What Latham told maritime workers

When Labor leader Mark Latham addressed MUA delegates at conference in April he promised to settle a few old scores for maritime workers --sack Reith, do away with shipping rorts and expose the waterfront conspiracy.

This is an abridged transcript of his speech opening conference at Dockside on April 15:

It's a great honour to stand before you and be reminded of the great heritage of this union.

You get this furphy around when you get the Tories saying they know what they are doing in terms of national security and foreign policy. You've only got to look at the history, the history that this union is a rich part of. Pig Iron Bob had it wrong prior to WWII, the Tories had had it wrong in Vietnam; they had it wrong in Iraq. They've had it wrong consistently throughout Australian history....

The Tories try to demonise the union movement. What is the union movement? It is 1.9 million members (and rising) who are part of collective, community-based organisations trying to do good things for their members. And that's what Australian society should be about.

The union movement is the biggest community group in Australia, and it should be honoured as such. It should be respected as an effective advocate and spokesperson for the people it represents.

One thing about the Howard Government is it's antiworker. People like John Howard and Tony Abbot they just don't get unions. They don't understand the origins and community-based purpose of the labour movement.

Unions are about working together and just as we make our communities stronger by working together and our country stronger though collective ideals and cooperation, we also make our workplaces and our rights stronger by working together as Australians.

It's not good and it's not the Australian way to have massive disparity, massive imbalances of income and assets. It leads to lost opportunities and wasted lives.

Unions play such an important part in strengthening the whole community by making Australia a fairer place.

The MUA is a union with a proud heritage, which always acts in the great working class tradition of solidarity and compassion for others.

You also have a proud tradition of internationalism, something I share. I agree with the MUA that we need to do more to improve the labour rights of working people right across the globe. We don't want a race to the bottom Howard Abbot and Costello style. We want a race to the top in pay and working conditions.

The Howard Government has consistently attacked your union for one reason. He knows that if he can break the MUA he can destroy resistance to the sort of country he is trying to create, an unfair, unjust, unequal place, an unAustralian place where you are made to either sink or swim. A place without the Australian ideal of egalitarianism and a fair go for all.

Looking back on the waterfront dispute it's interesting now to reflect on what's happened to the major participants.

The MUA is here to stay but where's Peter Reith today?

The truth is he has been shamed out of office. We know where he is. He's on a tax payer funded junket in Paris getting $250,000 per year, tax free in a position described as executive director for the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Well he's never reconstructed and developed anything in his life. So I don't know how he got that job. But delegates let me tell you one thing, Labor will abolish his job and his junket, all his taxpayer funded activities in Paris. Someone like Reith, they always talk about private enterprise and opportunity. Well how about we send him out in the private sector and he can get a real job....

The waterfront dispute was the first shameful example of the Howard Government addiction to the old politics of fear and division. And we shouldn't think the conflict and the struggle have ended. My colleague Lindsay Tanner asked to be remembered. Six years on the battle continues and Lindsay wants you to know he'll see it through to the High Court of Australia. To get the information. Expose the truth of what really went on behind the scenes. The Australian people have the right to know.

We're going to start by addressing the widening income and wealth gaps in Australian society. The Senate committee released its long awaited report into poverty in Australia. It detailed how 1.5 million Australians are living in poverty. It's a disgrace for a nation described as prosperous.

The senate report found that one of the reasons for growing poverty is the erosion of workers' rights, especially the trend to casualisation and part time work. I know this is happening with stevedores as well. As a result 3.6 million Australians are now living on less than $400 a week - below the minimum wage.

This has happened because the pendulum in the workplace has swung too far in favour of employers. This is the purpose of Labor to address this the burning issue of the working poor.

We will start by making the workplace fair by giving employees equal rights to employers. We are going to reintroduce the principle of collective bargaining. That will be the core purpose of Labor's IR reforms. We are also going to give workers trapped in casual positions for a long time the chance of permanent jobs, the chance to become employed with regular hours, sick pay and award leave.

We're also going to strengthen the power of the Industrial Relations Commission to force employers to bargain fairly.

Beyond that I gotta say I don't believe in a dog eat dog IR environment. I believe in the basic Australian values of co-operation, collectivism and people working together and helping each other -not thinking you'll only prosper in society at someone else's expense. That's why we are going to abolish the Howard Government's AWAs. They'll be gone under a Labor Government.

We're also going to insist that Australian jobs go to Australian workers. We'll stop Mr Howard using loopholes in the Navigation Act to drive down the wages and conditions of Australian seafarers. We'll close those loopholes so they can't use those loopholes to employ foreign guest workers on Australian shipping.

And I want you to be confident that if your son or daughter has the talent and determination to study and work hard at school that under a Labor Government they'll get the apprenticeships and TAFE qualifications and the opportunities to go on to a university education.

We're also going to restore bulk billing and stop Mr Howard's attempt to turn Medicare into some sort of charity... we don't believe in a safety net, you only need a safety net if you turn the health system into a high wire act and people are at risk of falling off....

You have a long and proud history, a heritage that I much admire. And the union movement of this country has stood with you through thick and thin, stood with you as the Australian people have, because of one core principle. We want to be a more prosperous nation but our prosperity must be shared fairly - a fair share for all and that's what unions stand for, that's what you fight for and we'll do it arm in arm.