Maritime Union of Australia: Workers Journal: : Index

Sep-Oct 2008

Maritime Workers Journal

Journal - September 2004

Maritime diary

Give John Howard the flick

Who would put up with a bloke who tries to sack you every day for nine years, sends heavies with masks and dogs around to your house to kick your door down and throw you on the street, makes everything 10 per cent dearer to eat and drink, then when you�re feeling crook about it makes it harder and more expensive to see a doctor. And if you get on a plane to get away from him, half the crazies in the world want to blow you up...

National politics

Shadow IR Minister Craig Emerson was in the union rooms in September. And what he had to say was music to workers� ears. Craig Emerson announced a Latham Government would do away with the conservative�s most lethal weapon against the union movement � 45 d, e, better known as the secondary boycott legislation.

Port worker and mobile crane driver Barry Pateman is one of three workers in Burnie forced to sign an Australian Workplace Agreement (AWA) in May, 2000.

JOHN SMITH is an Adelaide wharfie at CSX container terminal and former crew member on the once proud Australian flagged ship CSL Yarra. He was one of the 11 Australian seafarers, who barricaded themselves onboard in the battle to prevent Canadian Steamship Company reflagging the vessel in the Bahamas tax haven and bringing it back onto the Australian coastal trade with a foreign crew on wages and conditions below the Australian award.

JI: The main game

The hard struggle against terrorism is a problem that resonates strongly with the Maritime Union�s front-line workers. On the wharves or at sea, MUA members work with a unique, and vital, degree of security awareness.

Childcare Crisis

Sue Douglas is an Adelaide seafarer, who works on Accolade II, is married to brewery sales manager Scott and they have two girls � Kiera, 4 and Mahli, 1.

Consistent with national policy unanimously supported at the 2004 Quadrennial Conference and endorsed by stopwork meetings nationwide, the MUA supports all of the ALP endorsed candidates and sitting members including those in the following in key marginal seats.

Shirley O�Shannessy and husband Stephen will be voting education and job security on October 9. Stephen works on the Melbourne wharves at P&O. Shirley is a teacher at a local primary school.

ALP Shipping Resolution

Given Australia�s coastal freight task, the number of ports around our enormous coastline, the distance to our foreign markets by sea and our historic maritime traditions, Australia is truly a shipping nation.

What does a worried parent do at midnight when the baby is crying and seems to have a fever?

Will John Howard claw his way back into Government?

Labor started ahead in the polls and Latham beat Howard in the Great Debate 67 to 33, according to the �worm,� but in the final three weeks the polls fluctuated as the incumbent PM made a last ditch attempt to claw his way back into power by throwing billions of dollars at the marginals and blaming Labor and the unions for everything from high interest rates to government debt, while calling the Greens a bunch of commies.

Maritime security

Government attempts to make Australia safe from terrorism are contradictory at best and dangerous at worst. Next to serving US interests at the expense of our own (just like they did with pharmaceuticals) the big issue that stands in the way of maritime security is the conservative government policy of de-regulation. Casual labour in our ports and cheap, foreign shipping on our shores is a security risk.

Business plot to curb union power

Big business is plotting to use Australian Workplace Agreements as Trojan Horses to cut union power if Labor wins, The Australian Financial Review reports.

Fraud & corruption in Howard's health system

One of the challenges for Labor in ensuring we can all get to a doctor when we need one � no matter where we live, no matter who we are � will be dealing with those after hours medical practices where massive rip-offs of medicare take place.

Union polling of MUA members in key marginals has found that maritime workers are voting job security, health and education as the top issues this election.

Election Cheats

War games & other election ploys. Mike Mooes' Fahrenheit 9/11 was timed for the US election campaign, but is just as timely for Australian voters

The Uncaring Society

�Whoever gets elected on October 9 has to put the funding in place so there�s somewhere for people to go, to get them out of hospital and free up beds. There�s nowhere for people to go. Nowhere to get people out of hospital. No nursing homes, no health care workers to look after people in their homes, no funding to pay for health care workers." - Patricia Dunn

Waterfront Warfare

Paul Harkin is a veteran of the war on the waterfront, a stevedoring worker at Patrick, East Swanson Dock and a member of the ALP. His wife Cathie is a health worker. They live in the Port of Melbourne with their two children Sarah and Wesley.

Dave Buder was a seafarer on the CSL Yarra fighting for his job in Port Pirie in May, 2000. It is a dispute still being fought out by the union in the courts that struck a chord with the Australian people - everyone from the local mayor and religious leaders, workers at Adelaide Brighton Cement, the ACTU lending the union a hand. Since the Yarra sailed to the Noumea and was renamed the Stadacona, Dave has just been doing relief work on a tug boat in Adelaide�s Port River.

peace campaign

When the world said no to war

Anti war film documents 2003 peace marches

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