ShipShape

Excerpts from the national office report

Reports on the Accolade dispute, IRAS, union research, ITF Ratings Taskforce, TransTasman federation, Northwest Shelf Shipping, TWU National Council, Patrick Shipping, Gove Deck Hands, CSL Pacific and Stadacona court action, Seafarers' ID, the New Rules for Sea Rescue post Tampa debacle, the budget and the ACTU transport policy

Accolade Dispute

The union has foiled a company attempt to dismiss the entire MUA workforce on board the Accolade II.

The employers unilaterally did away with the MUA crew during an operational shutdown on May 26. They were keeping only the skipper, two engineers and two scab deckhands brought in from Queensland, following a review by AMSA.

"They also did away with catering saying crew could take a cut-lunch and some cornflakes with them on the 60-miler," National Secretary Paddy Crumlin told the Sydney Stopwork meeting.

The Commission recommended the parties negotiate. The union reached agreement with the company that three IRs and the cook be reinstated with an independent review of all work to be done with the Commission.

Taking part in the talks were the National Secretary, Assistant National Secretary Rick Newlyn, Industrial Officer Joanne White and Branch Secretary Keith Ridgeway, together with rank and file delegates.

"The upshot was we got our members back up the gangway and gave the scabs the flick," said National Secretary Paddy Crumlin. "This was a blatant attempt to replace skilled MUA labour with non-union labour. If Adelaide Brighton Cement & ISM were successful, it would have flowed on to other blue water operations covered by the MUA."

IRAS

The Independent Review of Australian shipping will deliver its report in July.

The Review is co-chaired by former transport ministers Peter Morris and John Sharp. It has received 15 written submissions and met with 46 people in 22 organisations since it was set up in September last year.

While commissioned by Australian shipowners the report has had input from all the maritime unions and other industry participants.

IRAS will seek to re-ignite discussion and attention to an industry THAT has been neglected due to incompetence, ignorance and ideology by the Federal government.

It will also seek to highlight the connection between the shipping industry and the development of seafaring skills in port related services, ship management, pilotage and effective regulation of the safety and environmental standards of our waterways and oceans.

The Chairperson and industry representatives, including the MUA, visited Canberra in June to meet with the Minister for Transport John Anderson, the Opposition Minister for Transport Martin Ferguson and various heads of departments.

Research Project

The Union has commissioned a further research project with the Centre for Employment Studies at the University of Newcastle.

It aims to show the impact of government shipping policy on permits and its effect on the national economy.

The research will also identify the security impact on Australian ports and domestic transport.

ITF Ratings Taskforce

NATIONAL Secretary Paddy Crumlin and Assistant National Secretary Mick Doleman are on the ITF Ratings Taskforce developing a policy to protect ratings in developed nations.

As well the National Secretary has been part of a small group of international unionists establishing an international collective bargaining process with FOC operators.

This new forum would allow countries like Australia to push for some participation in the international fleet on vessels trading to and from our country.

TransTasman

THE Tasman Maritime Federation is working on a campaign to protect the merchant fleets of Australia and New Zealand. The National Secretary through the ACTU executive has linked the campaigns with all transport sectors through the formation of a national co-ordinating committee on the ACTU. The TWU, along with the rail and aviation unions, are strongly supporting the MUA campaign to protect the Australian shipping industry.

Northwest Shelf Shipping

THE cost gap between the UK and Japanese flagged vessels and the Australian flagged vessels continues to widen with foreign flagged vessels now costing between $3 and $4 million less than Australian vessels.

National Secretary Paddy Crumlin stressed that the cost differential is mainly due to government policy

Discussions are now under way with the joint venture partners over the new contract with China exports beginning in 2008.

The contract requires a Chinese supplied shipping to handle the cargoes.

The Northwest Shelf remains one of the last areas of Australian involvement in international shipping, and the union is determined to maintain that involvement.

TWU National Council

The Transport Workers' Union invited MUA National Secretary to address their council in May as the Executive Member of the ITF in the Asia Pacific. Crumlin spoke of the historic alliance between the TWU, WWF and Seamen's Union over secondary boycotts and the determination of the three Unions in the 80's to protect each other in the event of legislation being enacted against them.

He also spoke of the increasing use of all modes of transport by multi-national transport companies working in the new total logistics transport environment eg Patrick which has shares in aviation, rail, shipping and stevedoring.

The restructuring of such large transport corporations is also characterised by anti-union legislation and international campaigns to casualise and de-regulate collective agreements.

Paddy Crumlin thanked National Secretary John Allan and the National Councillors for their solidarity and support during the Patrick dispute. John Allan also reinforced the determination of his Union to work more closely with the MUA.

Patrick Shipping

FINALISATION of the Patrick Shipping EBA has been delayed after the company announced it would introduce a self-mooring system to replace some integrated ratings on the Searoad Mersey and Searoad Tamar.

The union rejected the Patrick proposal that redundant seafarers could transfer to stevedoring operations replacing casuals from its workforce and acting as a back-up crew for its operations.

Gove Deck Hands

NABALCO are attempting to remove the classification of deck hand from port operations with the pending arrival of two new purpose built tugs this year.

The company approached members individually with redundancies and separation packages.

While successfully rejecting forced redundancies maritime unions have had to accept that new technology will mean the eventual reduction from two deck hands to one.

CSL Pacific & Stadacona

The High Court decision on CSL Pacific Shipping Inc is due as MWJ goes to press.

CSL went to the High Court of Australia seeking Orders to prevent the Australian Industrial Relations Commission from further hearing the Union's application to bring into the Award (MISA) the vessels CSL Pacific and Stadacona.

The Hearing was held over two days in Canberra in May. The Unions made persuasive submissions about jurisdiction and also proposed that the Commission could fashion an Award to deal with the unique nature of its application to a foreign shipping entity.

Meanwhile The Hakula and Ikuna Roping in Application has been adjourned after the barrister for Mainstream Shipping and Intercontinental Shipping advised they were not the employer of the relevant employees, it is a Tongan Company called Dateline Shipping Limited.

Seafarers' ID

THE International Labour Organisation (ILO) has endorsed a new Convention on seafarers' identification documents.

The new ID will require every international seafarer to carry a special document with fingerprint identification to ensure they are who they say they are.

This is in response to increasing worldwide concerns on port security.

National Secretary Paddy Crumlin has been involved in the ILO process over the last two years through his senior position in the ITF.

He is one of a small group of international seafaring unionists negotiating the new Bill of Rights for seafarers including the Seafarers' Identity Document Convention.

The Australian government and the Department of Transport & Regional Services were one of the few governments in the world that have not attended this important security process.

New Rules for Sea Rescue

Almost two years after the Tampa saga, the IMO's key Maritime Safety Committee has moved to tighten up support for ship Masters who find themselves in the same position as Captain Arne Rinnan.

The proposed new rules spell out the rights of masters, and the responsibilities of coastal states to co-operate on landing refugees.

The Tampa crisis highlighted fears that masters might leave survivors adrift at sea, especially if they believed them to be refugees: a common occurrence during the Asian boat people crisis of the 1980s, according to the UNHCR.

However, the amendments still talk largely in terms of coastal states 'co-operating and co-ordinating' with each other in an incident, rather than laying down hard requirements.

The Key changes to SOLAS Convention are:

• Ships must help survivors "regardless of their nationality, status, or circumstances in which they are found";

• SAR zone state has "primary responsibility for co-operation and coordination" so that survivors are landed, and ship is on its way quickly; and

• The owner, charterer; or anyone else cannot prevent the master using his own judgment on safety of life at sea issues.

The Key changes to SAR Convention are:

• RCCs must co-operate to "identify the most appropriate place(s) for disembarking persons found in distress'; and

• People in distress at sea include those who have found refuge in remote coastal areas, and who have no other access to rescue.

Budget Security Hole

Pumping millions into customs and port security is no safeguard for our maritime borders so long as there is no restriction on cut rate foreign flag shipping plying our coastal trade, MUA National Secretary Paddy Crumlin announced in response to the Howard/Costello budget in May.

Flag of Convenience shipping is linked with terrorism, fraud, and drug-running, yet this budget the Government has refused to do anything to keep them off our coastline. The permit security system, which allows foreign vessels to work in the Australian domestic transport industry, remains open to wholesale abuse.

"It's a farce," said Crumlin. "Anyone can get a permit to ship in guest workers without visas to ply our coast for months at a time, with little or no checks. The Federal Government handed out more than 700 permits last year for foreign ships and seafarers to work in the domestic transport industry. It's open slather. The ships and crews do not have to meet the rigorous standards applying to Australian shipping. They pay no tax and avoid Australian laws. Fraudulent seafarers certification is rampant.

Support for the FOC system goes to the highest level in the land, with the federal government backing foreign operators CSL in their appeal to the High Court over a Commission ruling that their vessels come under the Australian award.

ACTU Transport Policy

'Our coast is our workplace'

THE ACTU is condemning the wholesale abuse of the single and continual voyage permit systems by the Federal Government and Flag of Convenience shipping. In its transport policy to go before National Congress in August, the ACTU calls for retention of cabotage. It identifies our coast as an Australian workplace and calls on both "state and federal governments to encourage investment in a robust, safe and viable shipping industry for the protection of jobs, environment and national security"

It notes that the use of FOC ships dramatically increases our exposure to a maritime catastrophe.

"The wholesale abuse of the single voyage permits and continual voyage permits system by the Federal Government is a direct attack on Australian jobs," it says.

Also highlighted on the ACTU policy paper is recognition that shore based work is appropriately performed by stevedoring or shore based employees.

Under the heading women in transport, the ACTU notes the many barriers to women entering the industry and coping with workplace cultures, physical limitations and an overall lack of support networks within union and organisational structures.

It also notes that the transport industry is one in which the ideals of "balancing work and family" have yet to be extensively pursued by the unions. It calls for clauses such as paid leave entitlements for parents, flexible work practices for mothers returning to work such as job sharing and adequate childcare - all issues which rarely make the negotiating tables.

The ACTU also commits to working with local and international transport industry unions and the International Transport Federation to build international links and solidarity.