Shipshape

LNG Shipping, Fair Practice, Seafarers' Bill of Rights, Offshore Conference, Bayu Undan, Security Dispute, Stolt Super, CSR Eba

LNG Shipping

The LNG North West Shelf project is expanding and the union is negotiating to ensure that Australian seafarers get the jobs that go with it.

National Secretary Paddy Crumlin and Assistant National Secretary Rick Newlyn led a union meeting with representatives of Northwest Shelf Shipping, ALSOC and the Arbitrator to the project Michael Keogh in July.

Chinese National Offshore Oil Company has acquired an interest in the reserves of the Northwest Shelf project. But the shipping contract was awarded freight-on-board, bypassing the Northwest Shelf Company fleet.

Ships exporting cargo will be 40 per cent owned by Cosco Shipping, 40 per cent owned by Northwest Shelf Shipping Company and 20 per cent owned by the Chinese.

Northwest Shelf Shipping are not supporting Australian crew due to lost time injuries and maintenance costs on their LNG vessels.

The union blamed poor management stressing the maritime union commitment to best performance. We also asked why this poor performance had not been reported to the crew.

The National Secretary was particularly critical of the failure of that consultative process in recent years which he presumed was attributable to the changed industrial environment under the current Federal Government. He cautioned against disrupting a long term relationship for short term gain.

There was no agreement with the unions to extend the Continuity of Operations Agreement to the new Chinese contract.

The company representatives said they were committed to the four existing vessels. But the union said this was not enough. Following the introduction of the ninth vessel under a foreign flag, the MUA expected the 10th vessel to be Australian flagged and crewed.

Meanwhile the National Secretary has met with the Chinese Seamen's Union requesting a meeting with them and the company.

The union has also called for an ACTU delegation to China so that these issues and other matters in relation to Australia's huge export of raw materials to this country can be discussed and understandings entered into.

China has been recently given membership of the World Trade Organisation and the Howard Government has negotiated a bi-lateral agreement which allows them to export manufactured and other goods at the expense of Australian industry, free of any application of our anti-dumping laws.

The Government was also closely involved in the negotiation of the Chinese LNG contract. Members should be in no doubt that the changes to the shipping arrangement were facilitated by that involvement.

The union also called on the International Transport Workers' Federation at the July Fair Practices Committee to accelerate talks with the Chinese unions and industry.

The National Secretary is on a China taskforce set up to deal with these issues including the use of some Chinese seafarers by labour supply companies in the FoC fleet.

Fair Practice

A union delegation attended the International Transport Workers' Federation Fair Practices committee meeting in Singapore in July.

The committee, which is made up equally of both stevedoring and shipping union representatives, aims to fight Flag of Convenience shipping, especially the campaign against exploitation of seafarers on FoC ships.

In attendance were National Secretary Paddy Crumlin, Assistant National Secretary Rick Newlyn, SQ Assistant Branch Secretary Dave Perry and ITF Co-ordinator Dean Summers.

During the week the MUA delegation also attended the Dockers & Seafarers Section meeting and the National Secretary sat at the Welfare Trust meeting which allocates funding to seafarer support groups from monies collected from ship owners as part of the flag of convenience campaign.

At the Dockers meeting it was determined that the ITF puts in place a Ports of Convenience campaign to complement the FoC campaign. This would target union busting companies and fight privatisation.

The largest global terminal networks are Hutchison Port Holdings which handled 41.5 million TEUs last year throughout Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe and the Americas, followed by APM Terminals (Maersk) that move more than 22 million TEU and P & O Ports which move 12.8 million TEU.

The Hutchison terminal in Hong Kong is the largest in the world and has no unionised labour.

Many of these companies were actively involved in the ILWU lockout two years ago.

The FPC also discussed China and the abuse of cargo handling by seafarers doing dockers' work. This has particular relevance to Australia with the MUA receiving another bill from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission for $111,000 -- part of their legal costs in the action taken against the Union over our campaign to protect our traditional rights of tank cleaning in Australian ports and waters.

Bill of Rights

The Fair Practices Commission further considered the importance of finalising the Seafarers' Bill of Rights which will enshrine fundamental labour conditions and standards in a single enforceable Convention worldwide.

Previously, the Maritime Conventions while ratified widely, were not enforceable other than by the flag state such as Liberia or Panama.

The new Bill of Rights would make these labour standards, including the minimum wage for an AB, enforceable within the port where the ship was berthed by the relevant national authority.

There is a further preparatory conference to finalise the Bill in September. Australia is one of the only governments from any shipping country that has consistently not attended International Labour Organisation meetings since Howard came to power in 1995.

It is completely out of step with the administrations of all other governments which have identified poor labour conditions and regulation as complementary to the rise in terrorism and the security risk within the industry.

The ILO is a tripartite body that debates and formulates conventions which once ratified, must be legislated by the governments that have ratified them.

Offshore Conference

Assistant National Secretary Mick Doleman, in discussion with the National Secretary Paddy Crumlin and the Victoria and WA Branches, is preparing for a national offshore conference to be held December 2004.

The current Offshore agreement expires mid 2005.

Up for discussion are:

• Review of offshore issues over the previous three years

• a log of claims for the 2005 enterprise agreement

• Electing negotiators to attend the EA discussions

Conference will be held in Fremantle from November 29 through to December 3. Nominations to attend as a delegate opened in July and will close on September 10.

Nominations should be signed by the financial member and the nominee. Issues for the EA and nominations should be forwarded by mail, email or fax as follows:

Stephanie Szegda, Maritime Union of Australia, 365 Sussex Street, Sydney, NSW 2000. Fax: (02) 9261 3481; email: SSzegda@mua.org.au

As in the past, to ensure the broadest possible representation, the conference delegates will be drawn from the East (South Australia, Tasmania and all eastern seaboard States) and the West, in equal numbers.

Guests from the ITF Offshore Taskforce, Maritime Union of New Zealand and the Australian Workers Union will also attend.

The Union is seeking donations from vessels for the conference to be a success.

Bayu Undan

This project is set to commence, with union inspections of vessels mostly complete. All vessels to date are of high standard except for the Ocean Hercules. The Australian Maritime Safety Authority found this vessel had serious double-bottom deficiencies and must undergo repairs.

Meanwhile Assistant National Secretary Doleman and WA Branch Secretary Chris Cain met with Australian Mines & Metals, Tidewater, Pacific Manning and Swires. The union rejected company proposals to crew change the anchor handlers by helicopter via the Semac barge and the pipe haul vessels via launch from the pipe ships. Agreement has been reached for the normal crew changes in port.

The MUA also rejected company crewing proposals for the pipe supply vessels of six IRs and two trainees, calling for eight IRs.

Security Dispute

Introduction of the ISPS Code for ports and ships led to a dispute on the Iron Monarch in Port Kembla over crew access.

The port security plan did not allow for regular access swipe cards as given to contractors and stevedores.

The dispute ended up in the Commission in July. It is the view of the Union that Bluescope have taken an unrealistic approach in their security plan and its implementation which clearly disadvantages crew members and family friends from what was an acceptable process of entry and exit to a cumbersome, time-consuming approach.

Stolt Super

The company will now pay 11.5 per cent on company salary for each member of the MUA on board this vessel, backdated to January, Assistant Sydney Branch Secretary Warren Smith reports. But a loophole in the current EBA has prevented this being achieved for the life of the agreement.

The company had been paying 9 per cent of salary for Chief IRs, caterers and cooks and 11.5 per cent of the SRF benchmark salary for IRs. The Branch is now firmly of the view that superannuation contributions will be a big issue in the forthcoming Stolt EBA.

"We will be pushing for higher contributions to make up for the period of time that the company has been discounting their rightful obligations agreed to under the last EBA," said Smith.

Other key issues the union will be fighting during the negotiations are compulsory uniforms and slashing of the catering budget with an aim toward moving the Stolt Australia more in line with their 130 Flag of Convenience vessels.

CSR EBA

A 13 per cent wage rise over three years is one of the major gains in the CSR Shipping EBA to go to a vote of members. Other notable gains are the dry-dock agreement which allows for union delegate involvement, new computers for the MUA members on each vessel and the provision of internet/email access where possible.