Maritime Diary

By By National Secretary Paddy Crumlin

Australians distrust politicians because they are perceived to be two-faced opportunists who change tack on issues according to how much they can personally or collectively extract from the situation. Political parties should strive to meet the needs of the people they purport to represent, as well as offer leadership and vision. The ALP has got a bit of ground to make up to find mass worker support again. But we're putting our two-bobs worth into Labor's national review, so we'll see.

PAY YOUR WAY, HAVE YOUR SAY

Unionism is a much clearer thing to commit time and energy to. It is a co-operative movement of working men and women that secure better futures and greater protection for themselves and their families by willingly joining together, combining resources and energies and discussing and ultimately agreeing on what is the best way forward. That's hard, particularly in a world full of complexities where distortion, dissembling, propaganda and deceit are often used to promote one point of view. Big business and their media are expert at it. So is Howard. Business hates opposition and as Enron, World.Com, Onetel and HIH demonstrate big business is often run by corrupted, cynical and selfish human beings.

Unions are targeted, ridiculed, lambasted and vilified because they are independently motivated and empowered to oppose excess and exploitation, whether political, economic or industrial. The MUA is a national and international icon of this wonderful labour movement. Unionism is not without its problems because human beings in democratic structures will always find differences between themselves; that is to be welcomed, not feared. MUA members are proud, independent and tenacious and have fought for generations for their economic and industrial rights.

Wages, super, compo, the 35 hour week, penalty rates, leave. Every one of them. And we have supported workers in other industries and countries to boot, including struggling for their freedom in places like South Africa, Indonesia, East Timor, Vietnam, Bougainville, Fiji and Chile. Any member who goes to those countries is treated with deep respect and honour because they are MUA. But the membership is sick and tired of those handful of individuals who are refusing to pay their rightful contribution to the sustenance and protection of this wonderful union we have nurtured and built. They are bludgers on their fellow workers and are joining the anti-union rhetoric of big business, even if they don't realise it.

Unionism is voluntary, that's a fact. That's why being in the union is so special. All of the things we have achieved have been done willingly. Those few individuals should forget the Howard/Abbott crap and find their real voice in protecting their livelihoods. There's only one way to do that, pay your way and have your say.

CSL SAGA

Talking about two-faced opportunists, this journal has concentrated on the great struggle by the crew of the CSL Yarra against the Howard government's anti-Australian shipping policies. It's sickening that a government can blow the trumpet of nationalism against the trickle of refugees and then let a Canadian multi-national Flag-of-Convenience operator dance in and out of Australian courts to suit themselves. They go into the courts trying to take homes of the workers who are fighting for their jobs and out of the courts to escape the standards that apply to every other Australian company. But we fought them at every turn. And won.

That's unionism. We are now readying for the next battle. We must find a ship and shipowners for the trade and we must continue to battle the Minister for Transport and Minister for Industrial Relations who want foreign third world standards of labour in this country to help their mates in business. Well, it makes sense; if you can't post a profit by using a bodgie accountant, then go and exploit poverty in another country. They're great Australians, aren't they. The crew of the CSL Yarra thanks all those MUA members who stuck by them, including by paying their levy.

P&O GETS THE MESSAGE

These stevedoring EBAs are a hard slog. We've committed to keeping the membership at P&O informed of every development at every stage of negotiations. I know the workers understand the great cost and time commitment this takes, but that's what makes our union so effective. We remain committed to dealing with casualisation in our industry. That is a long hard go in an industry subject to massive shifts in requirements for labour. So the harder the issue the more complex the solution. The process has been underway for a couple of months and a strong structure has been built among our negotiating team.

Rank and file input and participation has been essential. We've just finished a 3-day grind with over thirty MUA members negotiating across the table from the P&O heavies. It's still early days but some strong signals are emerging that the company has heard the message and understand that a productive, competitive business is built on joining with the workforce to find answers, not chasing them about the joint. That's not surprising though. P&O showed in the 1998 dispute that they had the fortitude to tell Reith and his goons to stay out of their business. We're looking forward to them showing the same wisdom in this latest round.

NEW WORLD ORDER

We're going to declare war on Iraq apparently. That's all we need. I can just see Alexander Downer and John Howard leading the charge, bayonet in hand. They will shed a few tears as they bring Australians back in body bags, that's all. George Bush has started a dozen or so wars since coming into office and pushed hundreds of billions of dollars into star wars' missiles, while children continue to starve to death in their millions. He would have done a bit better concentrating on the crooks and rorters that run the US business. But that might be a bit close to the bone considering his own track record in business. Nothing like a couple of wars to distract the punters. Isn't it great how the new world order has delivered so much peace and harmony for humankind. I better be a bit careful in giving cheek or I might be declared an enemy of the state myself.

The spies already don't seem to think twice about bugging MUA telephone calls as the Tampa debacle showed. But in the words of that ALP politician that's because we're not with the arse lickers.

INTO THE FUTURE

I was pleased to receive an invitation to address the Executive of the AIMPE. The two unions worked very closely on every aspect of the defence of the CSL Yarra. Together with the miners they also jointly sponsored that great advertising campaign in metropolitan and regional newspapers in the last election that exposed Howard's insidious shipping policies. That's the one the levy funded, remember. It's good the two organisations, together with the AMOU, are looking forward again and not backward. All Australian maritime workers can only benefit.