Logging On

Paddy Crumlin with Ken Riley, ILA

By Paddy Crumlin National Secretary

The parliamentary inquiry into Australian coastal shipping is set to be handed down at the end of October. It will be a litmus test for the Rudd Government bona fides on delivery of their shipping policy and an important first step in repairing the vandalism of the Howard Government which used the permit system a bit like those torpedos and landmines were used against our merchant shipping and seafarers during the Second World War

The geniuses from the shippers and freight forwarders that were egging them on ended up being on the receiving end of the largest increases in freight rates in international shipping ever seen in modern times, particularly in bulk commodities. Companies like CSR, Boral, Koppers and BHP, to a degree, along with others, ran down their fleets and have been copping the inflationary costs ever since.

Their whingeing and carping about how hard it is to charter or build vessels under the current market conditions gains them no sympathy. They are lying in a bed of their own making having been breathless and unstinting disciples of Coalition government shipping policy. What intellectual and moral giants they were -- Anderson, Truss and Vaile - the three pillars of the temple of the National Party, now all herding sheep and goats in its ruins.

Good riddance I suppose. But the damage bill remains.

Australian ship owners and shippers who actually understand their business now need to rally with unions behind the inquiry recommendations to rebuild a market and commercial environment conducive for reinvestment and revitalisation in Australian shipping. The major responsibility, however, will lie with the Rudd Government.

Licensed vessels, masquerading as Australian, have to be shown the door. Permit vessels must pay the going labour rate as determined in the High Court through our successful application, a decision disgracefully aborted by the WorkChoices legislation.

A comprehensive review of international shipping is urgently overdue. Recommendations should materialise from the inquiry addressing the heavy burden of taxation that makes Australian internationally flagged vessels placed at a massive disadvantage to every other flag in the world.

The union's national executive officer Rod Pickette is currently visiting the UK and Sweden, comprehensively reviewing their models of international shipping that have seen both countries maintain their flag in those trades. The union's review will be an additional contribution to the process of reform and will identify possible weaknesses and strengths in both flag arrangements that will, in turn, help Australia identify opportunities.

However the coastal shipping issue needs urgent addressing before more Australian vessels disappear over the horizon under the handicap of their age brought about by policy and commercial neglect. Rust never sleeps. It's true for ships and it's just as true for industry policy. So the water blaster needs to be brought out, the rust blown away and a decent coating put on cabotage and its regulations. If not we'll turn the water blaster and direct it at a different end, so to speak.

CARBON TRADING

The MUA is proud of our progressive policies and active campaigns.

We are mean, occasionally lean, mostly keen, but solidly green. We were part of a coalition that for decades strongly opposed the export of yellow cake because of our environmental and peaceful principles. We strongly opposed the dumping of effluent and other pollutants at sea long before the turtles were washing up on the beaches strangled by plastic. We have furiously opposed the degradation of international shipping by Flag of Convenience operators responsible for some of the worst contamination of our global marine environment ever seen. We have been forthright advocates of where and how hydrocarbon drilling and production takes place and equally determined to preserve maritime and coastal heritage areas.

We have worked hard as a union to reconcile environmental awareness and responsibility with industrial and commercial development in the national interest and are widely respected for our leadership in that area.

The carbon trading scheme and support for the Kyoto Protocol has been one of the union's critical policy commitments for many years.

And we have sponsored many activities and forums to address the debate and raise awareness that it is only with a clean and sustainable environment that the bubble of our life can be sustained.

The environmental debate however has the tendency to polarise around subjective and often self serving arguments and the recent speculation on carbon trading and the Rudd Government 2010 timetable is no different. The issue is more tangled than a neglected rope locker and about as well understood by many in the community as an Indian speaking Gaellic.

The union entered the debate publicly in the last couple of weeks.

LNG was the industry we focussed on. Long acknowledged as a clean transitionary energy source, it is internationally recognised as being part of an accelerated solution to carbon emissions. The use of LNG in the domestic economy or in the economies of developing nations with whom we trade, such as China, results in replacement of higher carbon emitting energy sources, and so helps lower emissions at home and aboard.

The union has also cautioned against how a carbon-trading scheme in LNG is progressed given it could potentially critically damage infrastructure development and, subsequently, jobs. Carbon credits will feature as part of the introduction of the trading scheme to ensure the long-term viability of Australian industry and jobs. The MUA believes LNG is one of those industries that should qualify for the scheme.

Woodside Petroleum, for example, is making a massive investment in Pluto on the NW Shelf. It is an Australian company battling and occasionally fending off takeovers from multinationals. They have translated their commitment to the LNG industry in Australia to long-term maritime and seafaring jobs and are currently discussing further job opportunities with the union, including in international shipping. While we may not agree with everything that Woodside has done, management have generally worked inside a decent framework of industrial relations and consultation.

Other LNG companies however have not applied themselves with the same decency and deliberation. They have drilled into the seabed, claimed the enormous resources and have set in place long term plans for construction and production that does not include a comprehensive development of complementary Australian industries, particularly shipping. Name them and shame them. Gorgan is a prime example. Conoco Phillips in Darwin is another. They have gone out of their way to ignore or dismiss their responsibilities in this industry to comprehensive infrastructure development. Shipping LNG is no different than moving it by pipeline. It is an essential part of the long-term essential infrastructure of its export. In the case of Conoco Phillips they have refused to meet with the Timor Leste maritime union despite consistent advocacy by the MUA, the ACTU and many international labour forums. Our advocacy for a balanced approach to the introduction of carbon trading in the LNG industry has been partly influenced by good government practice and infrastructure development. Woodside so far has shown leadership alongside other participants in the NW Shelf project. Many other LNG operators are treating the industry like a bank in the Bahamas and have little creditability in securing the same level of support. The delivery of sustainable investment through the judicious and targeted application of carbon credits and other mechanisms should be linked to broader social and sustainable outcomes in the national interest. Those LNG companies screaming their guts out about the impact on their businesses that have been burrowing into the industry like ticks need to rethink their position.

A CRACKER of a CONFERENCE

The MUA conference of delegates was a cracker. Good debate. Plenty of it resulting in real policies and committed actions along with great contributions from many of our national and international friends.

The dogs bark but the MUA caravan just keeps moving on. We're working hard with the AWU in the hydrocarbons and NQld dive tourism industries to provide solid support for sustainable job security and protection through decent collective agreements. The Transport Workers' Union, Rail Train and Bus Union and ourselves are continuing to push a solid practical agenda for national transport policy for all workers in the industry. The three maritime unions are working more closely together than ever to secure decent maritime policy under the Rudd Government. The union has kicked off a dynamic training initiative that will see us becoming a registered training organisation and training provider and we've been whacking away at one stevedoring code of practice in OH&S as well as a single national maritime standard for commercial vessels.

The ILWU under the leadership of our terrific mate Big Bob

McEllrath, the man in our coat not on it, has finalised an

agreement in principle for its' coast wide contract and is seeking endorsement from their West Coast locals before it goes to the vote of the members. Big difference from the last time when they were locked out of their workplaces, and Bob rang and thanked us for our rock solid support throughout the whole negotiation. The ITF ports of convenience campaigns are being ratcheted up to new levels of effectiveness and concrete outcomes and support for dockers and seafarers here and around the world. Our women, youth and rank and file, media organisation and campaigning are consolidating their work agendas along with the grinding work of renewing our enterprise agreements in key industries particularly stevedoring and offshore.

Next year's new IR legislation will provide further opportunities for us to progress both workers' rights and decent conditions under collective agreements in all industries that are or should be covered by our union. Along with the CFMEU and other construction unions we are mobilising for the early dismantling of the ABCC and its fascist like application against building workers. The Destiny Queen has buggered off after our four-year campaign against its institutionalised slavery in South Australian waters and the Alltrans will be replaced, with other ships planned. We're going nearly as well as our women athletes at the Beijing Olympics (the blokes need to lift their game a bit, don't they sisters!). Our National Delegates' Conference set the play and were all working hard to bring home the medals. Trade union policy and strategy isn't about setting and forgetting it's about making and taking. That's what the MUA does best.

FELLOW TRAVELLERS

There's a great article on the Charleston 5 and its hero, Kenny Riley (left) from the International Longshore Association in this journal. The Charleston dispute was an important victory for the worlds' dockworkers, so important it inspired a book: On the Global Waterfront: The Fight to Free the Charleston 5 which was launched in the US this year, with Kenny here for the Australian launch at Conference with John Baker. Kenny Riley is a tremendous bloke, principled, courageous and progressive. We work closely with Ken and the whole ILA team, now led by Ritchie Hughes. Charleston was important in gaining recognition of our determination to have a fair go in the dockworkers industry. The book is in your branch. Buy a copy, read it and pass it around.