Industrial Rounds

By Maritime Union of Australia

Death threats
Straddle Case
P&O EBA

Death threats

A ships captain allegedly assaulted and threatened to kill a crew member on board the flag of convenience vessel Matilda in Port Botany, Sydney in April.

The third mate called the Sydney branch for help, saying he feared for his life and wanted to leave the vessel.

Deputy Branch Secretary Glen Wood boarded the ship and confronted the captain, who denied everything.

"The Captain became very agitated," said Glen, "but finally agreed to have the Third Mate there. Discussions soon became very heated with the Captain claiming the Third Mate was incompetent and the Mate again saying he'd been beaten and threatened."

It was finally agreed the Third Mate would sign off in Sydney and move to a hotel before being flown back to Manila - all at the company's expense.

The union negotiated the payment of his entitlements - $US1600 - before he left the vessel, waiting in the wharfies amenities room for a taxi to his hotel.

Straddle Case

The Patrick straddle case concluded in the NSW Industrial Court on March 3 with Justice Heylin fining the company $115,000 for the five guilty safety charges. The Court ordered half the fine be offered to the MUA and allocated to further OH&S issues within the union. Justice Heylin also awarded legal costs against the company.

Patrick was guilty of unsafe systems of work, failure to provide or maintain plant that was safe and without risk to health and failure to provide information, instruction and training necessary to ensure health and safety at work between October 1998 and April 2000.

"The decision is an important victory for stevedoring workers across the nation and should ensure that occupational health & safety matters are not used as industrial tools ever again," said Sydney Branch Secretary Robert Coombs. "There can be no doubt that Patrick chose to ignore vital OH&S issues in the days after the 1998 dispute and was part of an overall management approach to contemptuously dismissing employee concerns. The decision sends a loud and clear message to ALL employers that OH&S issues can not be used to boot home industrial policies."

The case would be remembered for its long proceedings, 39 days of hearings and 2,221 pages of transcripts spanning nearly two years from July 2000 until April 2004.

"The Branch would especially like to thank Chris Watson, Patrick Port Botany wharfie, who spent hundreds of hours of his own time in legal briefings, giving testimony, and offering general advice," said Robert Coombs. "Chris was ably assisted by Simon Euers, Steve Magnus, Dave Hargraves, Jason Crews and Peter Howlett. Also to Barry Robson who assisted at the commencement of the action. Well done, comrades."

Robert Coombs said that while some members would be a little disappointed with the fine, the case had allowed the union to argue for better rosters and additional breaks for drivers in the Patrick workforce.

"It has also allowed us to establish the Straddle Review Committee which is doing some good work in accessing and implementing new procedures around straddle driving and ancillary activities," he said. "The Company, for all its posturing and manoeuvring, have been found guilty of a criminal charge."

P&O EBA

Enterprise negotiations are back on track after P&O management threatened to take the unions log of claims for the upcoming enterprise agreement to the Workplace Relations Minister in March, claiming waterside workers were unwilling to enter into meaningful discussions.

"After a short and sharp exchange between union and company representatives during which we informed P&O that the union would fully support the right of the membership to make a claim in the bargaining process, the company left the meeting," said National Secretary Paddy Crumlin.

The union convened a national meeting of delegates to discuss the issues. But when invited to open negotiations at the end of the month, the company said they were unavailable and they would not contribute financially in any way to the negotiations.

The company has since returned to the negotiating table.

"It was a major disappointment after both parties had been seeking to develop the company's performance while protecting and improving workers' rights and conditions over the last few years," said MUA National Secretary Paddy Crumlin. P&O would be making a grave mistake to put that relationship at risk."

Negotiations were continuing as MWJ went to press.