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Maritime Workers Journal
Sep-Oct 2008
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Maritime Workers Journal

Journal - September 2001

Enterprise agreements

    Patrick EBA Up
    A majority of members & a majority of workplaces endorse the new Patrick enterprise agreement, with concerns raised at stopwork meetings now addressed by management Mermaid Sound
    A new enterprise agreement has been finalised with Riverwisj labour supply contractor Waldon & Associates which includes a provision for a workplace representative for job interviews - Sean Regan. Teekay
    The maritime unions have rejected an EBA drafted by the company and are organising a strategy meeting. They will then hold a rank & file delegates meeting to develop a negotiating structure. The EBA does not expire until September.

Events

    Celebrity Surf
    Surfing legend Wayne Deane, state Minister for Sport and Recreation Alan Carpenter, Greenpeace organiser James Courtney, Surfing Australia and MUA officials, members, surfers and a crowd of 5,000 came together under the banner safer ships cleaner seas at the Whalebone Classic Surfing Contest in Cottesloe, Perth, WA on Saturday, July 14, Surf Champs back MUA/ITF Safe Ships Clean Waters campaign
    A ship being sucked under a raging, turbulent, swirling sea of oil. The grim image of an oily, blackened surfer emerging from the waves. This was the Dantesque spectre confronting around one million Australians watching the news on Saturday, July 14. Maritime Day
    This year the ITF is co-ordinating World Maritime Day globally. Union Excellence
    Union pride will take centre stage on a new night of celebration to mark the achievements of the unsung champions of working people at the inaugural Union Awards Night to be held in Melbourne during ACTU Executive on November 27. Offshore Confab
    THE Union will be holding an offshore delegates' conference at the branch rooms in Fremantle, October 1-5.

Federal election

    Mua Election Campaign
    The MUA is dove-tailing its shipping and environment campaign in with the upcoming federal election. Labor Makes a Difference
    Anyone who still believes the upcoming election is just a choice between tweedle dum and tweedle dee, need only look at the state of WA. Reith Aground
    It was an irony that did not escape maritime workers. The day Peter Reith announced he was retiring from politics a foreign flagged vessel grounded in mud in Port Phillip Bay, Rye- the erstwhile ministers electorate of Flinders.. How John Howard Plans To Stop You Voting
    Up to 150,000 people could be prevented from voting at this year's Federal Election unless they enrol early with the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC).

General

Industrial issues

    Cinderella
    It is a modern day fairy tale - a Cinderella from the suburbs. Worked like a slave from morning to night - injured & then abandoned. ACCC Court Action
    THE trial against the Maritime Union and three officers over alleged breaches to the Trades Practices Act is scheduled to commence in the Federal Court of Australia in mid October. Cruise Controversy
    "They take these jobs thinking they'll have time off to sunbake by the pool. But they're lucky to see daylight."

Industry news

    Bass Strait Pipeline
    The Bass Strait pipeline project, due to commence in November 2001 has been awarded to Dutch company Allseas. Byuan Dan
    The union has been holding discussions with employers about tenders for the Byuan Dan pipeline due to commence in 2002. It will be a large project bringing gas into Darwin for export.

International Issues

    Charlerston 5
    Some 7,000 unionists and activists converged on Columbia, South Carolina on June 9, demanding that the state drop criminal charges against the Charleston 5 longshore workers and that the scab stevedoring company WSI drop its civil suit for $1.5 million against the union and 27 members.

Mailbag

    Intense & Frustrating
    I would like to take this opportunity to thank both the union and rank and file members for allowing me to take part in the historic Patrick EBA negotiations. Kirki 10th Anniversary
    The Greek registered tanker Kirki broke up off Cervante on the western coast on July 21, 1991. To mark the the 10th anniversary, WA activists committee, the ITF and the branch developed three major events designed to promote awareness of the dangers of FOC shipping on the Australian coast and the consequences of another shipping disaster. Working Together
    The alliance between the MUA, Greenpeace and other environmental groups campaigning for cleaner and safer seas was once thought impossible. The old guard of Greenpeace was reluctant to work with unions, although both organisations were fighting a common cause. It is great to see the MUA and Green groups lining up and uniting in the fight for the environment. From Louisiana to Havana
    It was a journey that took us both sides of the fence - Joe Deakin from Central NSW Branch, Ted Jackson from WA Branch and I covered Los Angeles/Houston/New Orleans Houma and Havana, all in the space of three weeks. Proud Day
    The July Stopwork Meeting was a proud day for me. It was the day I received my life membership. Most of the best people that I have known and the best friends that I have made, have all been or still are MUA members. White Fellow
    When I was born I was black; when I grew up I was black; when I get sick I am black; when I get scared I am black; when I choke I am black; when I get embarrassed I am black and when I die I am still black. But you white fellows - when you were born you were pink; when you grew up you were white; when you get sick you are green; when you get scared you are yellow; when you choke you are blue; when you are embarrassed you are red; when you die you are purple. And you have the hide to call me coloured Great Reading
    Great reading and learning on BHP (Maritime Workers Journal May/June 2001). The people highlighted - Greg Combet (ACTU), John Maitland (CFMEU), Martin Kingham (CFMEU), Doug Cameron (AMWU), John Coombs (MUA), Paddy Crumlin (MUA) and Tony Maher (CFMEU) look in advance to the collective future of Australia and the labour movement. I have had the pleasure to work with them in the Weipa (individual contract dispute). To the Rescue
    My wife and I were guests on the yacht Rasa sailing from Darwin to the Kimberly Coast when it suffered a major steering failure 80 miles from the West Australian coast during adverse weather conditions. The owner of the vessel put out a Pan-Pan call after my wife began violently ill due to motion sickness. I was also suffering from a severe imbalance problem. Maralinga Protest
    Now that the controversy around atomic weapons testing at Maralinga and the Monte Bello Islands has been raised again, I feel I should record the role past members played in protesting these events. Charleston 5
    Dear Comrades, MUA members on board the Australian manned LNG carrier Northwest Snipe, are fully aware of the situation that your union and five wharfies face in your efforts to defend yourselves against union busting, discrimination of delegates and political grandstanding from people seeking a higher office off the back of the working class.

Member services

    Fitzie's Cafe
    It was the late Charlie Fitzgibbon, who led the successful campaign for industry superannuation in the sixties when he was General Secretary of the Waterside Workers' Federation. Need a New Computer?
    A new Virtual Communities IBM computer package with upgraded specifications is now available to members.

Members

    I'm In The Union
    MASTER CHEF: Marine cook Cia Wernblom helped whip up a winning recipe for the ITF/ MUA shipping campaign - celebrity sporting heroes, a sinking ship, sun, surf, billboards, a big event and a bit of live drama as 'Slick' the oily surfer went flesh and blood.

Membership

    Newfield Exploration
    A water blasting crew has been formed by MUA members on board the Challis Venture and it seems certain that an additional MUA four MUA members are to be employed on the facility."

National politics

    Howard's Falkland War
    PM John Howard's action against Norwegian freighter & asylum seekers amounts to an act of war, a breach of maritime law &, ultimately, a cynical re-election ploy

New media

    Internet at work
    When the Tampa crisis hit, the MUA was quick to take a stand. As well as fax and phone, the internet played a big role as Andrew Casey reports for LaborNet:

Notices

Occupational health & safety

    Hyperbaric Lifeboats
    Debate in the offshore industry on how hyperbaric lifeboats for diving support vessels (DSVs) should be launched came to the forefront again recently. Fatigue: A Lethal Continuum
    The MUA has joined forces with the CFMEU/Mining Division, the TWU and the RBTU to hold a symposium on workplace fatigue at the Sydney Town Hall, September 20. All members welcome.

Port of call

    Win for Wharfie Widows
    MELBOURNE: When Norma married Billy she did not expect he would go to an early grave. Bill, like so many waterside workers died of asbestos disease and Norma has had to manage on her own. Don's Testimonial
    SYDNEY: SOME 200 members, retired members and guests of the union turned up at the Balmain Leagues Club to commemorate "60 years in the Union" for Don Henderson, former secretary of the Firemen and Deckhands union. Whistle Blower Rescued
    ADELAIDE: While the battle over the asylum seekers raged off our west coast, the Maritime Union and the International Transport Workers' Federation were quietly celebrating a long awaited victory down south. Jiang Jun the Chinese seafarer who blew the whistle on the Panamanian FOC Joint Spirit in Adelaide a year ago, has gained his approval from Australian Immigration to remain in the country - no small feat these days. Joe Corti Versus Len Buckeridge
    SWAN: Retired maritime worker Joe Corti has scored another win over union busting local millionaire Len Buckeridge. Thanks to Joe the city of Swan won a case against Underground Services which works for BGC Australia, the company owned by the man who took on the Maritime Union and lost back in 1993. The case was won using photographic evidence supplied by Joe and his wife Lucy.

Reviews

    It's Only a Job Book Review
    "Kenny squeezes his large frame into the small yellow cabin of Turborg No 984. A cold wind whips grey dust off the uneven concrete wharf. A big, apple green ship is held tight to the wharf by taut ropes... As the Turborg bounces over the corrugated concrete Kenny's large frame shakes violently. He constantly twists his head over his shoulder as he reverses back and forth, stacking and restacking freight."

Shipmate Vale

Shipping news

Superannuation

Training

    Offshore Training
    Two meetings of the Offshore Industry Training Subcommittee have been held in Fremantle along with an inspection of the Challenger TAFE College, where an AMSA-approved IR retraining course is ready to commence before the end of the year.


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