multi-billion dollar export of their resources.

But to this day the company refuses to negotiate with the unions and not one Timorese or Australian seafarer crews the vessel. Nor has any Timorese been trained or employed on the project estimated to be worth US$50 billion.

Paulino da Costa National Secretary, Maritime and Transport Workers Union of East Timor and Zitu da Costa, President, Trade Union Confederation, the peak union council called on Australian maritime workers and others to support the Timorese.

"Unemployment in Timor is very high, with around half of the workforce underemployed. We need this project to create jobs, training, skills and prosperity for our people," they wrote.

In the past the MUA brought pressure to bear on Australian vessel operators to put young Timorese workers on Australian ships. These workers, though few in number, now have long-term job opportunities. But the LNG multinationals have refused to meet with the unions this project opting for cheap free on board (FOB) shipments with no Australian or Timorese worker involvement.

Timorese maritime workers were there among the 100 participants from 10 unions at the February conference where Mick Killick did a presentation on the ITF offshore task force and the continuing push by the MUA and the ITF to have the big oil and gas companies train up Timorese seafarers for the ships and rigs.

Other international guests included Mark David from the ITF and UnionsNT.

Meanwhile Assistant National Secretary and Deputy Chair of the Offshore Taskforce Group of unions in the ITF (OTFG) Mick Doleman reports the MUA sponsored a resolution for the ITF and its affiliates at its annual co-ordinating meeting in Singapore last year to give assistance to the Timorese unions KSTL through donations from European government and non-government entities, trade unions and other donor organisations. This includes development of a building, which will be the headquarters for the whole of the trade union movement.