Union ballot

By National Returning Officer Phil Byrne

All national officers comfortably returned; some new faces in major ports

The 2003 - 2007 Quadrennial Election has now concluded, with the Final Declaration on June 25, bringing to an end possibly the hardest fought election campaign in the Maritime Union's history.

Six branch officials in three major branches were defeated. And it is no coincidence that those three branches (Victoria, West Australia and Central New South Wales) had a significantly high percentage of voter participation, as the graph on page 13 shows.

The election was conducted in accordance with the Rules of the Maritime Union, as registered with the Industrial Registrar.

A voter return of 64.4 per cent (see graph next page) shows a drop when compared with the previous MUA elections. But when compared with the Australian Electoral Commission average 30 per cent return for organisations with non-compulsory voting it is still an enviable return.

The Union had sought and was granted the continuation of the exemption that is granted under section 213 of the Workplace Relations Act, which allows the Maritime Union to conduct its own elections. We are the only union in Australia with such an exemption, and the election process involves a full postal ballot of all financial members.

There has been one relevant change to the rules since the last election in 1999 -- Rule 45. This rule change requires the final roll to be made up two weeks prior to the commencement of the ballot.

Nominations

Prior to nominations the upcoming election was advertised widely to the membership through the union journal, stopwork meetings and on the MUA website.

When nominations closed on March 20, 58 candidates had nominated for the 28 positions open for election, (four national and 24 branch positions). Seven positions, including the national secretary's, were uncontested, and the candidates elected unopposed.

Election Statements

Most candidates forwarded an election statement and photograph for circulation in the Maritime Worker's Journal. There were no scandalous or defamatory comments included, and all fell within the 100 word limit. These statements were also posted on the MUA website.

Security

A full description of the election procedures was outlined in the Maritime Workers' Journal that went out prior to the election. The report covered security of the ballot papers and the process of transporting them from the post office to storage in the Commonwealth Bank vault. The article gave the membership confidence that the election was being conducted in a secure and transparent manner.

Release of the Rolls

Ten candidates sought access to the Roll of Voters for use during the election, as permitted in the Quadrennial Elections of 1995 and 1999.

I sought legal advice in light of recent amendments to the Privacy Act. The advice was that provided the candidates seeking the Roll complied with the criteria set in previous elections the Roll would be released. As well, the candidates were made aware of the penalties they would be subject to for non-compliance .

The 10 candidates all made an application in writing for a copy of the Roll, and paid a fee for copying and postal expenses. They provided an undertaking that the Roll would be used for no other purpose other than the forwarding of ballot material, that it was not to be copied or given to any other person and that at the completion of the election, the Roll would be returned.

Interestingly, two officials sought the Roll, dispelling the incorrect belief in some quarters that officials can freely access the membership records during the election. This is not true.

Several candidates stated they wanted the Roll to enable them to send election material to members employed by Patrick as they were not allowed through the gates.

Patrick

Patrick Corporation, a major stevedoring company, denied candidates access to their worksite in the lead up to the election on the basis that under the Workplace Relations Act, only authorised officials could gain an

entry permit.

Following discussions, Patrick and Maritime Union officers negotiated an entry Protocol for candidates, which gave restricted access on day shift only. This began on the same day that the ballot papers were posted April 14.

Financiality

The membership was in good shape generally speaking, with 92 per cent of the Union's 9477 members being financial on March 31 in accordance with the MUA Rules.

However there are some points in the Rules that should be addressed in any future review, so that members do not find themselves, often unknowingly, taken off the Final Roll in an election year because they are unfinancial. These would include:

• The joining fee being attached to the application form for new members.

• Grades being correctly attributed.

• A flagging system to warn Payroll Deduction members once they lapse behind in payments.

• A tendency for some cash payers to allow themselves to fall eight weeks behind before they fix up their contributions.

The P&O Levy in Western Australia caused problems, with members who were fully financial in other aspects, being deemed unfinancial and therefore not receiving a vote because they had not paid the Levy.

The Rules state that once National Council has approved a levy, it is binding on the membership involved to pay it within four weeks to remain financial.

Western Australia is a big State with Union resources often being stretched to the limit, and evidently a breakdown in communications with outlying ports meant that some members had not paid their levy, and subsequently did not receive a vote.

New Technology

Computer technology was utilised to assist members during the election period. The Returning Officer's email address was used frequently by candidates and members seeking information, and the MUA website was updated regularly to keep the membership informed at various stages during the election.

Members onboard a number of vessels contacted this office to notify the Returning Officer of their vessel's movements, swing days and agent's addresses, so as to allow ballot papers to reach members in a number of countries around the world.

The use of the barcode on the security envelopes also was a great success, and a tribute to the benefits of modern technology, as it made it much easier to determine a voter's name and union number when marking the envelope off against the Roll, prior to the Count.

Transfers

The membership system threw up in the Roll a number of members who had been inadvertently transferred to another Branch (e.g. a Central NSW seafarer became a South Queensland stevedore in the system), and therefore sent the wrong ballot paper. Any review of membership management would need to address this question to avoid further confusion in the future.

Membership

One positive benefit of an election is that it allows the Union to clear up its membership list, to check financiality and to bring the members' addresses up to date.

The administration of the Union was dramatically improved in April 2001 with the implementation of a national membership system ('Unison'), putting all members whether they be divers, seafarers, fireman and deckhands or stevedores, into a single database and giving each member a seven digit number.

The Final Roll compiled as of March 31, as per the Rules, had 8736 financial members listed nationally (constituting 92.1 per cent of the total membership). Ballot papers where posted to all members on April 14 to their address as recorded on the Roll. The first hurdle encountered in the election proved to be members' addresses despite all efforts to get members to ensure their correct addresses are lodged with their respective Branch.

In the months leading up to compiling the Final Roll, each branch had noted when the Maritime Worker's Journal and other mail was being returned, and they removed the member's old address from the record and then made every effort to contact them.

The number of 'no address' members dropped from 483 on February 20, to 127 when the Roll was made up on March 31, and at the end of the ballot, was reduced to 22.

As well, the Returning Officer and the office staff in all branches were kept busy in the voting period with over 460 change of addresses being recorded, as members wondered why they had not received their ballot paper.

Many members assumed that because the Maritime Credit Union knew where they resided, that information would be available to the Union as well. Unfortunately the Credit Union is bound by the Privacy Act, not to divulge personal information.

There were 180 ballot papers posted back marked "Return to Sender", of which 150 were redirected to members' new addresses.

Throughout the voting period, 231 replacement ballot papers were forwarded to members who made written application. As well, 15 financial members were added to the supplementary roll.

The Count

The count commenced on Tuesday, June 17, in the boardroom at the MUA National Office, in Sydney. Present were 16 scrutineers, to witness all aspects of the count on behalf of the candidates who nominated them.

This included the collection of ballot papers from the bank vault, the scanning of the barcodes to mark off the Roll, observing the count, checking informal votes, and cross checking the daily figures.

All information was displayed onto a large screen, and those scrutineers with experience in state elections remarked how accurate it all was, how easy to check each branch and candidate's figures, and how similar it was to a genuine tally room atmosphere.

The barcode allowed for a very low rejection rate of ballot papers (where the voter's name and number could not be identified). Those papers rejected were because the voter had either signed their ballot paper, and thus identified themselves, or else had not included their Security Envelope (used only for marking off the Roll), and therefore could not be identified.

The system has the ability to identify anyone issued with a second ballot paper and therefore ensures that no member can vote more than once.

Nearly all the scrutineers remained until the last vote was counted, and played their part very constructively. They represented their respective candidates most diligently, and yet did so in a friendly and comradely atmosphere.

Recount

The count was completed late on June 23. But with the position of Assistant Branch Secretary of Western Australia being extremely close (11 votes separating two of the candidates), time was set aside for a full recount of that position on June 24. The recount before the respective scrutineers confirmed Ian Bray, with a margin of 10 votes.

At the conclusion of the count, all scrutineers congratulated the National Returning Officer for the integrity and high standards set during the count, and indicated that they would be advising the candidates they represent and their supporters accordingly.

In all elections, there are winners and losers, and the winners as always will claim the spotlight after their success. I would like to thank all the candidates for their participation in this election, allowing the members to democratically determine who will represent them for the next four years.

To those officials who have lost office, I would like to thank them for their service to the union, and to wish them every success in their future endeavours.

One disturbing aspect in the election was the unjustified attack made from some quarters on me as the National Returning Officer questioning my independence and the integrity with which this election was conducted.

Incredible accusations, and deliberate misinformation made on websites that are unsourced and unaccountable, may have given the membership of our Union doubts that the election was being conducted fairly, and plays right into this current Coalition Government's anti-union agenda.

The Maritime Union runs its own elections with the National Returning Officers traditionally coming from amongst the rank-and-file, but no-one will want to perform that task if they continue to be subject to such unsubstantiated and unwarranted attack.

Workplace Relations Act

A scheduled amendment to the Workplace Relations Act has been legislated, called the "Registration and Accountability of Organisations Act (RAO)". This amendment became law from May 2003.

This will necessitate some changes to the union rules in the near future to accommodate the requirements of this legislation. In particular the formulation of the roll must be completed 7-30 days prior to the opening of nominations, (under the current rules, the roll must be completed two weeks prior to the opening of the ballot). As well there will be a purge rule to regularly remove unfinancial members.

Finally, I would like to acknowledge the assistance I received from Mick Ruse, the Deputy Returning Officer, and Raelene Jefferson from National Office. As well, I would like to thank Bill Giddins in National Office for his advice and assurance during the election, and all the staff in National Office and in branch offices around the country for their assistance and patience whenever required.

There can be no doubt that the capacity of the Union to conduct it's own elections is in the best interests of the Union and the membership. Moreover, as this Report illustrates, there is no basis or foundation to support the misrepresentations and criticism directed to the Union and the Returning Officers responsible for conducting these elections.

One hopes that the membership recognises this fact and that all members will support the Union in four years time when the 2007 Quadrennial Elections are to be held.

The Returning Officers wish all of the elected officials, officers and staff every success in their future endeavours on behalf of the membership.