Ship Shape

By Maritime Union of Australia

Japan visit

Japanese Seamen's Union officials met with the MUA National Secretary Paddy Crumlin over the Northwest Shelf LNG shipping fleet in Tokyo in February.

The Japanese report they now have very little participation in the nine vessel fleet due to economic and competitive pressures. Nevertheless due to the important and longstanding relationship between the MUA and the JSU, they agreed to continue to support Australian participation.

Northwest Shelf shipping no longer controls all the LNG fleet as third party operators carry cargo as freight-on-board. Sale of the gas contracts is done on the basis that the buyer supplies the shipping.

Countries are now building LNG vessels, creating an over-supply of available tonnage which will in turn force down overall freight rates.

"It goes without saying that the Australian flagged and crewed LNG fleet is in a precarious position," the National Secretary said. "The Howard government took a high profile in the recent negotiation of the sale of the LNG contract to China from the Northwest Shelf project. Terms of sale require the buyer, not the seller to provide the shipping. This is clearly an ongoing part of the Federal Government's determination to eliminate Australia's merchant shipping.

"All members in the trade understand the importance of keeping the fleet efficient," he said. "Maintaining an Australian merchant shipping fleet is also an important defence in protecting shore based industrial rights, particularly with the trend of foreign seafarers doing more and more stevedoring and port work such as lashing and tie-ups."

The National Secretary is currently one of the leaders of the International Bargaining Forum which will negotiate a worldwide collective agreement for a minimum of 5,000 flag of convenience vessels. Some of the companies include Shell, BP and Mitsui which are also shareholders in the Northwest Shelf project.

"We have informed the negotiating team that MUA support was dependent on an outcome that defended Australian seafarers' right to work in certain key international trades and also protected Australian dockworkers from international seafarers doing their work," he said. "These issues form a central part of the ITF log of claims."

Negotiations are set down for this year.

ITF Dockers

The National Secretary is developing an international militant campaign with the Secretariat of the Dockers Section of the ITF against ports of convenience in Europe.

Paddy Crumlin chaired the meeting in London in February after being appointed the First Vice Chairman of the Dockers Section.

The meeting condemned attacks on dockers including the murder of a US organiser in El Salvador and the use foreign guest workers housed in containers on the NZ waterfront for stevedoring work.

The ITF believes that the ports of convenience campaign needs to be closely linked to the flag of convenience campaign. Ports and terminals around the world are increasingly owned or influenced by big multi-national shipping corporations. These include APL which is owned by AP Moeller that also owns the shipping company Maersk.

Linking shipping, port, port related and mining and manufacturing industry unions in campaigns to protect workers' rights will be one of the big issues dealt with at the upcoming Fair Practices Committee meeting of the ITF in April and the Mining & Maritime Conference in Los Angeles in May.

International Solidarity

The Maritime Union will join an international delegation to investigate the brutal murder of a union organiser in El Salvador last November.

US Teamsters organiser Gilberto Soto was gunned down outside his mother's home in the backlots of San Salvador while on union business. Gilberto was on a mission to organise the exploited drivers who truck containers to the wharves for stevedoring companies, notably the giant Maersk Corp.

The MUA has accepted an invitation from the Teamsters' Union for the MUA to help investigate the assassination. One of the prime suspects is the Maersk owned company that hired the drivers and has been aggressively resisting attempts to organise them - Bridge International Transport.

Meanwhile, in New Zealand MUNZ has uncovered overseas guest workers living on the Lyttelton waterfront in converted containers. The five Lithuanian riggers were flown in from Germany to work on the Forum Rarotonga II while she is in dry dock.

Once sprung, the company bypassed immigration by shifting the container lodgings onto the foreign flag ship.

PNG delegation

Assistant National Secretary Mick Doleman has represented the MUA on an ACTU delegation to PNG. Twelve unions including Transport, Public Sector, Timber Workers, Nurses, Teachers, Police and a representative from the Australian Labor Party joined the ACTU.

Comrade Doleman reports the country is under enormous pressure with the political and economic environment bordering on collapse.

The visit included the opportunity to meet with our kindred union (the Maritime & Transport Union of PNG) and its General Secretary Reg McAllister and the Executive of the union. There were also opportunities to visit the port, meet the members and hold high level discussions with the PNG Trade Union Congress.

Both maritime unions renewed their long ties. Special thanks were conveyed to MUA National Industrial Officer Bill Giddins for the help he provided last year in developing an enterprise agreement at the port.

Mick Doleman is now drawing up a plan of assistance and mutual co-operation to go to the National Council for discussion and endorsement in May.

Patrick Shipping

The Union has been in difficult negotiations with Patrick Shipping, firstly over the introduction of technology that saw the vessel mooring without labour and secondly over the enterprise agreement and the company's desire to remove the chief caterer.

Mick Doleman reports that Patrick is now insistent that any industrial action could result in them shutting down the operation.

The Assistant National Secretary and Victorian Assistant Branch Secretary Dave Cushion again met with the company in February and are now awaiting their response.

ALSOC Conference

ALSOC called two conferences in February to discuss major organisational changes that they deem necessary to stay viable in the Australian fleet. The meeting included workers the company deemed were in leadership or influential positions onboard the ships as well as in the Union.

The seven key areas the company raised are: reductions in catering and IR crew to offset the increased use of riding gangs; transfers within the ALSOC fleet; a new compensation/safety awareness program; skills enhancement training programs; productivity and time keeping, better shipboard management and Riding Gangs to enhance fabric maintenance.

A full report will be emailed to the vessels.

Guest Workers

The stand-off between the Destiny Group and the Union continues with the company bringing the Destiny Queen back to farm abalone using foreign guestworkers off the SA coast, instead of MUA members.

Assistant National Secretary Rick Newlyn reports the SA transport minister is now seeking a crewing committee and a classification society surveyor to board the vessel and check hull machinery and crew qualifications.

The legality of the Destiny operation in SA waters is in question.

Meanwhile, ACTU President Sharan Burrow, and SA Unions Secretary Janet Giles are seeking legislative changes to prevent the Destiny Group and others exploiting an anomaly in state legislation which allows a foreign vessel with a foreign crew to be permanently anchored in SA waters, operating as a SA company in the aqua culture industry.

The MUA will continue its fight to secure Australian seafarers their right to work in enterprises like this on the Australian coast.

Trans-Tasman Toll

The Maritime Union of New Zealand is hosting a Toll Shipping Trans-Tasman meeting in March to further cement the working relationship between ourselves and the Kiwis.

Two MUA rank and file members from the Toll fleet (1 from Melbourne and 1 from Tasmania) are attending the Wellington meeting along with Tasmanian Secretary, Mick Wickham and Comrade Rick Newlyn, Assistant National Secretary. This will be another opportunity for MUNZ and the MUA to demonstrate their ability to work together to clear the common industrial hurdles we both face, in particular with Toll.

Iron Carpentaria

BHP/Billiton and Teekay have reneged on their promise to replace the Iron Carpentaria, but have come good on their commitment to replace the Iron Kembla.

BHP Billiton posted record profits in February - something that did not go unnoticed at national office. In light of the company's strong financial position, the union is mounting a campaign with the South Coast Trades & Labor Council and the AWU members at Bluescope to lobby for the company to commit to Australian shipping and replace the Carpentaria.

Meanwhile Southern and Northern New South Wales Secretaries, Mark Armstrong and Jim Boyle along with Lennie Covell inspected the new vessel Lowlands Prosperity in Newcastle in February. BHP/Billiton Transport will charter the vessel for Bluescope to replace the Iron Kembla.

NYK Prestige

ITF is targetting the NYK Prestige as part of its flag of convenience campaign in solidarity with our Japanese and German affiliates, National Coordinator Dean Summers reports.

A public rally was held outside the NYK office in Collins Street to mark the arrival of the Prestige in Melbourne on February 23.

"While NYK are the charterers, the real rogues are notorious German owners, Leonhardt & Blumberg, who refuse to recognise the ITF and will not sign any of their ships up to internationally recognised minimum standards," said ITF Australia Co-ordinator Dean Summers.

CEO Mr Leonhardt claims Australian unions are decimated and that any shipowner with vessels in the region need not agree to ITF terms because the unions are powerless to support international seafarers.

Leonhardt & Blumberg own a number of other vessels trading with Australia including the Direct Kestrel, Condor and Jabiru. None have ITF agreements and our campaign will now include these regular visitors.

The ITF continues to receive complaints by seafarers working on these ships althought they have been threatened not to contact us.

Protests against the Prestige in Australia are in concert with rallies already held through the streets of Yokohama, Osaka and Nagoya. In Germany the ITF is going through political channels to convince Leonhardt and Blumberg to agree to internationally recognised minimum standards for seafarers.

The NYK Prestige was sailing from Melbourne to Sydney, Brisbane and then to Yokohama where the affiliates will continue the action.

Mapping Project

The Freight Unions Mapping project aims to research and identify common employers across road, rail and maritime for future joint union campaigns.

Newcastle University is doing the research and Toll Holdings is to be the first research case.

A profile is to be completed by early May in time for a paper to be presented at the Maritime & Mining Conference in LA.

The unions involved are the MUA, the Transport Workers' Union and the Rail, Train and Bus Union.

Aquaculture Dispute

WHYALLA: MUA members employed at South Australian Aquaculture management met with Acting South Australian Branch Secretary Jake Field in February to get a report on the EBA.

Problems on the job include the lack of a pertinent award and a hostile employer. Port delegates and branch officials are experiencing a right of entry problem because the company refuses to recognise the union. It's reported the company has said any other union is okay, just not the MUA.

The branch contacted the aquaculture workers in line with the National Conference initiative of broadening MUA coverage into non-traditional areas. Port delegate and Adsteam tug IR, Danny Wakeling, successfully got the majority of the workforce on board in the past year. But the company fought back offering wage increases and better conditions if our members agreed to sign AWAs.

To the credit of the employees the majority refused. They are working under archaic and quite often dangerous conditions. But these workers are committed to collectively bargaining as MUA members.

National Industrial Officer Bill Giddins is currently in the extensive process of drawing up a bargaining notice.