Union takes safety to global forum

IN the wake of the tragic death of Melbourne stevedoring worker Peter Ross in January, MUA National Secretary and chair of the International Transport Workers' Federation dockers' section Paddy Crumlin has taken the union campaign for a stevedoring safety code of practice to the ITF dockers' section conference in Sorrento, Italy this March.

"Three deaths in three years. That's three deaths too many," he said. "We've been pushing to make port safety a priority and getting nowhere. The nature of the industry is global so the campaign must go global. Safety for waterside workers is not confined to any one country, it involves international shipping, international stevedoring corporations and global network terminals. It involves ships flagged in one country, stowed in another and unloaded in a third. Whatever standards we have must be international. That's the nature of the industry."

The national secretary has written to ITF dockers section secretary Frank Leys asking that the issue of a dock workers' safety code go on the agenda at the Sorrento meeting as it is central to the Ports of Convenience campaign.

Frank Leys says the POC campaign strives to have ILO conventions and recommendations like the dock workers' safety code respected and acceptable standards implemented in ports around the world.

"I am convinced that standards translated in an ILO convention would be beneficial to safety in ports," he said. "All measures on all levels should be exhausted to guarantee that our people can work in a safe and secure environment."

Frank Leys stressed the POC campaign was there to set and maintain acceptable standards in the ports around the world, not just job security and decent wages, but working conditions and safety.

"Safety should always be paramount to productivity," he said. "There are ports where dock workers are still treated like modern slaves. Multinationals which have good conditions in their home ports, can be the worst employers when they go abroad. So dialogue with major terminal operators is high on our agenda. The ITF has highlighted safety with DP World and the company agreed to cooperate for the best practices possible."

Vice President of ILWU Canada, Al Monnier, a member of the ISP (International Safety Panel) is also involved in IMO work on safety for ITF dockers. He advises the secretariat on safety issues that are discussed at the meetings of the ISP are shared the health and safety e-network and the Dockers' Section Committee.

The aim now is to introduce a code which will be equally binding on all stevedoring company operations, here and abroad.

"The MUA employed a consultant David Rumsey & Associates, Training & Development Consultations to work with us to find a template for an industry code," said national training and safety officer Eddie Seymour. "What we came up with was the ILO dock workers' code of practice as the best model."

On the home front the union is working with the Australian Council of Trade Unions, stevedoring employers, members and governments, both state and nationally.

Prior to the first round of waterfront reforms in the 1980s when industry employment prevailed the Federal Advisory Committee on Australian Waterfront Accident Prevention regulated port safety. The committee made up of union, government and industry representatives reported accidents, injuries and fatalities, meeting monthly to update the code when necessary.

But this became defunct and enterprise employment and safety has been left to individual employers and workplaces since this time.

A mass exit of older experienced workers after 1998, casualisation and the introduction of new and inexperienced management has made matters worse.

The incidence of injury and death is now on the rise. What's more new federal legislation outlaws the provision of union-run OH&S training for workers under enterprise agreements.

Deregulation of the stevedoring industry has frustrated union attempts to restore an industry code, with the MUA forced to deal with various state regulatory authorities and red tape.

A national code or regulation would need to go through the Australian Safety and Compensation Council (ASCC) the body responsible for coordinating OH&S standards and codes of practices and have state endorsement.

The MUA has written to Federal IR Minister Joe Hockey, asking that ASCC call a meeting of the parties and commit to implementing national regulations.

Meetings have been held with Labor shadow ministers and the matter was raised in the Senate estimates committee in February.

Labor MPs questioned whether the government was aware that in both recent fatalities the waterside workers were working on Flag of Convenience vessels, suggesting there could be a link between safety standards and vessel registration.

The government was also questioned as to whether ASCC had taken any action to determine if safety standards in the Australian stevedoring industry require review and reform and whether ASCC would commit to give high priority to working with the Australian stevedoring industry - stevedoring companies, shipping operators, employers and unions - to develop and implement a new national code of practice for the stevedoring industry.

Correspondence has also gone out to ACTU Secretary Greg Combet and ACTU Assistant Secretary Richard Marles.

"We are witnessing a decline in safety standards on the waterfront," Kevin Bracken and Bruce Paris, MUA Victoria wrote to the ACTU. "Employers are adopting inferior safety arrangements."

Talks with WorkSafe Victoria and the state Labor government go back to July 2005, with the union also campaigning after the death of waterside worker Dean Robinson in July last year.

Meanwhile National Secretary Paddy Crumlin has contacted senior management at both DP World and Patrick/Toll to lock in their support for the proposal. Further meetings were scheduled between MUA deputy secretary Jim Tannock, Eddie Seymour, the branch, the job committee, WorkSafe and DP World executives in February.