maritimes july 2008

www.munz.org.nz The Maritimes | July 2008 | 1

Issue 22 • July 2008 Magazine of the Maritime Union of New Zealand ISSN 1176-3418

TheMaritimes

Global Solidarity

2 | The Maritimes | July 2008 www.munz.org.nz

DANGER 2008 is election year.As workers, your rights and jobs will be under threat from a National Government.Under National: • Employers would have the right to dismiss you unfairly when you are starting a job• You could be forced to sell your fourth week of annual leave • Vulnerable workers would lose rights to keep their jobs after a business was sold or transferred• Employers could force you on to individual agreements • ACC would be privatised• Statutory holiday pay could be cut• Your Union rights would be reduced • Benefits and Working for Families would be cut

Don’t vote National.


Edition 22, July 2008

ContentsEditorial and contents 3General Secretary’s report 4Update from National President 5News 6International news 8 CTU 10Election: enrol to vote 11CAFCA: Who owns New Zealand? 12ITF 13MUA 2008 Conference 14Mining and Maritime 18Union History 26Blackball ‘08 centenary 28Port roundups 30

‘The Maritimes’ is published quarterly by the Maritime Union of New Zealand.

Authorized by Trevor Hanson, 220 Willis Street, Wellington.

ISSN 1176-3418

National Office:PO Box 27004WellingtonNew ZealandTelephone: 04 3850 792Fax: 04 3848 766Email: [email protected]: www.munz.org.nz

Editor: Victor BillotMobile: 021 482219Fax: 09 9251125Email: [email protected]: PO Box 339, DunedinNew Zealand

Editorial Board: Trevor Hanson, Phil Adams, Garry Parsloe and Russell Mayn

Deadline for all Port reports, submissions, photos and letters: 1 September 2008 for next edition

Cover photo: Delegates and international delegates at the Maritime Union of Australia 2008 Conference, Sydney, Australia, April 2008. Photo courtesy of the MUA.For more online photos, see www.flickr.com/maritimeunion

Thanks to our photographers including Jay, Luke Appleby, Terry Ryan, Gerard Hill, and others

Contact the Maritime UnionNational OfficeTelephone: 04 3850 792Fax: 04 3848 766Address: PO Box 27004, WellingtonOffice administrator: Ramesh PathmanathanEmail: [email protected]

General Secretary: Trevor HansonDirect dial: 04 8017 614Mobile: 021 390585Email: [email protected]

National President: Phil AdamsDirect dial: 03 4728 052Mobile: 0274 377601Email: [email protected]

National Vice President: Garry ParsloeDirect dial: 09 3032 562Mobile: 021 326261Email: [email protected]

Assistant General Secretary: Russell Mayn Direct dial: 09 3034 652Mobile: 021 760886Email: [email protected]

ITF Inspectorate: Grahame McLarenDirect dial: 04 8017 613Mobile: 021 2921782Email: [email protected]

Communications Officer: Victor BillotMobile: 021 482219Fax: 09 9251125Address: PO Box 339, DunedinEmail: [email protected]

May Day action in USA page 8

MUA Conference page 14

EDITORIAL

We need to set the political agendaby Victor BillotIt is no coincidence that those unions who have best held ground in difficult times here and abroad are those which have been active and militant. Strong and member-driven unions improve wages and conditions for all workers.There is another role for unions: a political role. Unions need to be defining what organized working people want and fighting for it.We have members of our union reliant on foodbanks to get through the week. We have members of our union who have been trapped for a decade or more in casual jobs in their ports.The situation for a large group of deunionized, young, casual workers is far worse.These may be uncomfortable topics in election year. But as a un-ion we need to go on the offensive and demand something better for workers. We need to set the agenda.These problems are not going to solved simply through increas-ing productivity, or gathering a larger number of crumbs from the employer’s table. It is obvious we need a high technology, highly skilled workforce. But is the point of this exercise to pay for the inflated salaries of senior managers and dividends to shareholders?Or is it to reduce working hours, increase wages, ensure a safe workplace, and invest in the society we all live in?The distribution of the wealth produced by society remains a key question.This is a question of priorities. It is a hard question and a politi-cal question. As long as we have a global society where economic power is controlled by a minority and based on free market capi-talism, then workers will always be under attack.This is an uncomfortable reality that many career politicians do not like acknowledging. So, what are the political goals for the maritime industry we should demand? Here are some suggestions:•A nationwide registry of trained maritime workers, and port-based labour pools to end casualization and create a career path•The introduction of cabotage and investigation of public-owned shipping (compare with the railways)• The commitment that ports will not be privatized, and the national co-ordination of ports to avoid wasteful duplication of infrastructure and the destructive competition in this sector• A much higher level of safety on the job, based on tougher regulations and a tuneup of the bureaucracy – our lives are more important than employers’ profits • Regulation to ensure that New Zealand seafarers are employed in the offshore oil, gas and mining sector – and that those resources are not controlled by global corporations to our disadvantage. There are some general issues that should be on the table as well:• Housing is unaffordable for young people.• Our taxation system is hard on workers. GST is a regressive tax and should be phased out to help with the cost of living. This would be a “tax cut” that means something.• On the issue of wages, the minimum wage needs to go up to at least $15 an hour. Even then many will struggle.• Education is another key issue as student debt continues to rise to around $10 billion.The Maritime Union is well-placed to make a difference.We are not a large union in numbers, but we are a large union in quality. We need to do our part in leading the fight in election year – and every year – for working people. In today’s individual world where people have lost their political and social awareness, it is a tough job, but we are up to the task.


COMMENT

Building a strong and well-resourced union

by Trevor Hanson General Secretary

union executive looks at changes The national executive of the union dis-cussed a new proposal for modernizing our union at our May 2008 meeting in Wellington.This proposal seeks to ensure a strong and well-resourced Maritime Union and started some good debate and discussion from those at the meeting.Some of the key matters discussed by the executive were proposals to move to “national funding” and a stronger national structure.

This would ensure the independence of strong locals and branches, but would al-low the union to operate in a more efficient way. This includes ensuring that all members of the union receive a high level of serv-ice, which can be a problem if there is a division between larger, well-resourced branches and smaller branches with a limited ability to provide all the backup members need.Some of the other goals identified were the need to support and encourage youth and veterans, put in place a growth strategy to build membership, and ensure a stable transition period over the next 10 years. Our membership has a large group facing retirement over this period and it is vital that their knowledge and experience is passed on to the next generation.The union is calling an extra executive meeting this winter in order to progress this renewal process and to finalize our election year strategy for returning a worker friendly government.World events are about to play a major role in our day to day employment. The rapidly rising price of oil will cause us untold problems as the shipping compa-nies start to really hurt.This is a time to work closely together and ensure all our resources are directed to ensure correct national decisions.

Mount Maunganui Tauranga BranchMany members are concerned at recent rumours about our Mount Maunganui Tauranga Branch. After the departure of our local secretary and organizer from the Mount Maunganui to work for another union, some problems were experienced.Members of our union were approached to join another union, which is now repre-sented by their former organizer.However the message has been given loud and clear that if you are a member of the Maritime Union of New Zealand in Mount Maunganui Tauranga, whether water-front, seafarer or off the wharf, you should remain with our union.Our collective agreements still stand and we are “here to stay.”The local branch has now got a new Secretary Eddie Cook, and President Peter Harvey, who with the assistance of our Auckland-based national officials Garry Parsloe and Russell Mayn, are getting the branch back up to speed.They have made great progress and we look forward to a bright future in the Bay of Plenty.

Ship inspectionsRecently both Joe Fleetwood and I have been regular visitors on vessels in the Port of Wellington, accompanying Grahame McLaren in his ITF inspection duties.My observations are that since I used to do inspections at the Port of Timaru way back in the late seventies and early eighties, the changes are the extreme cleanliness, mod-ern cabins, crew facilities and food quality.Of course, way back then we still had many European crewed vessels with up to 40 to 50 crew, and very few ships were in very good condition.The vessels we have recently been visiting have crews of 18 to 20. On our arrival they are always very polite but make sure they are not seen by the of-ficers engaging in discussions with us.When we ask them if every thing is OK, they always smile and say yes, but in many cases things are not what they seem.No doubt they are extremely frightened for their jobs, as they are competing against a multitude of workers world-wide for employment, and often these same crew will contact us from the next port with a variety of complaints.

MUA conferenceA strong delegation from the Maritime Un-ion of New Zealand recently attended the Maritime Union of Australia Conference and the Mining and Maritime Conference in Sydney in April 2008.Officials and rank and file members from many of our New Zealand branches took part in both Conferences which are report-ed on later in this edition of the Maritimes.The MUA Conference had hundreds of delegates from maritime unions around the world. It was a great experience to hear from un-ion leaders from throughout the world, the Australian Deputy PM Julia Gillard and Transport Minister Anthony Albanese. Comrades were in attendance from the USA, Europe, Asia, Africa, India and the Pacific, making this a truly international workers event. The Port of Napier dispute featured in a video presentation as an ex-ample of what can be achieved when you have global solidarity.There were also a number of cultural and educational activities.These included the launch of a famous union mural at the National Maritime Museum, the renaming of Dickson Street in central Sydney to the “Hungry Mile” in remembrance of the many waterfront workers who used to walk along the road to and from the wharves, and a celebratory dinner marking the 10th anniversary of the Patrick Dispute.

[continued on page 6]

“Workers are organizing internationally to defend and advance their goals. In a globalized world there is no alternative to international solidarity”


COMMENT

Make the right decision with your vote

“National and international solidarity and collectivism is the way in which the long term security and prosperity of maritime workers, and all workers, will be achieved”

by Phil Adams National President

Workers need to vote intelligentlyIf current polls are to be believed, then some workers must be considering a vote for the National Party. This is unfortunate because a right wing government could make things very pain-ful for workers.There needs to be a strong educational campaign to remind working people the results of the 1990s National Government – the reality as opposed to the promises.John Key has learned from the mistakes of his predecessor Don Brash and is trying to avoid having to talk about what he actu-ally intends to do if he were to gain power.First on the hit list would be organized workers. A National Government would seek to finish the job from the 1990s by attacking workers’ rights and unions, especially effective and militant unions such as the Maritime Union. More power would be handed to the bosses. There would be sell-offs of public assets and the living standards of workers would drop as they did in the 1990s. A National Government would redistrib-ute wealth from working people to big shareholders, capitalists and managers.At the moment National is selling itself on “tax cuts.” It must be remembered that “tax cuts” have to be paid for. The money for tax cuts has to taken away from some area of public spending like hospitals, schools, and other public goods. In addition, tax cuts as proposed by Na-tional mean big cash going to high income earners’ (such as MPs, managers and chief executives) and tiny amounts to workers. As a union we subscribe to socialist values and collective values. This means working together to improve everybody’s situation.Workers can only benefit by union princi-ples of solidarity, not the National plan of a divided and demoralized workforce who do what they are told.

Rail and ferry buybackThe Maritime Union has welcomed some initiatives from the Government in the buyback of rail and ferries, and the new funding that is being put towards coastal shipping.Coastal shipping and rail should be the backbone of our transport system.Instead, ever since the Rogernomics pe-riod, continuing through the dark days of the 1990s, these two transport modes have been ignored and allowed to run down through idiotic policies.It is nonsense to “leave it to the market” in a small economy like New Zealand. We need a planned transport infrastruc-ture that works for all New Zealand, not just overseas shareholders or private interests. This point seems to have been acknowl-edged across the Tasman by the new Gov-ernment in Australia in comments made at the recent MUA Conference.There is no doubt from an economic point of view, because of the spiralling costs of fuel, that shipping and rail can offer the most cost effective solution to our future transport needs. In addition, they also have less environ-mental impact that other types of transport.As a nation dependent on maritime trade, it is a bizarre reality that our shipping requirements are completely dominated by powerful shipping cartels which have ba-sically got a stranglehold on our national destiny. This situation has continued for a century and has even become more serious lately as foreign vessels carrying coastal cargo have frozen out the ability of New Zea-landers to work on their own coastline.Why? Because certain interest groups have sought to increase their profits while ef-fectively contracting out seafaring work to underpaid third world crews. The fact that seafarers are well organized and militant is one reason why our local capitalists are so keen to deunionize the maritime workforce.Thus the buyback of rail and ferries, plus the announcement of $36 million towards coastal shipping, is good news.These moves have taken far too much time to carry out, but we are pleased to see that in this area the Government has shown some leadership and taken positive action.

NegotiationsThe Maritime Union is in the thick of a number of heavy duty negotiations at our major ports. It has been noted that some employers seem to be acting up a little with the possi-bility that they see a free run ahead if their friend Mr Key is elected.It is important that as a union we don’t allow this illusion to take hold. Regardless of what government we have, the Maritime Union will continue to be a strong advocate for our members. It is vital we realize that we have to take part in the political process to ensure that the laws and economic environment are favourable for working people and our families.While we all have our individual ports to take care of in negotiating our collective agreements, we must not lose sight of the fact that national (and international) soli-darity and collectivism is the way in which the long-term security and prosperity of maritime workers, and all workers, will be achieved.


NEWS

The Maritime Union of New Zealand says the release of the final domestic shipping strategy “Sea Change” is a positive move for New Zealand shipping.Maritime Union Vice President Garry Parsloe says the Government’s plans for coastal shipping announced in May 2008 are moving in the right direction.He says $36 million of funding for devel-oping coastal shipping over the next four years was a major boost.“The Maritime Union wants to see some of this funding put towards the training of young New Zealanders for careers in the maritime industry, which is the only real solution to skills shortages.”Mr Parsloe says other positives are the stated goal for 30% of all inter-regional domestic freight by 2040 to be moved by coastal shipping, and the potential for major hub ports served by regional feeder ports.“This will have major economic and envi-ronmental benefits for New Zealand.”He says the union is happy with the Gov-ernment’s announcement it will be clarify-ing Section 198 of the Maritime Transport Act 1994, which deals with the movement of coastal cargo by international vessels between domestic ports.

Ferries return to public ownershipThe Maritime Union says the buyback of rail and Cook Strait ferries operated by Toll is a good step towards rebuilding a top quality transport system in New Zealand.Maritime Union General Secretary Trevor Hanson says the move is positive for New Zealand, and should have been done a long time ago.“The only regret is that we have now had a generation where this vital part of our infrastructure has been first asset-stripped then unsuccessfully operated by global corporations interested in shareholder profit, not for what is good for New Zea-land.”Mr Hanson says the Government was moving in the right direction but should not be timid.“We need some more speed in developing New Zealand-owned coastal shipping, establishing a national ports strategy, and ensuring our transport infrastructure is developed for the benefit of New Zealand, not private interest groups or overseas shareholders.”Mr Hanson says shipping and rail will be the two transport modes of the future as fuel prices, road congestion and environ-mental problems continue to grow.“Hopefully this is the closing chapter of the rail saga that goes back to the right-wing political cabal who stripped New Zealand’s assets and sold them to their mates during the 1980s and 1990s.”

Shipping plan gets thumbs up

Photo from http://www.flickr.com/photos/barwell/85898180/ Licensed under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/

[continued from page 4]

Mining and Maritime ConferenceThe 3rd “Globalizing Solidarity” Mining and Maritime Pacific Rim Conference was held in Sydney on 13-15 April 2008. The conference was attended by over 350 national and international officials and delegates from unions in the mining, mari-time, manufacturing, transport, energy and construction industries from countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Ger-many, South Africa, USA, Japan, England, Switzerland, East Timor, Canada, Vanuatu, United Kingdom, Denmark, Belgium, Papua New Guinea and Sweden. The Mining and Maritime Initiative is now sponsored and funded by eight unions – the Maritime union of New Zealand (MUNZ), the Maritime union of Australia (MUA), the Australian Construction For-estry Mining Energy union (CFMEU), the International Longshore and Warehouse union (ILWU) from the west coast of North America, the National union of Minework-ers (NUM) from the UK, the South African Transport and Allied Workers union (SATAWU), and the United Steelworkers (USW) and International Brotherhood of Teamsters from the USA.The Mining and Maritime Initiative was created for unions to respond to the ever increasing globalisation of the mining and maritime industries and bond together in time of struggle. A strong network and solidarity activity around the globe has been developed to support struggles of various unions.The Initiative kicked off with an ini-tial seminar in Newcastle, Australia in September 2002, which was attended by unions from eight countries representing more than 2.7 million workers in the min-ing, energy and maritime industries.That was followed up when Mining and Maritime unions from around the world gathered in Long Beach, California, in 2005 for the second Globalising Solidarity Inter-national Pacific Rim Mining and Maritime unions Seminar.Both these conferences are reported on in this issue of the Maritimes. Global solidarity is our answer to corpo-rate globalization. Workers are organizing internationally to defend and advance their goals. In a globalized world there is no alternative to international solidarity between workers.In the words of RMT secretary Bob Crow, who spoke to the MUA Conference:“I’ve got more in common with a Chinese labourer than with a stock broker. Workers all have the same problems. We want a decent job. We want to attend work in the morning or the night and go home in a fit condition without being injured. We demand good pay, not just reasonable pay, decent pensions, decent conditions and a world that lives in peace. That can only be achieved by militant trade unionism.”

Death at LytteltonRail and Maritime Transport Union member Martin Sincock was killed while a coal ship, Devprayag, was being moored at Cashin Quay in the port of Lyttelton around 8pm on Tuesday 24 June 2008.Initial police reports said one of the mooring ropes had broken, causing fatal injuries to 55-year old Mr Sincock who was an employee of the Lyttelton Port Authority.Further investigations were underway.The last accident involving a mooring line was also at Lyttelton in 2006, when a Russian seaman was killed while standing in a loop of mooring line aboard his vessel.


NEWS

Temporary workers plan a recipe for disasterThe Maritime Union of New Zealand has attacked plans by employers to bring in migrant labour into the seafood industry after mass layoffs in the same sector.In June 2008, a week after Sealord con-firmed it would axe 323 jobs from its Nelson mussel factory, two South Island seafood companies Talleys and Aotearoa Seafood applied to import 100 migrant labourers.Maritime Union General Secretary Trevor Hanson says that the use of temporary labour being imported from overseas threatens local employment.“It is utterly disgraceful that at a time when we have rising unemployment and surging living costs, employers are being allowed to knock the bottom out of the labour market.”Mr Hanson says the key problem with finding workers was based around the poor wages paid in the local industry.He says he is disturbed that immigration authorities seem to have no understand-ing as to the social effects of the import of temporary labour.“It is no exaggeration to say New Zealand is struggling with social problems caused by the lack of secure permanent jobs and some kind of career structure and future for young people.”Mr Hanson says the use of short-term workers imported from overseas disrupted local employment conditions, and opened up the overseas workers to exploitation.“This is not the way to get a stable em-ployment situation or a stable society.”Mr Hanson says the Maritime Union has predicted that under free trade agreements the use of temporary labour being import-ed across borders would increase to drive down wages and conditions in a “race to the bottom.”“Not only are jobs being exported to poor countries to take advantage of powerless workers, now the reverse is happening with the cross-border use of temporary workers being imported to drive down wages here.”Mr Hanson says temporary cross-border labour was very different to immigration, and emphasized the Maritime Union was an internationalist union that supported workers of all nations.“In this case it is clear the problem lies with immigration authorities and employ-ers.”

The Maritime Union has welcomed a gov-ernment announcement that it intends to improve protections for casual workers.Maritime Union General Secretary Trevor Hanson says the union has been arguing since 1991 that the practice of employing casual labour on the waterfront is degrad-ing and unfair.“It is similar to the situation of a century ago when workers lined up for work at the port gate, and many were victimized or refused work.”Mr Hanson says peaks and troughs of work in the maritime industry have not always required supplementary labour to the permanent workforce, but with the dis-establishment of the Waterfront Industry Commission in 1989 the permanent work-force had become increasingly casualized.He says the situation has led to casual workers on the books of up to four em-ployers in their port, in some cases surviv-ing for many years “on the end of a phone, waiting for a call.”“We have cases in New Zealand of water-front workers who have been employed in a port for up to fifteen years as casuals, waiting in vain for an opportunity to get a permanent job with the security that gives.”

Mr Hanson says these casual workers are denied training and a career path with future prospects, denied secure wages and conditions, denied regular hours, and denied the ability to plan their lives.“The system effectively makes them sec-ond class citizens with bad effects on their working lives, families and community, as they work from day to day and have no ability to secure mortgages and a regular income.”He says the responsibility for the current problems largely lies with international shippers who play off port against port, stevedore against stevedore, leading to a race to the bottom, as the easiest way to save money is through creating a pool of insecure casual labour.Mr Hanson says the Maritime Union has proposed a solution that a regulated pool of casuals is established in each port which stevedores can employ workers and draw permanent labour from.He says the union welcomes government action on this pressing social issue but much work remains to be done.

Maritime Union supports improved protection for casual workers

Photo © Luke Appleby


INTERNATIONAL NEWS

On May Day 2008, ports up and down the Pacific Coast of North America were quiet. Nearly 10,000 longshore division workers, members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), voluntarily gave up a day’s pay to participate in one of the largest and most effective actions in recent history. The May Day action had one important goal: to protest the war in Iraq. But it also produced some unexpected benefits, including a powerful display of membership solidarity, extraordinary pub-lic support, and positive media coverage.“Our message about ending the war was received loud and clear in Washington, D.C., and the response there was over-whelmingly positive,” said Local 63 Secre-tary Peter Peyton who was in the Capitol on May Day to help spread the word with a team that included International Secre-tary-Treasurer Willie Adams, Local 40 Vice President Dawn DesBrisay, plus Legisla-tive Director Lindsay McLaughlin and Legislative Assistant Kyle Weimann. Local 29 members in San Diego protested the war in Iraq on May Day, and President William Silva was interviewed on local TV news stations.“All of us agree that it’s time to get out of Iraq now,” Silva told local media.

Overwhelming supportPublic support for the action by ILWU members was overwhelming, with over a thousand unsolicited ‘thank you’ messages that poured into ILWU locals and interna-tional headquarters.President Joe Cortez of Local 13 said their office received many offers to help from concerned citizens in their community.The same was true at other ILWU locals in the Southland, according to Local 29 President William Silva in San Diego and Local 46 President Dan Hultgen in Port Hueneme.Local 46 workers in Port Hueneme took the day off to reflect on the war. One member, Victor Gallardo, was protest-ing 35 years ago against the Vietnam War. Today his two daughters are serving in the military, one of them on her second tour in Iraq. “Our union has always been anti-war,” he told the Ventura County Star.In addition to sending messages and phone calls, some community members brought boxes of donuts and other goodies to ILWU members as a way to show support. Paul Krehbiel was one private citizen who drove an hour from his home in Pasadena after hearing about the ILWU action on the radio. He arrived at San Pedro with five fresh apple pies; each was decorated with an American flag and a ‘thank you’ message.

The former truck driver and construction worker said, “All of you are true patriots for what you did today, your courage is inspiring to everyone who wants the war to end.”At Local 19 in Seattle, the docks were quiet and cranes were “boomed-up” – a sign that usually signals a serious tragedy such as a death on the job, but not on May Day.The spirited rally in Seattle capped a two-mile waterfront march that began near the Local 19 union hall. The march was led by Local 19 members, and included representatives from most other Washington ILWU locals. In Portland, several dozen members of Co-lumbia River ILWU locals gathered with peace activists on a floating walkway in Portland to place flowers in the Willamette River that represented more than 4,000 American soldiers killed in Iraq.When asked if he was afraid of getting fired for skipping work to protest the war, Local 8 member Jerry Lawrence told OPB News, “If that’s what they wish to do, then they gotta fire all of us, ‘cause we stand in solidarity.”In Tacoma, Local 23 workers also protested on May Day, and got good media coverage for their strong show of solidarity.Local 54 members in Stockton took the day off to protest the war. At a local May Day rally, teachers, Teamsters, nurses, and Stockton City Councilwoman Susan Eggman joined two veterans who spoke against the war.One of the ILWU’s largest May Day events happened in the San Francisco Bay Area where union members and community supporters gathered at the Local 10 hall until Local 10’s Drill Team members led-off a waterfront march at a smart clip. Longshore workers followed behind with family and friends, passing old piers where longshoremen once loaded ships by hand and fought to establish the ILWU. They passed the Ferry Building and Harry Bridges Plaza near the spot where long-shoremen were gunned-down in 1934.Together they filled the plaza with more than a thousand protestors for a noon rally where Local 34 President Richard Cavalli was one of the first speakers.“This war, like all wars, is killing the sons and daughters of workers. George Bush’s daughters are getting married in the White House while our daughters are getting buried in Iraq. The politicians in office have failed to end this war – and it’s not going to end until we get people into the streets.”

Contributors to this report included Craig Merrilees, Russ Miyashiro, Tom Price, and Jennifer Sargent.Article and photo reprinted with permission from ‘The Dispatcher’, official newspaper of the ILWU, Vol 66, No 6, June 2008See www.ilwu.org for more information.

“We stood up for America, the troops and against the war”


INTERNATIONAL NEWS

South African dockworkers recently turned around a shipment of weapons to the Mugabe regime in Zimbabwe in a soli-darity action that received global support.The China-flagged An Yue Jiang was due to dock in South Africa in April 2008 but port workers and truckers represented by the ITF-affiliated South African Transport and Allied Workers’ Union (SATAWU), refused to unload and transport its cargo of arms.After being turned away from South African ports, the An Yue Jiang attempted to deliver its cargo in other African ports but returned home after unloading a cargo of building materials in Luanda, Angola. The ship is believed to have sailed after refuelling and taking on provisions. Trade unionists, including members of the An-golan port workers’ union, maintained a watch on the ship.SATAWU General Secretary Randall Howard declared “Operation Return to Beijing” successful.“Should SATAWU not have acted we believe that such lethal weapons in an already volatile situation could have been used against the people to impose an undemocratic outcome underpinned by violence and intimidation.” “We will not hesitate to act in any future situations where democracy, social and economic rights are undermined as a revo-lutionary trade union movement,” he said.

The International Transport Workers Federation applauded the action taken by dockers and truckers and called on trans-port unions in the southern African region to remain vigilant and to stand firm.Both SATAWU and the Maritime Union of New Zealand are affiliates of the ITF. The ITF – which tracked the fugitive ship – rubbished claims by the Zimbabwe Government that it was in possession of the arms.The South African dockworkers were of-fered support and congratulations by the Maritime Union of New Zealand and the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions.In a letter to SATAWU, MUNZ General Secretary Trevor Hanson wrote: “The Maritime Union of New Zealand wishes to congratulate the actions of SATAWU dockworker members at the Durban Container Terminal and your road freight members in their action refusing to unload or handle an arms shipment for Zimbabwe.The actions of your members and your union are courageous and are the correct political decision in this difficult situation. Your example of solidarity towards the workers and people of Zimbabwe has the full support of maritime workers in New Zealand.”CTU President Helen Kelly said the stand of the South African dockworkers shows the crucial role unions play internationally in protecting human rights.

“The workers thought it unconscionable to handle goods that were destined for the Mugabe regime, to be used against ordi-nary working people and the democracy movement. But for this stand, these arms would be in Zimbabwe now.”“History shows that the rights to free speech and to organise in unions, although guaranteed by international law, are among the first to go when democracy is subverted or overthrown. Blocking the arms at the port was a sig-nificant act of solidarity with Zimbabwe’s working people and an act that would have the support of many people around the world.”The blockade of the shipment was caused by serious human rights abuses in Zim-babwe, where opposition groups to the Government of President Robert Mugabe have been subject to violence, torture and murder.The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions has been a leading force in opposition to the Government.Former ZCTU leader Morgan Tsvangirai was the leading opposition candidate for the Movement for Democratic Change and claimed victory in elections held earlier in the year, but the current Government has ordered a new runoff election to be held in June.

“Ship of death” turned back by South African dockers

Photo credit Durban Photographer Clinton WynessLicensed by http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 Generic

“We believe that such lethal weapons in an already volatile situation could have been used against the people”


CTU

Election important for workers by Helen Kelly, CTU President

This year's election is an important one for you and all Kiwi workers. It will decide what sort of change New Zealand workers can expect over the next few years.Unions campaign and win on the issues that matter to working people. In this election, the Council of Trade Unions is running a strong campaign to inform you what's at stake for workers in '08.The CTU's election campaign will focus on three key themes: work rights, stronger public services and higher wages. The CTU wants to know where all political parties stand on all three.More importantly, we want to know what they plan to do about them in the future.The last 20 years has seen considerable changes in New Zealand politics that have had a big impact on Kiwi workers and their families. Workers know that governments can make a big difference to their working lives, and we expect a government that will support working people and their families and stand up for people like us.

The last nine years have seen real progress for workers, through things like cheaper doctors visits and prescriptions, state housing income-related rentals, 20 hours free early childhood education, Working for Families tax credits, the rebuilding of key public services and repurchase of national assets like the railways, Kiwi Saver superannuation support, an extra week's annual leave, 14 weeks paid parental leave, time and a half for working on public holidays. This progress needs to continue.The CTU isn't affiliated to any political party and we will work with anyone that supports our goals, but we also weren't born yesterday; we know the difference a government can make to the lives of working people. Take the minimum wage for example – up just 87 cents in National's nine years, and up $5 under nine years of Labour led governments.National has been guarded on their future plans for work rights, saying things won't change much. But last year they admitted that under a National Government employers would have the right to dismiss workers for any reason at all in the first 90 days, workers could be forced to sell their fourth week of annual leave, employers could force workers on to individual agreements, ACC would be privatised, holiday pay could be cut and union rights would be reduced.So there is a lot at stake for workers this election. Make sure you and your friends and family are enrolled to vote, and get involved in the campaign that MUNZ and other unions through the CTU are running this year.


ELECTION

Get ready and vote. It’s as easy as 123.This year is election year – where you get the chance to have your say on who runs the country.Voting is easy. Just follow these three steps.You must enrol if you:• Are a New Zealand citizen or permanent resident; and• Are 18 or older; and• Have lived here continuously for at least one year.

Enrolling is easy. Just fill in an enrolment form.Get one now by:• Freephoning 0800 36 76 56• Freetexting your name and address to 3676• Visiting www.elections.org.nz or www.ivotenz.org.nz• Visiting any PostShopDon’t leave it to the last minute, enrol now and it will make voting easier whenelection day arrives.If you move house once you’re enrolled, you need to update your enrolment de-tails.Take your EasyVote Card with you when you vote. It will make voting easier.You will get an EasyVote card and infor-mation pack in the mail if you enrol in time (by a month before election day).

Enrol to vote

We want your stuff.The Maritimes needs your photos, letters, reports, news, views and opinions.It’s your magazine!If there is something you’d like to see in the Maritimes, send it to the Editor:

Mail PO Box 27004, Wellington, New Zealand Email [email protected] (09) 9251125

Are you up to date?If you are not receiving the Maritimes in the mail, then you are not on the union mailing list for any union mail!All financial members and members of the Veterans’ Association should receive a copy of the Maritimes in the mail.

If not, then contact your branch and Maritime Union membershipPO Box 27004Wellingtonwith your new address

If you don’t have an EasyVote card you can still vote.On election day, there will be a polling place near you. You can vote in advanceif you can’t get to a polling place in your electorate on election day.You will need to give a reason why you’re voting in advance.Election staff will be available to help if you need it or you can take a friend or relation along with you.

You have two votesYour two votes help decide who represents us in Parliament.Each voter has a party vote and an electorate vote.Your party vote helps decide how many seats each party gets.The more party votes a party gets, the more MPs it will have in Parliament. Every voter has the same selection of parties to choose from.Your electorate vote helps decide who becomes your local MP. The candidatewho gets the most votes wins the seat.

Spread the word. Tell your friends and family how easy it is to get ready and vote.

For voting and enrolling information in other languages go to www.elections.org.nz


CAFCA

by Victor Billot

What is CAFCA?The Campaign against Foreign Control of Aotearoa (CAFCA) has a history of as-sociation with maritime workers through the former Seafarers’ Union, and has more recently been an outspoken advocate of causes such as public ownership of ports and rail. The Maritimes spoke to organizer Murray Horton recently to find out more about what the group stands for.CAFCA is a Christchurch-based New Zea-land organization that has existed since the 1970s, says Horton. “We aim to oppose and expose foreign control of New Zealand. We’re not inter-ested in immigration. Please don’t confuse us with New Zealand First. CAFCA con-centrates on economic issues.”

What kind of foreign control?I ask Horton, “What exactly is the problem with foreign control?”“One is the word control. Are we renters or owners?” he answers.“Global corporations can’t take a country away. But they can buy it out and milk it as a landlord.”Without ownership of key assets, he be-lieves New Zealand is no longer in control of its own destiny.

“The great majority of foreign ‘investment’ is actually a takeover. Look at the railways. No investment there. They were asset-stripped and run into the ground.”Horton says that TNCs (Trans National Corporations) make massive profit out of New Zealand, which is then exported overseas.“In the decade to 2006, TNCs made $50.3 billion profit from New Zealand, and only 32% of that was reinvested. The money leaves the country.”He says that foreign investment does not guarantee jobs.“There are a number of myths around, that we ‘need’ their money, that they ‘create’ jobs and that we need to sell off assets to pay off debt. In 1984 total debt was $16 billion. By 2006 we had $182 billion debt, after all the asset sales.”

Free tradeCAFCA sees free trade deals as part of the problem.Horton says that free trade “favours the powerful.” He says that since the Roger Douglas era, politicians have rushed head-long into a pure free market system.Most of the free trade agreements, includ-ing the new P4 agreement of Pacific Rim countries, are part of a global free invest-ment agreement.“The equivalent in the 1990s, the MAI (Mul-tilateral Agreement on Investments) was defeated by the people of this country.”

Horton says he believes the P4 is a back door free trade and investment agreement with the United States.“Control of land ownership, ACC, Fishing quotas, Pharmac – all these things could be up for grabs.”Free trade influences who own New Zea-land, says Horton.“This has a big impact on jobs. Just look at manufacturing. The so-called ‘smart economy’ is just bullshit. What we’ve got is a race to the bottom where capital (business) moves on to the lowest common denominator.”

Keep Our Port PublicCAFCA was a moving force behind the setting up of Keep Our Port Public, the campaign to keep the port of Lyttelton in public hands following an attempt to sell it off to an overseas corporation in 2006.Both the Maritime Union and Rail and Maritime Transport Union are support-ers of the campaign, as well as the Greens and the Alliance Party. Local Labour and Progressive MPs also spoke out against the proposed sale.“The Christchurch City Council wanted to flog it off to Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH.)”Horton says the local ownership of the port means that dividends are returned to the local community who are the owners, decisions affecting the port would be made locally, and a local workforce would be retained.“CAFCA doesn’t fly a flag for New Zealand capitalism – we don’t support corporatization.”

To check out CAFCA online, see http://canterbury.cyberplace.org.nz/community/CAFCA/ or visit their blog at http://www.watchblogaotearoa.blogspot.com/

The Keep Our Port Public website is at http://www.keepourportpublic.org

New Zealand: Not for sale Interview with Murray Horton of CAFCA

CAFCA organizer Murray Horton (in denim jacket) on the tug Canterbury at Port of Lyttelton at the July 2007 launch of CAFCA’s Public Ownership Pledge (photo by Paul Corliss)

Public ownership campaignThis issue of the Maritimes includes two postcards from CAFCA. These can be sent to local politicians to let them know if you disagree with privatization and sell offs of New Zealand assets.One is freepost and can be sent to you local MP c/o Parliament Buildings, Wellington.The other requires a stamp and can be sent to a local parliamentary candidate.


BRANCH CONTACTS

Matariki Forest by Grahame McLaren ITF co-ordinatorTauranga branch officials and ITF inspec-tors Eddie Cook and Peter Harvey visited the Matariki Forest in May after learning of problems with a crew member getting some compassionate leave.They met with the Chief Officer of the ves-sel who needed to travel home to attend his mother’s funeral.The Captain of the Matariki Forest rang the owner in Japan, who at first was reluctant to agree with sending the Chief Officer home to the Philippines.The situation was outlined to the owner, along with the problems that would occur if it was not resolved.The officials contacted the agent as well and explained the problem to him. At first he wouldn’t agree to anything at all, but was finally convinced that the problem would not go away and the Chief Officer ought to be sent home as soon as possible.The Chief Officer had finished his time eight months and three days and looked really bad after what had happened at home.The ITF sorted out his wages and paper-work and arrangements were made to fly him home.The officer was dropped off at the airport, he got one month’s pay that was owing to him and will receive the rest from the Philippines when he gets home, which he agreed to and is company policy.The Captain did offer a solution that the other officers would cover his shifts until his relief came on board so he could go home.The Captain and all the crew were very helpful and the Chief Officer was very happy and relieved, according to Eddie and Peter, who left their ITF contact details in case of any future problems.Overall a good result for everyone in-volved.

ITF co-ordinator Grahame McLaren

Errata – InterportIn the last edition of the Maritimes, we printed a wrong result for the Interport 2008 fishing in the Kahawai section – Tony Townsend of Timaru came first with a 2.6kg catch followed by Fred Salelea with a 2.4kg catch.

WISF Fund Director moves onHaving been associated with the Water-front Industry Superannuation Fund for over 22 years, Susan Leuchars formally completed her duties as Fund Director on 11 April 2008.To assist in the smooth hand over of duties to her replacement, Susan continued in an advisory role until 23 May.At the board of trustees meeting held on 6 May 2008, WISF chairman David Young took the opportunity of thanking Susan for her professionalism and competence in managing the affairs of the fund over that period. Mr Young also expressed his personal appreciation for the assistance and counsel Susan had given him in his role as Chairman.Susan had overseen many changes to the Waterfront Industry Superannuation Fund, some of which have been enforced through legislation and other changes brought about by the mutual desire of employer and union trustees.The Board of Trustees on behalf of mem-bers and beneficiaries expressed their gratitude to Susan and wished her well in her future endeavours.

TS Vindicatrix “Down Under Reunion” 2008Invitations are out for the 8th annual TS Vindicatrix “down under Reunion” to be held in Christchurch from 31 October to 2 November 2008.The Vindicatrix Association (South Island New Zealand) are hosting the event which is to be held at the Woolston Club in South Christchurch.A full programme over the three days includes a buffet dinner, harbour cruise, dancing, entertainment and bowling.For more information please contact:Harry Pemberton, Treasurer15 Carmana GardensRangioraNorth CanterburyNew ZealandEmail: [email protected]

WhangareiMobile: 021 855121Fax: 09 459 4972Address: PO Box 397, Whangarei Email: [email protected] Auckland SeafarersPhone: 09 3032 562 Fax: 09 3790 766Mobile: 021 326261 Address: PO Box 1840, AucklandEmail: [email protected]

Auckland Local 13Phone: 09 3034 652 Fax: 09 3096 851Mobile: 021 760887Address: PO Box 2645, AucklandEmail: [email protected]

Mount MaunganuiPhone: 07 5755 668 Fax: 07 5759 043Mobile: 0274 782308Address: PO Box 5121, Mt. MaunganuiEmail: [email protected]

Gisborne Local 38 Mobile: 025 6499697Address: 5 Murphy Road,GisborneEmail: [email protected]

New PlymouthMobile: 021 479269Address: PO Box 659, New PlymouthEmail: [email protected]

NapierPhone/Fax: 06 8358 622Mobile: 027 6175441Address: PO Box 70, NapierEmail: [email protected]

Wellington SeafarersPhone: 04 3859 288 Fax: 04 3848 766Mobile: 021 364649Address: PO Box 27004, WellingtonEmail: [email protected]

Wellington WaterfrontPhone: 04 8017 619 Fax: 04 3848 766Mobile: 021 606379Address: PO Box 2773, WellingtonEmail: [email protected]

Wellington Stores and Warehouse Local 21Phone: 04 3859 520 Fax: 04 3848 766Address: PO Box 27004, Wellington

NelsonFax: 03 5472104Mobile: 027 6222691Address: PO Box 5016, NelsonEmail: [email protected]

Lyttelton Local 43Phone: 03 3288 306 Fax: 03 3288 798Mobile: 0274 329620Address: PO Box 29, LytteltonEmail: [email protected] TimaruPhone/Fax: 03 6843 364Mobile: 021 2991091Address: PO Box 813, Timaru Port Chalmers Dunedin Local 10Phone: 03 4728 052 Fax: 03 4727 492Mobile: 0274 377601Address: PO Box 44, Port ChalmersEmail: [email protected]

BluffPhone/Fax: 03 2128 189Mobile: 027 4475317Address: PO Box 5, BluffEmail: [email protected]


MUA CONFERENCE 2008

By Trevor Hanson General Secretary

Friends and comrades,Firstly, on behalf of the Maritime Union of New Zealand and its membership, thank you for the opportunity to have so many of our members present at this truly inter-national conference.Since the last Maritime Union of Australia conference, your union has seen many changes. The introduction of the Howard industrial legislation meant all Australian Unions faced the greatest threat of a generation.The MUA played a central role in taking on the Howard Government. The dedicated union campaign in the 2007 Australian election rolled the Howard Government and their anti-union indus-trial legislation.This was a major achievement and all Australian workers must reflect with pride on the fact you won the battle.However, as you will understand, the job is not finished yet. After the return of Labour-led coalition Government in New Zealand in 1999, we have had to battle for nine years in order to roll back the worst excesses of the Em-ployment Contracts Act. The ECA was our equivalent of Work-Choices, introduced by a National Govern-ment in 1991. Its effects are still being felt to this day, most strongly in the high level of casualization and low wages in the New Zealand economy.

Our union has never overcome some of the effects of deregulation. The introduction of port reform in the 1980s was promoted as a modernization of ports which would benefit workers as well as profits. Of course, it was simply part of the right-wing economic agenda that then domi-nated both major parties.One of the major impacts of the 1991 Employment Contracts Act was the reg-istration of company unions or “yellow unions”. These organizations are legally correct but do not operate as unions in any meaning-ful way.Our industrial battle with companies oper-ating yellow unions has been ongoing for over a decade, leading to major industrial conflict in most New Zealand ports. The death of Christine Clark, a community supporter on a picket in Lyttelton in 1999, shortly after the defeat of the National Government, was a tragic end to the decade in which the working class of New Zealand received an economic and social battering.This situation was made worse by casuali-zation, extreme competition and deregula-tion in the maritime industry.The Maritime Union has pursued indus-trial and political strategies to combat this situation, and has also used community campaigning to a limited degree.We have advocated the tightening up of the law on yellow unions but after the initial reforming zeal of the 1999 Labour Govern-

ment, there has been a reluctance to extend our current employment legislation. We have recently had some success on the industrial front in dealing with this situa-tion however.

Port of Napier disputeThese events led to the most serious attack yet late last year. This situation was the Port of Napier dispute.In October 2007 we received warning that the Port of Napier was going to contract out all stevedoring work in their container terminal to yellow union company ISO. Essentially the Port Company was going to use contracting out as the method to deunionize their port. Work would be funnelled towards the scab stevedore, thereby starving out unionized stevedores.This situation, if permitted, would have been the death knell for unionized ste-vedoring in New Zealand, as other port companies were no doubt watching devel-opments closely.The Maritime Union immediately started organizing a national response.Our national officials visited the port and its workers and entered into talks with the Port Company.We contacted Paddy Crumlin in his capacity of Secretary of the MUA and ITF Dockworkers’ Chairman, along with ITF Seafarers’ Secretary Steve Cotton and ITF Dockworkers’ Secretary Frank Leys. Their work in the international arena was to be the vital link in our victory in this dispute, along with the intervention of the German unions with maritime connections through the ITF.Closer to home, the New Zealand Coun-cil of Trades Union passed a unanimous resolution of support.We set up lines of communication for shipping companies, many of whom were concerned at the lack of notification from the Port Company of their plans, and the resulting disruption to their own interests.On 6 December the Maritime Union and the Rail and Maritime Transport Union were injuncted to stop us placing a picket at the Port of Napier. The Company was convinced we were go-ing to place a picket on 10 December.The RMTU was also under threat of injunction because they were refusing to train ISO employees. The court ruled against the Napier Port Company because the union had done nothing wrong, but the judges ruling al-lowed the Port Company to go back to the court, when and if we did.

Maritime Union of New Zealand address to 2008 MUA Conference


MUA CONFERENCE 2008

As planned we placed our pickets on Sat-urday 17 December. Due to the injunctions, a heavy police presence and historical damages claims that are hanging over our heads, we did not engage in hard pickets and instead maintained a light picket.We were joined by four rank and file and one official from the Maritime Union of Australia, who flew in at short notice. Over the next few days, Dave Schleibs, Joe Deakin, Joe Carr, Paul Petersen and Steve Husband, were a constant part of the picket, doing media interviews, and boost-ing up the morale of our members.Also we had a visit later in the week from Mick Canning, who dropped off a solidar-ity flag from the WA branch of the MUA and spent some time on the picket.We can say that the MUA was well and truly represented by this delegation who more than lived up to the great traditions of your Union. The RMTU refused to cross our picket until they were forced by injunction to do so. They were escorted through the picket line and thanked for their stand. The attempt to “divide and rule” by the company was proving to be a failure. The port company was probably begin-ning to experience some concerns at this stage that their little anti-union operation was leading to unexpected consequences.We ran a strong community-focussed cam-paign too, learning from your example.The dispute became a high profile local event and we used the media and public-ity to full effect, including an email cam-paign that was set up for us by London-based organization Labourstart.The turning point in the dispute came late on the evening of Wednesday 19 December.MUA Secretary Paddy Crumlin had ex-plained our situation to the international which had led to solidarity actions by global transport unions.This support meant pressure coming on shipping companies from international transport unions not to work in the port.The first victory was when the Hapag-Lloyd vessel “Canberra Express” left the Port of Napier for Melbourne unworked. The Master of the ship had earlier request-ed tugs and lines as the owners wanted the vessel to leave the port.We understand the CEO of the Port of Napier refused to let the vessel go as he was so desperate to get it worked by scab labour. At this stage, further union support was building.The CTU President Helen Kelly came to Napier to assist the mediation process.The arrogance of the Port Company was fast dissolving and they were hanging their hat on a vessel called the “Kakapo Chief”, due to arrive on Friday. Their plan was to work the ship with scab labour and try and provoke a confrontation.We had heard through the grapevine that a substantial contingent of riot police had been lined up for such an event.

However, due to our negotiations, ship-pers agreed that they only wanted union labour on their ships. They had no interest in becoming embroiled in a dispute that had no benefit for them.The “Kakapo Chief” situation was solved when the owners were contacted by MUA official Rick Newlyn, and took the same position as other shippers. As Garry Parsloe noted at the time, the Port of Napier was rapidly becoming an unu-sual kind of port – a port with no ships.After final discussions with the Port Com-pany, a solution was reached on Friday 21 December. The port company would allow shippers coming into the Port of Napier to choose their stevedore. The port company would continue to pro-mote ISO as their preferred scab stevedore but this meant little as shippers chose not to use this stevedore.The union agreed to tidy up some work practices around the port to get it over the line. Officials went down to the picket line around 3pm to break the good news. Thus concluded the Port of Napier dispute.In my experience, this was one of the finest examples of international solidarity that the maritime industry has seen. We can say this result went beyond the retention of union jobs in a medium-sized New Zealand port. It also sent a strong message that the maritime workers are well-organized and have strong international links that we can call upon.On behalf of the Maritime Union of New Zealand, and especially the members of our Napier Branch, we thank the MUA for their timely and generous help.The solidarity donations that came from MUA branches went towards assisting our casuals who stood firm for the entire dis-pute, despite the pressure of coming up to Christmas and New Year with the prospect of unemployment.This dispute demonstrated the long-term solidarity between our two unions through the Trans Tasman Federation.

Political situationAll unions in New Zealand are conscious that the 2008 election in New Zealand is crucial for workers. The current political situation sees the conservative opposition National leading the Labour Government in polls. Third parties occupy an important role in our MMP proportional voting system and the Green Party has maintained steady support.Despite a strong upturn in commodity pric-es with our dairy industry, there is every sign that we face an economic slowdown, with problems including an over-inflated housing market and excessive debt.The small recovery we have seen in wage rates is due to a recently buoyant economy and modest rises in the minimum wage.

There have been a number of incremental policies that have benefited workers in New Zealand. Yet the fact remains that inequality in wealth has increased in New Zealand and the wage difference between our two countries has continued to widen.The effect of a new National Government in this mix would be disastrous. The National Party have learned from previous mistakes. Their new leader John Key has been clever enough to present a moderate face and only go on the attack on issues like tax cuts when there has been a failure to build a strong political case pointing out the effects of tax cuts on public services and wealth distribution.Despite their current difficulties, my view is that Helen Clark will be returned as Prime Minister for a historic fourth term of the Labour Government. However this will require coalition part-ners, and some strong support from the union movement.

OffshoreThe close relationship between our two unions in the seafaring sector continues to grow and strengthen in the offshore industry.The reality in our offshore industries is that we act as one, in what I see as a suc-cess story of international unionism. Currently our offshore work within New Zealand waters is increasing.

[continued next page]

“The Napier dispute demonstrated the long term solidarity between our two unions through the Trans Tasman Federation”


MUA CONFERENCE 2008

[continued from previous page]The Southern Basin is expected to be a major area of offshore oil exploration with positive implications for our seafarers and southern ports.The challenge to our two unions will be our ability to provide sufficient trained crews. The lack of training and induction of younger seafarers has been a major is-sue in New Zealand.

Coastal shippingCoastal Shipping in New Zealand has been an ongoing struggle since 1994 saw deregu-lation in New Zealand coastal shipping.There has been a continual decline in New Zealand owned and operated coastal ship-ping and crews until recently when we seem to have stabilized.The past three years have seen good agree-ments, with good increases in remunera-tion and conditions being negotiated. There has finally been a recognition by the coastal shippers of the need for trainees, which has seen the employment of 20-30 new trainees in the industry.Both the Maritime Union and the New Zealand shipping industry have pressed the Government on various methods to rebuild coastal shipping. Coastal shipping has really been the poor cousin as far as transport modes go. One can only wonder as our transport sys-tem has moved into road-based logistics at a time when environmental and peak oil issues are reaching crisis point.In the last few years, we have seen several shipping reviews based around the Gov-ernment’s transport strategy – which is an improvement on the 1990s when there was no strategy.The most recent Minister of Transport An-nette King seems to have a stronger under-standing and interest in our industry. The unsustainable oil-based transport sys-tem is moving into a period of decline and fuel-efficient modes such as shipping and rail will soon start to regenerate. Intelligent investment and forward plan-ning by the state in developing these modes is vital.The current New Zealand InterIsland ferry fleet on the Cook Strait continues to be a major employer in our industry, with 480 union members. This is a competitive trade with two opera-tors Toll and Strait each running three vessels. After initial skirmishes with both companies, the union has comparable agreements with both companies.Other areas that we have been active in over the past three years have included the fishing industry, which reached a low in terms of employment conditions and treat-ment of crews.The Maritime Union, while not represent-ing fishing crews, became involved because no one else was taking care of this area. The effects of what was going on in the fishing industry threatened to spill over into the wider maritime industry.

When foreign crews approached our union and the ITF for assistance, we mounted ongoing pressure which resulted in guar-antees that foreign crews will be paid New Zealand minimum rates rising over the next few years. Our intervention has also ensured that standards and conditions in the industry have been raised, and the authorities are taking a more active role in enforcing the rules and regulations that were previously ignored by rogue operators. We note the ITF have recently highlighted the area of fishing crews and are cam-paigning on this issue.

Port ownershipThe structure of the New Zealand port industry continues to undermine the ef-fectiveness of our economy.Most New Zealand ports are owned through local government, with some a mix of private and public ownership. The structural problem is the large number of relatively small ports, and the buzzword on the lips of industry pundits has been “rationalization.”Some ports will become small feeder ports and others will become hub ports.The danger is this process being left to the usual mix of market forces, that is the self-interest of private investors, the divide and rule appoach of the shipping compa-nies, and the right-wing bureaucrats who seem to hold the real power in many local government operations.We could see a bad result here. A com-petitive frenzy will lead to duplication of infrastructure, and a protracted and dam-aging battle for supremacy, all of which endangers the unity of maritime workers.The obvious answer lies in a process where the state leads and negotiates the next stage of development. An ownership role by the Government is one possibility. Obviously some ports will become hubs and others will become feeder ports, and it is best this process is managed to minimize the disruption.Destructive wars between port companies, such as we see between Auckland and Tau-ranga, benefit no-one except the shipping companies who squeeze margins to unsus-tainable levels that harm the industry.In the meantime, an issue that continues to raise its head is privatization of ports and the involvement of global operators.An attempted public-private deal between the Port of Lyttelton and Hutchinson Whampoa in 2006 would have seen local control of the port vanish.Due to a last minute investment by com-petitor Port of Otago and a high profile community campaign against the sale, the deal fell through.However, concerns have been raised this year that the Christchurch City Council, who are majority owners of the Port of Lyttelton, are quietly extending their shareholding as a precursor to another privatization drive.

Industrial eventsThe Ports of Auckland saw a major three-day stoppage in late 2007. One of our largest and strongest branches Local 13 en-gaged the port company here on wages and conditions. Negotiations are continuing.The major industrial dispute of the last several years would be the 2006 Progres-sive Dispute where this Australian-based transnational engaged in a heavy hitting industrial battle with the National Distri-bution Union. Progressive own some major supermarket chains in New Zealand. Many workers in the service sector earn just over the NZ minimum wage which has recently increased to $12 per hour. The Progressive dispute saw a great deal of support from Australian unions (nota-bly the MUA) which had a major impact in getting a good result here for the workers.Australian-owned multinationals seem to be an ongoing theme in New Zealand.The Service and Food Workers’ Union engaged with Spotless in 2007, and suc-ceeded in pushing up wages for laundry and cleaning workers.Earlier this year the NDU led industrial action at Bunnings, which is owned by Australia’s richest company, Wesfarmers. Bunnings New Zealand workers were starting on $12.00 an hour, while their co-workers in Australia start on a union rate of NZ$18.44 an hour, which will increase to NZ$19 an hour in July.So the low-wage issue is a key focus for unions in New Zealand. The other major development on the New Zealand union front is a three-way amal-gamation of the Service and Food Workers’ Union, National Distribution Union and UNITE Union.The New Zealand Council of Trade Unions held its biennial Conference in October 2007, which saw the retirement of CTU President Ross Wilson and the election of Helen Kelly into this position. Helen has already proved herself with her active role in our Napier dispute and we believe she will providing strong leader-ship to the New Zealand union movement at a crucial time.

Free tradeNew Zealand is about to embark on an unprecedented free trade deal with China.This agreement has been aggressively pur-sued by the Labour Government in order to secure tariff-free entry for our agricul-tural products. The Maritime Union has continued to speak out on our concerns with free trade, including the possibility of short-term, casual labour being imported that will undermine wages and conditions.To be frank, we are disappointed with the lack of critical analysis or even interest that has come from the union movement on free trade.


MUA CONFERENCE 2008

The deals themselves are conducted behind closed doors without any input outside the inner levels of government and the bureaucracy.This is an issue where the Maritime Union are on a different page from the Govern-ment. Both Labour and National are work-ing together to promote free trade deals and we believe that this is a bad sign.Political opposition has been limited, largely coming from smaller parties such as the Greens and Alliance, and a few small pressure groups. We note there has been much stronger re-sistance and debate over free trade issues in Australia.The Maritime Union will continue to ask hard questions, and we are lobbying politicians and educating our membership, but without the wider public engagement and debate about this issue it is likely that further free trade deals will be signed.The sad fact is that virtually no one under-stands the long term implications that can come with these free trade deals. Discussion is limited to the business pages where free trade is still the holy grail for the corporate elite.Whether economic integration with coun-tries such as China will be good for future generations is yet to be seen. As before, we know that it will be the working class who bear the brunt when things go wrong.

ConclusionTo conclude, I would note that the issues that face unions here in Australia and in New Zealand are similar, although the mix of those issues are different.Politically, we face a major battle to return a government that will listen to the con-cerns of workers.Industrially, the key problems for New Zealand are low wages and casualization, which work together to blight the lives of the most vulnerable workers.In the maritime industry, we see strong conditions in the offshore and a potential turnaround in coastal shipping. Yellow unions and the failures of a self-destructively competitive and deregulated port industry are the two big challenges on the waterfront.To look into the future, I would make some general predictions.There will be increasing pressure for globalized capitalism to use free trade, and cross-border labour, to attack wages and conditions.Cheap fossil fuels are running out, which will have major implications for us all. While the impact on society of “peak oil” will be disruptive and negative, it may mean substantial growth in the maritime industry. This will be based on the energy efficiency of shipping, and the growth in offshore work in oil and gas fields in our waters.

Rapid developments in technology in our industry will mean a growing level of education, training and skills are required by maritime workers. Perhaps the greatest challenge will be to maintain our core union values of solidar-ity and the collective good in the face of a social environment where short term thinking and individual self-interest are dominant. Maritime workers have always been at the forefront of fighting for workers rights, internationalism and solidarity. This conference itself shows the strength and power of those concepts. Over the years the support which we have received from our Australian comrades has been consistent, immediate and gener-ous. The leadership role the Maritime Union of Australia has played in the wider union movement is a major one and we are proud to share such close historical ties with you.The relationship between our two unions is a strong one and will continue to be a strong one.The Maritime Union of New Zealand once again brings to you our fraternal greetings and best wishes to our brothers and sisters of a great union, the Maritime Union of Australia.

MUNZ delegates at the MUA National Conference, standing from left: National President Phil Adams, Richard Rankin (Tauranga), Craig Harrison (Local 13), Carl Findlay (Local 13), General Secretary Trevor Hanson, Joe Fleetwood (Wellington Seafarers), National Vice-President Garry Parsloe, Terry Ryan (Veterans), Henry NeeNee (Local 13), sitting from left: Peter Davis (Auckland Seafarers), Ray Fife (Bluff), Communications Officer Victor Billot, Mike Clarke (Wellington Seafarers), Assistant General Secretary Russell Mayn


MINING & MARITIME CONFERENCE

by Garry Parsloe National Vice President Maritime Union of New Zealand

For a full five days, 6-11 April 2008, some twenty eight officials and delegates of MUNZ attended the Maritime Union of Australia Conference. This was a most positive and informative Conference which I am sure every member of MUNZ would have taken something positive out of.The following week on Monday 14 April and Tuesday 15 April 2008, National Assistant Secretary Russell Mayn, Craig Harrison of Local 13, Peter Davis of the Auckland Seafarers Branch and myself all attended the Mining and Maritime Confer-ence at the Sydney Conference Centre.There was a massive turnout of interna-tional union leaders and rank and file del-egates, who participated in all the sessions and panel discussions.It was a great full-on two days with everyone getting involved and making a contribution.The conference concluded with the “Syd-ney Draft Declaration” which encapsu-lates the findings from the conference as follows:

Sydney Draft Declaration: Think Globally and Act Locally

IntroductionWe are trade union leaders and rank and file members representing in excess of five million workers in the mining, maritime, manufacturing, road and rail transport, energy and construction industries.We are from Australia, New Zealand, Ger-many, South Africa, USA, Japan, England, Switzerland, East Timor, Canada, Vanuatu, China, United Kingdom, Denmark, Bel-gium, Papua New Guinea and Sweden.We, having gathered in Sydney Australia on 14 and 15 April 2008 to consider the previous Newcastle and Long Beach Dec-larations and to develop a positive plan of action in response to globalisation, to respond to changes in the global financial system and to the impacts on workers in response to climate change.We have delivered on previous commit-ments to consolidate Regional Committees and have created education programs through the DITSELA project to educate rank and file members.The International Committee meets on a regular and systematic basis and we have now grown to eight sponsoring unions who continue to fund and organise this network and progress agreed actions.

Report BackWe are initiating a work plan going forward involving all key unions in the global supply chains to assist each other in protecting workers’ rights to organise and collectively bargain and to help those who seek our assistance to achieve basic work-ers and human rights.

Fighting violence against workersViolence and intimidation against work-ers and trade union leaders have escalated with most recent attacks on workers in Burma, Mexico, India, Zimbabwe, Colom-bia, Peru, Iran, Guatemala, Philippines, Chile and many others and the prosecu-tion of union leaders in pursuit of workers’ rights in Australia and around the world.We condemn these attacks and we are building global solidarity to progress the international trade union response to these atrocities. We commit to expose these Multi National Corporations (MNCs) and their crimes against individual workers and their unions.We pledge our support for the people of Western Sahara to be given an opportunity for self-determination through a referen-dum as outlined by the United Nations Security Council Resolution.

Mining and Maritime Conference

At the MUA National Conference, from left: MUNZ National Vice President Garry Parsloe, RMT (UK) National Secretary Steve Todd, RMT (UK) General Secretary Bob Crow, MUNZ Auckland Seafarers Vice President John O’Neill


MINING & MARITIME CONFERENCE

WomenWe acknowledge the crucial participation of women and we declare that we will:• Increase the numbers of women at the next Mining and Maritime Conference to reach or exceed the 10% participation target.• We will share the contact details of the responsible women’s officers of all affili-ated unions so we may convene a telecon-ference immediately to forge a network and work towards our global initiative and in particular concerns of women.• We will condemn any harassment, bul-lying or violence towards women in all areas and use our networks to aid in this agenda.

Action PlanHaving deliberated and extensively dis-cussed how we build on our commitment to counter the impact of MNCs and capital globalisation on our members and our families and the very fabric of our union global solidarity, we are committed to a program of action and activism based on effective national and international trade union organisation.

We are specifically committed to:• Working together nationally, regionally and globally in our sectors in ways that leverage our representation of work-ers across the supply chain in order to improve our members’ contracts, organ-ize new members and benefit all workers through effective communication and organisation.• Use the popular education pamphlets launched at this conference to educate our members about this initiative and about the importance of solidarity among work-ers and unions along the supply chain.• Campaign jointly to ensure key mining, transport, energy and maritime companies such as BHP, Xstrata, Maersk, Rio Tinto, Peabody, and Grupo Mexico respect trade union and labour rights to organise and bargain for decent work outcomes.• Campaign jointly around key issues for all workers including occupational health and safety standards and job security.• Include a shareholder component in these campaigns through possible joint actions at these key companies’ annual shareholders’ meetings, use of superan-nuation funds and other possible workers’ capital to ensure labour values and rights are recognised.• Build links with community, environ-mental and other organizations in pursu-ing the aims of this initiative.• Learn from the experience of the Austral-ian unions’ world-renowned “YourRights at Work Campaign” that ousted the brutally anti-worker HowardGovernment through the active engage-ment of labour and communitypolitical strategies and activism.

• Continue to publish the Global Links Newsletter and develop web-based tools to further this initiative.• Designate staff or officers who will serve as contact points for their respective unions and who will engage in ongoing communication, coordination and collabo-ration with other participating unions to further the aims of this initiative.• Engage with and involve Global Union Federations - particularly ICEM, ITF and IMF together with the ITUC - in develop-ing this and other international effective organising initiatives.• Engage with other trade union network-ing and organising initiatives to ensure maximum communication assisting organ-ising capacity within nations, regions and internationally.• Continue to build on our work with and involvement of women, youth and pen-sioners in building stronger and more rep-resentative organisations and campaigns.• Consideration be given to the plan-ning and convening of a 4th Mining and Maritime Seminar with the objective of convening in 2010 in South Africa • A detailed report back on the above Ac-tion Plan will form an essential component of the next Global Solidarity Seminar.

To achieve this requires a strong commit-ment from the regional committees backed by strong and militant unions and action wherever practical.

The Mining and Maritime Network now has the direction and commitment from all the partners in Mining and Maritime sectors to mobilise against the power and ownership of MNC’s and private global equity funds.We are committed to establish and further enhance regional committees where they currently apply and empower them to develop other regional committees where they currently do not exist.

ConclusionThe Newcastle Declaration brought the chain to the table, the Long Beach Declara-tion added links to the chain and the Syd-ney Declaration will put that chain to the test in defending workers rights globally by robust and decisive action where called upon and necessary.As you can see by all the above this confer-ence has set us on course for continuing our achievements and further strengthen and extend the chain of global links and solidarity.

At the MUA National Conference, from left: MUNZ National Vice President Garry Parsloe with FNV Bondgenoten (Netherlands trade union) delegate Neik Stam


MUA CONFERENCE 2008

By Wellington Seafarers President Mike Clark with Wellington Branch Secretary Joe Fleetwood

In early April I was fortunate to attend the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) con-ference in Australia, along with Maritime Union of New Zealand Wellington branch members.Trevor Hanson, Joe Fleetwood, Tony Mow-bray, Barry Millington, Marion Leslie, and Mike Shakespeare, together with members from various other New Zealand ports, attended the conference.We arrived in Sydney on the morning of Saturday 5 April, where we were met by MUA Sydney branch members and whisked off to our hotels. Our hotel was strategically positioned on the corner of Sussex and Liverpool Street in close prox-imity to the union rooms.On Sunday all of the Wellington branch attended the one-day Women’s Conference at the union rooms, where we received a warm welcome from the delegates. The MUA National Secretary Paddy Crumlin proceedings, followed by speak-ers including our own Marion Leslie, who gave a comprehensive insight of the issues confronting women workers in the mari-time industry both onshore and afloat.The pleasing aspect was the amount of ground covered on both the national and international front by such a small part of the union in such a short time frame. In my mind, one day is simply not enough time.

Day 1, Monday 7 April On Monday 7 April, more than 130 in-ternational labour leaders from Europe, Africa, North America, South America and the Pacific joined forces with 300 MUA delegates, officers and staff for the MUA conference. We were given a warm Aboriginal wel-come to the country followed by a video, and the opening of the conference.ALP National Secretary Tim Gartnell spoke on the Rudd Government’s plan for Australia, followed by MUA’s National Secretary Paddy Crumlin on organising nationally and internationally. The open-ing was followed by lunch and the launch of the Tas Bull auction.After lunch, the speakers included General President CFMEU Mining and Energy Tony Maher, Secretary Unions N.S.W. John Robertson and Paddy Crumlin, on working with Labor in power. International speakers included General Secretary RMT (UK) Bob Crow, President of the ILWU Bob McEllrath and President of SATAWU Ezrom Mabyana, who each spoke on the issues their unions are facing in their own countries and the importance of international solidarity. This was a point not lost on the New Zealand delegates as the recent Napier port dispute would not have been easy won without our Trans-Tasman comrades and the input of Paddy Crumlin in his role with the ITF.

In the evening, the Women’s Committee Welcome to Conference Dinner was held at the NSW Bowling Club, where we had a productive night meeting other delegates and were entertained with a lively auction.

Day 2, Tuesday 8 AprilTuesday was another full day with regis-tration at 0800 before kick off at 0830 with MUA Deputy National Secretary Jim Tan-nock, who talked about financial member-ship and securing membership capability into the future. This was followed by MUA Associate National Secretary Mick Doleman, on growing the influence and power of the MUA nationally and internationally. Rick Newlyn then spoke on the importance of branch organization and integrating the union to protect the future. Next were international speakers, includ-ing Dave Heindel Secretary/Treasurer of the S.I.U. (the American equivalent of the old New Zealand Seafarers Union) and Assistant General Organizer of the International Longshore Association (ILA) John Baker, who told the delegates present about the struggles unions face in Ameri-can society today. After lunch was the launch of the art exhibition and the book “The Charleston Five” – an insight into the jailing of five members of the ILA last century.The afternoon was an optional tour of the Sydney wharves, followed by the Labor-fest launch at the Maritime Museum in the evening. At the Laborfest launch we enjoyed excerpts of a play commemorating the 1996 Patricks dispute, and the unveil-ing of the mural which once stood in the old Sydney union rooms.

Day 3, Wednesday 9 AprilOn Wednesday there was a 10am start due to registration and resolution workgroups. The rest of the morning was taken up with various individual speakers on the subject of working with other unions. Among the speakers were ACTU official Jeff Lawrence, AWU National Secretary Paul Howes, who is one of the young-est officials present at 28 years old, TWU Federal Secretary Tony Sheldon, and Tony Maher of the CFMEU, who kept the del-egates alert with his lively and humourous oratory skills. Keynote speaker and Deputy Prime Minis-ter the Honourable Julia Gillard delivered an address on the government’s industrial and economic strategies.The afternoon sessions saw a report from ITF Co-ordinator Dean Summers and Ali Memon from the German unions. Dean spoke on the concentrated effort by the ITF against the German shipowner Leonhardt and Blumberg which has resulted in 27 of their ships now under an ITF agreement and is a fantastic result.

MUA conference report


MUA CONFERENCE 2008

His speech was followed by representa-tives from the Maritime Officers and Engineers Unions, and the Honourable Anthony Albanese MP on the Govern-ment’s infrastructure and transport plan for Australia. In the evening was the Patricks 10 Year Anniversary Dinner, which was a mas-sive event with speakers including former Labor Party leader Kim Beazley.Thanks must go to the organising commit-tee for this event which must have been a logistical nightmare as there would have been close to 1000 people attending.

Day 4, Thursday 10 April Kick off Thursday was notable for some absenteeism due to the conference dinner the night before. Niek Stam of FNW started the day with ports of convenience, ITF Dockers’ Secre-tary Frank Leys on Strasbourg, and then Ken Riley on the Charleston Five.This was followed by “Building Union Power” presented by MUA Veterans’ National Secretary Fred Krausert, National Women’s liaison officers Michelle Myers and Sue Virago, youth delegates Brett Lar-kins and Michelle Mackay, and Aboriginal elder and activist Kevin Tory.After morning tea Paddy Crumlin spoke on organising globally, then ACTU President Sharon Burrow, who spoke on fighting for your rights and GUF (General Unions Federation).ITF Secretary David Cockroft gave an in-depth ITF report on the FOC (Flags of Convenience) and POC (Ports of Conven-ience). The afternoon session was taken up by international speakers from Japan, Den-mark, Indonesia, UK and our own Trevor Hanson, who gave an in-depth report on the Napier dispute and the importance of international solidarity. Without the international soldiarity, the Napier dispute would have been a long battle.The rest of the day was taken up with MUA workshops.In the evening there was a ferry cruise with Sydney Ferries on the spectacular harbour with plenty of food and drink.

Day 5, Friday 11 AprilFriday was another 10am start due to the resolution committee finalising their remits. MUA Deputy National Secretary Jim Tan-nock spoke on international aid, then Peter Jennings spoke about union aid abroad and the Tas Bull Memorial Aid project. Jim announced approximately $75,000 was raised for the project, a superb effort from all those involved.Tony Maher of the CFMEU then deliv-ered another great speech on the union’s response to climate change and the efforts being put in place by his union to ensure the land is restored.

Then came the international presentations, a video of conference highlights, a confer-ence wrap up with an inspirational and moving speech by Paddy Crumlin on the week’s events and the way forward for the next four years.We then all moved to Darling Harbour for the renaming of Hickson Street to the “Hungry Mile,” a name given to Hickson Street in the early 20th century as water-siders were pitted against one another for the opportunity to work. Among the speakers was ALP Minister for the Environment and Arts Peter Garrett (ex-Midnight Oil). After the ceremony delegates took a short stroll across “The Hungry Mile” to Moretons, where we again enjoyed the hospitality of the MUA.On the face of it, this was an exceptionally well thought out and an extremely well- run conference. To run a function of this size is a mam-moth task and all credit to the MUA of-ficials and staff. On behalf of all the MUNZ Wellington branch we thank you all and look forward to reciprocating in the near future.The underlying message at this confer-ence was the importance of soldiarity at an international level. With globalization here and not about to go away, organised international solidarity has recently been seen to win battles such as in Strasbourg, the Charleston Five and more recently Ports of Napier.Other prime examples of activity in sup-port of the trade union movement here in the South Pacific include Indonesia, East Timor and PNG. Further afield the upcoming ILWU negotiations will also become a focus of attention.

At the MUA Conference Dinner commemorating the 10th anniversary of the Patricks dispute, Wellington Seafarers branch members and partners, from left: Barry Millington, Grace and Tony Mowbray, Trudi Hogg, Joe Fleetwood and Marion Leslie

“The underlying message at this conference was the importance of soldiarity at an international level”


2008 MUA Conference Sydney: rank and file reportby Mike Shakespeare, Wellington Seafarers Branch MUNZ #1490

I was fortunate to be able to attend the 2008 Quadrennial Conference of the MUA, which also coincided with the 10th An-niversary of the Patrick’s Dispute. The opening ceremony was by an Aborigi-nal elder, Aunty Sylvia, who welcomed all the delegates to the land, and giving a brief history of her people. The hall was then blessed by smoke to repel all the evil spirits by another Aborigi-nal elder. The first speaker was National Secretary of the Australian Labor Party Tim Gartrell who spoke on the Rudd Government Plan for Australia, dealing with the industrial and infrastructure issues facing Australia today. He spoke at length about shipping and ports and how vital they were to Austral-ia’s wealth, and of the great effort by the union movement in helping to oust the Howard Government. It was a positive start to the day. This was followed by Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) National Secretary Paddy Crumlin, on ‘Organising nationally is organising internationally.’

He spoke on the Patrick Dispute with the conspiracy by the Howard Government working in cahoots with the employer. The truth is still to come out on this issue as lots of official information is still hid-den. This was followed by a DVD on MUA history and where the union is going. The next session was opened by MUA As-sistant National Secretary Mick Doleman on ‘Working with Labor in power.’He introduced the Secretary of Unions NSW John Robertson, who spoke on the need to push Labor and not to expect them to do everything for the workers, and how we cannot rest on our laurels by getting them in power. The hard work begins now. John Robertson was followed by General President of Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) Mining and Energy Division Tony Maher, who gave a history of the miners, and the campaign to get Labor re-elected. He believed this has set the political ‘hard right’ back 20 years but they will regroup, so there is no room to be complacent and the need for us to look at ourselves and how to move in the future. The next session was by the international speakers.UK Rail Maritime Transport Union (RMT) General Secretary Bob Crow gave a rous-ing speech on what happened with privati-sation in the UK regarding water, electric-ity and gas, amongst other issues affecting the workers and people of the UK. He was followed by President of Interna-tional Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) “Big Bob” McEllrath, who spoke on the Patrick’s Dispute, the ILWU lockout and the fact their contract is up for re-newal. He also talked about the benefits of globalising the Unions against the multi-nationals.

President of the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (SATAWU) Ezrom Mabyana spoke about social, health and workplace issues in South Africa. The day finished with the Women’s Com-mittee welcome to the conference dinner which was well attended. They had an auction to raise money for their work in organising the women of the MUA, amongst their other commitments internationally as well.

Tuesday The conference opened with ‘Securing our organising capability into the future’ by MUA Deputy National Secretary Jim Tannock. He spoke on how the MUA restructured four years ago, setting up a separate Fight-ing Fund, which was in a healthy position. Resources have been put into areas such as the Your Rights at Work TV ads, social events such as picnics and golf days, Superannuation Credit Unions, income protection, communications, Maritime Workers Journal, web site and media releases. Other areas include the international delegate meetings, conferences, education and training programmes, campaigns like Your Rights at Work, as well as the legal bills of the union, and how the need for members to be financial is imperative to the wellbeing of the union. MUA Assistant National Secretary Mick Doleman spoke about ‘Growing our influ-ence and power by campaigning’, includ-ing Your Rights at Work, the marginal seats (which helped boot Howard out), the making of local and international indus-trial alliances such as the Hydrocarbon Alliance with the MUA and Australian Workers Union (AWU), and with other international unions such as MUNZ and the ILWU.Branch recruiting targets in the various new industries such as the rig divers and the tourism diving industry in North Queensland were all very challenging issues. He spoke of the need to get a taskforce up and running with government on training and employment for locals, all issues very familiar to us in New Zealand. We heard from MUA Assistant National Secretary Rick Newlyn on branch organi-sation, which covered many issues, includ-ing Codes of Practice, Minimum Manning, taking of workers from the blue water to the offshore, and the problems of training workers (sounds familiar).More responsibilities had been given to branches to get things done, also getting representatives onto National Maritime Committees so we have a voice. There was a need to reinvigorate the Industry Skills Council and for training for staff, officials and delegates.

MUA CONFERENCE 2008

MUNZ members at the MUA Conference joined a union protest against the Australian Building Construction Commission (ABCC), Wednesday 9 April 2008


Rick was followed by some more Inter-national Guests, Seafarers International Union (SIU) Secretary Treasurer Dave Heindel, and Assistant General Organ-iser International Longshore Association (ILA) John Baker, who spoke on the need for global solidarity on the international stage and about the good work the MUA is doing. The day finished up with unveiling of an historical mural at the Maritime Museum, which had been retrieved from the old wa-terfront national office wall and donated to the museum.

Wednesday The day started with the topic of working with other unions. There were many speakers, includingACTU Secretary Jeff Lawrence, National Secretary AWA Paul Howes, CFMEU President Tony Maher, and Federal Secre-tary TWU Tony Sheldon.Their common theme was there was a need for unions to identify the common enemy and not work against each other, both nationally and globally.This was followed by the keynote address from Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard on the industrial relations and economic strategies for building Australia’s produc-tive capacity. She pointed out ex-PM John Howard had dropped the ball with infrastructure such as ports, rail and roads, often due to his hatred for the unions. The need for a strong domestic shipping industry was identified and the word cabotage wasn’t a dirty word like it is in New Zealand. All very positive, the job is to keep them honest. The afternoon started with Australian ITF Co-ordinator Dean Summers, who gave a rundown on the various ITF campaigns. The notable one was the Leonhardt and Blumberg campaign. This fourth or fifth generation German shipper with hundreds of ships didn’t believe in ITF agreements, but now has most of his ships on ITF agreements because of the actions taken by ITF inspectors around the world. Next was Ali Memon of German Union Verdi. He was followed by Australian Maritime Officers’ Union (AMOU) Industrial Officer Fred Ross, and Australian Institute Of Marine And Power Engineers’ (AIMPE) Federal Treasurer/Assistant Federal Sec-retary Martin Byrne, giving a view of the Officer Unions. They were followed by Minister of Infra-structure, Transport, Regional Develop-ment and Local Government Anthony Albanese on the Rudd Government’s Plan for Australia. It was very heartening to listen to someone who wants a viable domestic shipping industry and a well-resourced and trained workforce in all the transport sectors.

Other positives were recognition of the need for huge investment in rail to get the coal iron ore to the shippers internation-ally faster, and the need to upgrade ports which have up to 40 ships waiting to come in because of Howard’s lack of investment. It also sounds good for cabotage and train-ing in Australia and I hope it rubs off here. All the international guests went to a rally against the Australian Building Construc-tion Commission (ABCC). The ABCC are forcing workers to give evidence against delegates and officials where people are secretly interrogated and compelled to answer under the threat of six month’s jail and thousands in fines and if they tell their friends or family they can be jailed or fined for that as well. We all attended a conference and Patrick’s Dispute anniversary dinner where a good time was had by all.

Thursday The topics were Port of Convenience, Strasbourg and The Charleston 5, with speeches from Niek Stam of FNV Bondg-enoten from the Netherlands, Secretary of the ITF Dockers Section Frank Leys, and ILA Vice President Ken Riley. In all of these topics were good wins for the Union Movement but they all reiter-ated it is the International Solidarity cam-paigns that help win these disputes. Next was a session on ‘Building Union Power through Our Diversity’, with speak-ers including National MUA Veterans Sec-retary Fred Krausert, National Women’s Liaison Officers Mich-Elle Myers and Sue Virago, and Youth Delegates Brett Larkin and Michelle Mackay.As you can see, they represent the cross section of our unions. They are part of the sum of the whole and all do valuable work for our Unions, and it was inspiring to hear from the youth to the elder members of the MUA. They were followed by Kevin Tory, an Aboriginal elder and activist, who spoke on the ‘sorry’ apology from the govern-ment about the Stolen Generation, and the need to put comprehensive policy in place for the Aborigines and to give them a help up, not hand out. There is still a lot to put right. This was followed by ‘Organising Glo-bally’, an ITF report on the flag of conven-ience and ports of convenience campaign. MUA National Secretary Paddy Crumlin opened on the need for global solidarity, the strategies and a general overview. He was followed by Australian Council of Trade Unions president Sharan Burrow, who spoke on the issue facing all workers, and the need to get the collective agree-ments up and running again.

ITF General Secretary David Cockroft spoke on ports of convenience and flags of convenience campaigns, and the need to pressure the European Parliament over guest workers and the FOC shipping registers. We then went on to hear from more inter-national speakers – Yoji Fujisawa of the All Japan Seamens Union; Itoh Akinobu of the All Japan Dockworkers Union, Henrick Berlau of Fagligt Faelles Forbund (Denmark), Hanafi Rastandi of Kestauan Pelaut Indonesia, Bob Hayden of the Rail Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) and Trevor Hanson, General Secretary of MUNZ. Trevor spoke on the Napier dispute and the assistance we received from the inter-national which helped win this dispute quickly as it could have dragged on and become harder to win. Trevor was well received by all the del-egates. After this session the delegates from the MUA went into workshop groups then reported back to the plenary sessions. The night finished with a harbour cruise put on by the MUA for all the guests and veterans.

Friday The final day began with a presentation on the Tas Bull International Memorial Aid Project and Union Aid Abroad APHEDA. Speakers were MUA Deputy National Secretary Jim Tannock and Peter Jennings of Union Aid Abroad, who gave us an overview on all that they do from donat-ing hospital equipment to Cuba, teaching about AIDS in South African shanty towns, and helping AIDS orphans - all very im-portant parts of being in a union. This was followed by a very good pres-entation on climate change by CFMEU Mining and Energy Division President Tony Maher. It may seem a strange person to give a presentation on this but, as Tony pointed out, the Unions need to push companies to invest in clean and efficient power plants to protect workers’ jobs. This was followed by presentations to and from the international guests and MUA before the conference wrapped up. We all adjourned to Wharf 8, Darling Harbour, to dedicate and re-name Hickson Street to the Hungry Mile, which came from the days when men trudged the street in search of work. All in all a fitting finish to a well-organised conference. I have to thank the MUA for their out-standing hospitality and friendship, which is second to none.Thanks also to the Wellington Branch Sea-farers MUNZ for the opportunity to attend this conference, as it is a very heartening and uplifting experience and recharges the batteries for the struggles ahead. MUA here to stay – Kia Kaha.

MUA CONFERENCE 2008


MUA CONFERENCE 2008

2008 MUA Conference Sydney: rank and file reportby Tony Mowbray, Wellington Seafarers Branch MUNZ #1154

Firstly, I would like to open my report thanking the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) for the invitation to MUNZ and all the hospitality shown throughout the conference week, with additional thanks to the Aboriginal elders who gave the “Welcome to the Country” ceremony and the opening address. The opening day on Monday 7 April seemed to hold a lot of significance as it was the day to mark the 10th anniver-sary of the MUA Victory in the Patrick’s Dispute. This was observed by a minute’s silence. There was a huge international representa-tion with a total of nearly 500 delegates representing Seafarers, Dockers, Mining, Energy, Rail and Transport sectors from throughout Australasia, East Timor, Indo-nesia, United Kingdom, USA east and west coasts, Canada, Denmark, Sweden, Ger-many, Netherlands, China, Japan, Africa, Papua New Guinea and the Torres Islands. (My apologies to anyone if they have been excluded.)On the Sunday before the conference opened, we were invited to attend the Women’s Conference.Our delegation included Marion Leslie of the Wellington Seafarers Branch and Marion should be congratulated on her contribution.

Following the opening of the main con-ference on Monday, a video about the Patrick’s Dispute was shown, followed by an address from National Secretary of the Australian Labor Party Tim Gartrell highlighting the Rudd Government’s plans for Australia. This was followed by National Secretary of the MUA Paddy Crumlin, and a panel contribution with CFMEU President Tony Maher and Secretary of Unions NSW John Robertson. The international speakers of the day were General Secretary of the RMT (UK), President of the ILWU Bob McEllrath, and concluded with President of SATAWU Ezrom Mabyana.All speakers highlighted the industry struggles and achievements in their regions. A Women’s Committee Fundraising din-ner was held on Monday night. This was a great night with a big turn out and an entertaining auction. Deputy National Secretary of the MUA Jim Tannock opened day two with the MUA financial report. This was followed by a growth report from MUA Assistant National Secretary Mick Doleman and a branch organization report from MUA As-sistant National Secretary Rick Newlyn. These three officials gave informative and positive reports, highlighting the only ap-proach to growth is positive input from all membership. The international speakers of day two were Secretary Treasurer of the SIU Dave Heindel, and Assistant General Organizer of the ILA John Baker.Wednesday morning was opened by MUA officials who emphasized the need for unions to put past differences behind us and the importance of working together to move ahead as on.

This would encourage new membership and increase the strength of the Trade Union Movement. Guest speakers included the Secretary of the ACTU Jeff Lawrence, National Secre-tary of the Australian Workers Union Paul Howes, CFMEU President Tony Maher, who had spoken earlier in the week, and Federal Secretary of the TWU Tony Shel-don.Tony gave an alarming report on some of the issues in the transport sector, where trucking had an excess of 400 deaths re-lated to fatigue in one year alone. Keynote speaker was Deputy Prime Minis-ter of Australia the Hon. Julia Gillard and holder of some very relevant ministerial portfolios in labour and social areas.Her address was encouraging and I can only hope that our Labour Government takes note of the Australian Government’s pledge to work towards the reinstatement of a national shipping line and full cabo-tage, along with extensive training, not only in the maritime industry, but across Australian industries in general. Australian ITF co-ordinator Dean Sum-mers, along with Ali Memon from Germany, gave an in-depth report on the even closer links between the ITF and the MUA having Paddy Crumlin on the board as Dockers’ Secretary for the Asia-Pacific region. Leonhardt and Blumberg is a shipping company run by third generation flag of convenience tycoons who have never been pinned down in any ITF agreement for their crews until recently.Due to an ITF campaign combined with joint international pressure, 27 of their 50 ships now have ITF agreements, again driving home the importance of interna-tional solidarity. We also heard from the Minister for Infra-structure, Transport, Regional Develop-ment and Local Government the Hon. Anthony Albanese MP.Wednesday night was the 10th Anniver-sary of the Patricks Dispute. This was marked with a dinner which was a mas-sive event of nearly 900 people, including some notable speakers such as former wa-terfront leader John Coombs and former Leader of the Opposition Kim Beazley.Thursday featured speakers on the “Ports of Convenience” campaign and the disputes in Strasbourg and Charleston, delivered by Nick Stam from the FNV (Netherlands Dockers), Vice President of the ILA Ken Riley, and Secretary of the ITF Dockers’ Section Frank Leys.A number of further speakers took the stage with a memorable talk from MUA national Veterans’ Secretary Fred Krausert and Youth Delegates Brett Larkins and Michelle Mackay.The Veterans had a large contingent and like our own veterans deserve the ut-most respect and support. Glenn Wylie is achieving this in MUNZ through setting up our own data base.

Maritime Union Port Chalmers Dunedin branch delegates at the MUA Conference, April 2008, from left, Alby Patton, Mike Lysaght, Paul Napier, Ian Quarrell and Phil Adams


OBITUARY

Also the MUA youth (under 30s) have got to be commended and again with help and support they can achieve a strong future in any union. Next up was President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions Sharan Burrow and ITF General Secretary David Cockroft from London.Every speaker throughout the conference pushed the need for global solidarity and international ties to strengthen our ability as maritime workers.This was driven home by MUNZ General Secretary Trevor Hanson, who gave an in-depth report and history of the Napier dispute.It was at this point that I felt proudest, not only of Trevor, but the whole delegation from MUNZ and RMTU, which included Auckland, Napier, Wellington, Port Chalmers and Bluff, who had their names read out and a standing ovation was given after a history of our links with the MUA.Japan, Sweden and Indonesia also had their time. Friday mainly consisted on a report on climate change and was delivered from a union with a lot of input on this by Presi-dent of the CFMEU (Mining Union) Tony Maher, and a thank you from the MUA for the attendance by delegates. Being at the conference was enough but just to add to it, all the International’s took part in a rally through Sydney in support of the construction union to oppose the fascist Australian Building and Construc-tion Commission set up by the Howard Government. This is a government attack dog that basically takes your right of si-lence away and legally requires you to face interrogations, horrendous fines and/or prison terms if you fail to give your col-leagues up to authorities in their site inves-tigations.The situation is being fought vigorously by unions to get a change in the legislation. It was also a privilege to join the MUA in celebrating the re-naming of the “Hungry Mile” in Sydney’s docklands. This was done officially and is now in legislation. The ceremony featured Paddy Crumlin, Peter Garrett MP (ex-Midnight Oil singer) and Australian actor Jack Thompson to name a few. Not only was the New Zealand delegation made up of Maritime, Rail and Transport sectors but it is only fitting I feel that I mention our CTU President Helen Kelly and Alliance Party candidate Victor Billot who were also in attendance.I will close this report with the words from Fred Krausert, who closed his speech the same way by stating that “We may retire from the job but never the struggle.” I thank the membership of MUNZ and once again the MUA for the opportunity to attend and to further our education for the struggles ahead.

Obituary: Gerry Evansby Peter Kitchin

[Gerald John] Gerry Evans, writer and seaman: born Aberystwyth, Wales, November 17, 1937; died Karori, Wellington, 25 May 2008, aged 70

Author Gerry Evans, of Karori, spent three decades in maritime industries before he was moored to his typewriter.A seaman, wharfie and union leader, he was an advocate for have-nots and a courageous defender of union rights.He made his name as an official of the Seamen’s Union and its successor, the Seafarers’ Union, before crafting a career as a writer.A Welshman, he went to sea as a boy. A five-day layover at Auckland whetted his appetite for New Zealand and he returned for good in the early 1960s, settling at Devonport, on Auckland’s North Shore. A gregarious type, he found the then working-class suburb much to his liking and soon made pals through the rugby club and his work on Auckland’s wharves.He rose through the ranks of the city’s wharfies, first editing an unofficial commentary on the union called Rank and File and later becoming first editor of the Port News, which still runs today.In his books he has described the colourful characters of the wharf in those days.When his marriage failed, his wife and children returned to Wales and he to the sea. He preferred blue-water boats and regular changes of ship and destinations. His long-time mate, the late Bill “Pincher” Martin, persuaded him to move to Wellington to start afresh. Always active in the union, Evans moved from being a seagoing delegate to seagoing executive member and then became secretary and vice-president of the New Zealand Seafarers’ Union.

These were the times of struggle to maintain gains in working conditions and wages. The battles weren’t always grim: a longstanding picket once occupied the Treasury building, running the Panamanian flag up its flagpole to call it a “Treasury of convenience”.After an election defeat in 1994, Evans made a life-changing career switch when he had the chance to study for a creative writing degree at Victoria University. A special dispensation recognising life experience and previously published writing meant he was able to join the course.The result was his autobiographical account Shipping Out. The excitement and intellectual challenge changed his life.He continued to write, both books and for magazines, and he made contributions to the Trade Union History project. He contributed a regular column for The Evening Post and successfully developed his travel writing, specialising in the southwestern United States, where he went further from the sea than he had ever been. With photographer Peter Bush, he toured parts of the US by train, which resulted in their book, Good Morning, America.He was fascinated by the US, and his advocacy skills were put to good use. He started to write to a young American woman jailed for a murder despite being handcuffed in a police car when it took place, and documented her story.After her release, he continued to write letters about his family, the beach and the New Zealand countryside to a woman who had been sentenced to 98 years without parole for a crime – driving a car from which someone had left and committed a murder – that happened when she was 16.He leaves part-finished his work on writer and journalist Noel Hilliard, who was so enraged by the racism of New Zealand in the middle of last century that he wrote about it in a series of works, including the groundbreaking Maori Girl.Evans was the 2006 writer-in-residence at the Michael King Writers’ Centre in Devonport and was about to take up a residency at the Robert Lord Writers Cottage in Dunedin, to work on the Hilliard biography for which he had a Creative New Zealand grant.His ambition was to have his ashes scattered in one of his best- loved places, the Karori library.“Just kidding,” he told the librarians at a recent book launch there. They enjoyed the joke as much as they enjoyed his company; they have mounted a display at the library marking the death of a local writer.Gerry Evans is survived by his wife, two daughters and three sons.

This obituary appeared in the Dominion Post on 12 June and is reprinted with their kind permission.


UNION HISTORY

By Steve Hart

In New Zealand’s short history there have been three key periods of industrial trou-ble, each separated by regional disputes. Some ended in death, most ended in tears, but each one has taken the country closer to offering workers more rights and better working conditions. One indirectly led to the formation of the today’s Labour Party.To look at the first strike we have to go back more than one hundred years. The maritime strike of 1890 took place in the same year that Labour Day was first celebrated. 28 October was used to commemorate carpenter Samuel Parnell’s battle to win a standard eight-hour working day – some-thing he had achieved 50 years earlier. Parnell built houses with a team of carpen-ters and set contracts with customers that stipulated eight hours’ work, followed by eight hours’ rest and eight hours’ play. These contracts are pointed to by Auck-land amateur historian Gerard Hill as being the start of Labour movement.

The Maritime Council28 October was also the first anniversary of the Maritime Council, an organiza-tion that brought transport and mining unions together. But six days before its first birthday the maritime strike had started, a reaction to their pay being cut.The strike began in Melbourne by ship officers on 15 August 1890 and crossed the Tasman on 15 September. The strike lasted 56 days, involved 8000 unionists and ended with the qualified defeat of the unions. Hill has studied social history in New Zealand and is well known for giving historical walks in Auckland. His father Toby Hill was the national secretary of the Waterside Workers’ Union and a key player in the 1951 dispute. “The defeat in 1890 was qualified in the sense that the unions realised they had to get politicized,” says Hill. “The legacy of it is that John Millar, who was the founder of the Seamen’s Union was elected to Parliament in 1891.” Hill says although the 1890 strike ended badly for union members, the unions remained intact, although weakened.It led to the Liberal/Labour coalition to come to power led by Dick Seddon.

“Once in Parliament it was instrumental in introducing the country’s earliest labour laws in the form of the Industrial Concili-ation and Arbitration Act (ICA). It was introduced in 1890 and lasted pretty much intact until 1973,” says Hill.“The Act brought in compulsory arbitra-tion between most employers and staff, and it was hoped it would prevent further industrial action. It delivered minimum wages and the workers’ arbitration court. But unions had the option to opt out of the Act and register under the Trade Union Act. And that is what a few of them did. Including the West Coast miners.”But subsequent amendments were made to address changes in the economy after Britain entered the European Common Market. It provided substantial protection until it was replaced by the Employment Contract’s Act in 1991.While the next major dispute wasn’t to happen for another 23 years, two events happened in between time that helped further shape the union movement.The Blackball Gold Mine “crib-time” strike was a major victory in 1908 and encour-aged people to join unions. It led to the first Trade Union Federation and ultimately to the formation of the Labour Party.Blackball is a mining town near Grey-mouth and will be holding centenary cel-ebrations in March with a three-day event planned that will include a street parade and other public events.Four years later in 1912, during a six-month strike by miners at Waihi, the police attacked Fred Evans moments after a constable was shot in the stomach. The event on 12 November is known today as Black Tuesday. Evans never regained consciousness from a severe beating. After 90 minutes lan-guishing in a police cell he was taken to a hospital where he died the following day. He became a martyr of the United Federa-tion of Labour (UFL) that was formed a year later and made up of members of the hard-line Red Feds and moderate unions.

1913 - ‘class war in Wellington’The country’s second major industrial dispute flared up on the Wellington wa-terfront as a result of the Union Steam-ship Company cutting travel time for its shipwrights on 17 October, 1913.

The shipwrights were members of the Waterside Workers’ Union and so enjoyed strong and far-reaching support.Politics appear to have played a part in this round of industrial action. Hill says the liberal governments had been replaced by an “anti-workers government”, led by Ulsterman William Massey. “The last two months of the strikes led to bloody industrial confrontation - in reality a class war – primarily in Wellington, but also in Auckland,” says Hill. An Evening Post editorial of 23 October, 1913, called union members “wayward watersiders” for holding up the work of the port in a “Lordly manner”. “The dem-onstrators could have met in their own time,” it says.Closing the port for a few hours meant farmers’ exports were delayed. But the de-lay was nothing compared with what was to come as the strike escalated in reaction to the shipwrights being locked out.The dispute gravitated to a general strike lasting one week that brought Auckland to a standstill. While hotel guests had to cook their own food and make their own drinks, the strike is mostly remembered for the use of special constables, nicknamed Mas-sey’s Cossack, disgruntled farmers who rode their horses into crowds of strikers.“Things were heated up when police superintendent Mitchell, who kept things pretty calm, was replaced by John Cullen who was tough and uncompromising, he was ruthless,” says Hill.“Like Massey, an Orangeman and free-mason, this is a legacy we are still having to deal with today. He was the one who ordered protestors to be attacked on horse-back.”On November 11 about 1000 strikers marched along Ponsonby Road and down College Hill to a rally in Victoria Park. Led by Australians Michael Joseph Savage, Harry Holland, Pat Hickey, Paddy Webb and Bob Semple, they called for more sup-port and attempted to raise morale as they fought a losing battle.In 1913 there were 16,000 unionists, most of whom were new members of the Federation of Labour. Some supported the Wobblies – a radical organization that pushed for the formation of a single union and one strike. “The strike was the biggest stoush in New Zealand’s history with exception of the land wars of the 19th century,” said Hill.

Great industrial conflicts part of union history


UNION HISTORY

“In one incident two scabs were chased by watersiders into a Wellington Whitcombe and Tombes bookstore on Lambton Quay, which is a Whitcoulls store today. The shopkeeper produced a shotgun to protect his stock. “Things heated up when the authorities put machine guns either side of Buckle Street, but they were never fired.“Pat Lawlor, a famous Aussie journalist, writing in the Sydney Bulletin at the time, said the smell of cordite could be smelled over Te Aro Flat (the centre of Wellington) for three weeks.”Hill says in end the strikers were defeated and that had a huge impact on Savage and the other strike leaders. “They had come to New Zealand intent on revolution and this defeat ended with them sitting in Terrace Jail in Wellington, a site that is a school today.”Waiting in their cells the strikers decided the Parliamentary system was probably their best bet for reform and so the seeds of the Labour Party took root behind bars. The Party was officially created in 1916 and made up of anti-war groups and un-ions. Savage was the Party’s vice-president by 1918, and became its national secretary the following year. “It was in 1919 that Savage was elected to the Auckland City Council, along with 17 opposition councillors and one independ-ent, Savage’s boss Ernest Davis,” says Hill.Savage’s hard work paid off when he was elected as MP for Auckland West (Pon-sonby) in the 1919 general election, a seat which he retained until he died in 1940. “During his time in Parliament he became Labour’s greatest tactician,” says Hill.There was a flare up in Auckland’s Queen Street in 1932 that ended, like the 1913 troubles, with police on horseback “con-trolling” protestors.“People had been trampled in 1913, and then again in 1932,” says Hill. “After Labour was elected there was a review of the police and the mounted unit was abolished,” says Hill.

The ‘51 LockoutThe biggest strike to have hit the country was in 1951. The arbitration court had awarded a 15 per cent pay increase to all those covered by the arbitration system. Waterside workers were not among as they were governed by the Waterfront Industry Commission. Wharfies were offered nine per cent saying previous pay raises should be taken into account. From 13 February they refused to work overtime and the shipping companies de-cided not to hire them unless they would. So were they on strike, or were they locked out – it depends who you talk to. “The cause of the dispute was a booming economy, higher cost of living and stag-nant wages,” says Hill.

“In addition, soldiers returning from the Second World War saw that plenty of people had made money while they were away. But Freeman’s Bay was still a slum area, despite 15 years of a Labour government that had made significant improvements in people’s living conditions.“It is the working class that fight wars and they had seen their friends killed – they came home to a land where they saw a lot of people doing very well and they felt short-changed. National was in power, inflation galloped and the Cold War had come over the top of us.”The dispute became violent at times when protestors had run-ins with police bran-dishing batons. Violence came to a head in Auckland on 1 June – “Bloody Friday” – when 1000 people marched up Queen Street.With tempers getting shorter, Toby Hill, Gerard Hill’s father, was among those who helped disperse supporters to avoid further violence.At the end of the day, strike-breaking scabs replaced union staff and eased them out. On 15 June the dispute was over and striker Jock Barnes, president of the Water-side Workers’ Union,was sentenced to two months in prison for defaming a police-man. Barnes died in 2000, aged 92.The Waterfront Dispute lasted for 151 days and involved more than 22 000 wharfies, freezing workers, drivers, labourers and miners.The Kinleith strike of 1980 is seen as a significant victory. Around 3000 thousand workers were on strike or suspended.

Unions through launched a campaign through the Federation of Labour which had taken over the dispute and national support followed. “The employers reached agreement with the union after seven weeks but Prime Minister Muldoon intervened,” says Hill. “This led to another four weeks’ stoppage which resulted, in the words of FOL presi-dent Jim Knox (a 1951 wharfie) “as the greatest victory he had ever seen.” “Unions can claim success with equal pay, additional holidays, paid parental care and for campaigns over minimal wages,” says Hill.Earlier this year McDonalds abolished its youth rate, deciding instead to pay young-er workers the minimum adult wage. I wonder if that would have happened had it not been for union Unite’s SuperSizeMy-Pay campaign.

Thanks to Gerard Hill for his valuable information.Contact author Steve Hart at www.stevehart.co.nzThanks to the New Zealand Herald for permission to republish this article

Women lead peaceful marchers in Upper Queen Street, Auckland, on ‘Bloody Friday’ during the 1951 waterfront lockout


BLACKBALL ‘08

by Gerard Hill

The small town of Blackball came alive in a commemoration of the great labour victory of the 1908 Blackball Strike over Easter Weekend. Events included a celebratory dinner, poet-ry recital by poet Jeffrey Paparoa Holman of some of his Blackball Bridge Sonnets, a market, a parade through Blackball with floats by unions, schools and community groups, followed by ceremony at the mine entrance. Other activities included concert perform-ances by Choir, Choir Pants on Fire and the West Coast Wobblies, the premiere of Paul Maunder’s play Rain, Love and Coal Smoke, a book launch of a history of the Blackball miners’ strike The Great ‘08 by Brian Wood.There was also a day-long seminar about the strike. Speakers included 82-year-old author of Blackball ‘08 Eric Beardsley, and Department of Conservation historian Peter Clayworth who spoke on Pat Hickey about whom he is writing a biography.Historians Melanie Nolan and Neville Bennett, Labour Court Judge Coghlan, La-bour Historian and Mediator Peter Franks, and EPMU National Secretary Andrew Little.Apologies were received from mining his-torians Dai Haywood and Len Richardson, and NDU Secretary Laila Harre.Dai’s speech was read by Brian Wood and a poem by William Burns was read at the formal dinner by Les Nelson.Dai was unwell and to have missed deliv-ering his own speech is regrettable.

He grew up at Burnet’s Face at Denniston. His father was National President of the Miners in the 1920s, and Dai would have added much.86-year old Izzy Mountford, matriarch of a famous mining and league family, hit one of the high spots of the opening night when she raised a toast to the working class women who held the communities together.This was one of the most memorable celebrations organised by the local com-munity and former residents that I have attended anywhere.It attracted a wide and diverse group – imagine Save Happy Valley Snails campaigners in the same space as miners and two National MPs (one of whom was there I am sure to stir and was recognised as such.)From a union perspective, it was as good as event as any we have held. Hilton Street, the main street, was re-splendent, decked out in bright red flags attached to lampposts proclaiming “United We Stand Divided We Fall” which set the mood for the subsequent days.The Labour Party was represented by cabi-net ministers Ruth Dyson, Lianne Dalziel, Maryanne Street and Damien O’Connor, and a football team of Labour MPs and a good number of members, and the Green party was represented by Sue Bradford. All mixed well with the working class folk making the event what it was.

Four generations present We were privileged to be in the company of four generations whose whakapapa stretched through the industrial disputes of 1890, 1908 through to 1951, the 1981 Springbok Tour, and 1991. It is rare to be in the company of such people who have such a deep understand-ing of labour, our history, our victories and our losses. All the MPs and the others who shared these conversations were enriched and respectful of this lineage. In fact, CTU Economist Peter Conway, when speaking the following day said, “that in labour, we measure our progress not in moments or hours but in months, years, decades and centuries.”Much has been made of the Wobblies (In-dustrial Workers of the World) connection to Blackball 1908, but an equally important contribution to the character and soul of these heroes of 1908 were the Chartists, and the Tolpuddle Martyrs.

The miners themselves were more likely to have read Thomas Paine’s “The Rights of Man” than Karl Marx. The parade was a colourful event which included all sections of the Blackball com-munity with historical vehicles carrying everything from the mining strops to kegs of beer. There was a good turnout of miners, some even standing there in their black-ened faces, as well as some exciting street theatre, and the school children with their bright banner: “But without our brain and muscle not a single wheel could turn.”The unions who were represented with their banners were the EPMU, the Nurses Organization, and the PSA. EPMU flags were everywhere. Among those who spoke at the mine were mayor of the Grey District Tony Kok-shoorn, who spoke with conviction and warmth of the industrial character and color of the miners.

Unions essential to societyHe said ”Trade Unions have a special role to play in the balancing act between employers and their work force. They are essential in the development of society and one can say about the West Coast, that relationship can only be described as turbulent.”He like all the coasters who I met there was proud of his heritage and the contri-bution of the families and working class communities Minister of Housing Maryan Street an-nounced that the Labour Government would be adopting a private members’ bill from Labour list MP Sue Mulroney to provide for meal breaks and smokes.It may surprise members to know that today, these basic rights have disappeared for many workers due to the “Employers Contract Act”. Minister of ACC Ruth Dyson would be holding an inquiry into accident and death in the mining industry. Under the OSH act that covers all indus-tries, Labour had worked out that one size doesn’t fit all, and that mining is a par-ticular industry that may require specially tailored legislation. Congratulations to the miners and the EPMU, who have long campaigned for this.The contribution of the recent arrivals to the survival and creative life of Blackball was also recognised.The dispute itself is famous for a strike to get a half hour unpaid lunch break, the victimization of the union executive and other lesser known issues.For example, the influence of the Socialist Party and the role played by Hickey, Sem-ple and Webb, whose pictures hung in the Blackball Miners Hall revered as saints.The strike, being one the longest in NZ his-tory, commenced on 27 February and ran through to 13 May, 1908.

The Centenary of the Blackball Strike


BLACKBALL ‘08

This victory was to inspire many in the working class, not only unions, but lead-ing to the strengthening of the Socialist Party in NZ, and the foundation of the Federation of Labour, known colloquially as the Red Feds, where the miners, the seamen and watersiders joined shearers, laborers and flax workers. This was the most militant, largest and socialist group ever in New Zealand. The Wobblies had a strong influence in this wider grouping, which was incredibly youthful, male and mobile, a fine example of crew culture.

Wobblies, Chartists and MartyrsMuch has been made of the Wobbly (IWW) connection to Blackball 1908, but an equal-ly important contribution, now sometimes forgotten, was made by the Chartists, and the Tolpuddle Martyrs.It is a mistake not to acknowledge this great working class movement and mar-tyrs, which are so much of our history and the birth right of labour and clearly influenced so many of our forbears. When you look at the nationalities of the miners and note the date of the establish-ment of their unions not to mention our own union the real myth becomes apparent.To some they lack the colour and the romance of the Wobblies. However to the working class these are people of great mana and internationally recognised as such.When we failure to record their contribu-tion we fail ourselves and propagate the real myth. In writing this I do not want to diminish the influence of the Wobblies but to acknowledge these other important forebears as well.Among those who founded the Labour Party in 1916, most of them had been battle-hardened in 1908, and in the great strike of 1913.These people had also cut their political teeth in the Socialist Party of New Zea-land. The Labour Party in 1916 was a very radical beast. They had paid the physical price of their convictions and it is worth remembering that Paddy Webb was stripped of his par-liamentary seat, imprisoned and banned from public life for ten years. No other citi-zen in our history as suffered this penalty. Yet this is forgotten and only remembered by a few.In 1935 the Red Flag was sung loudly and proudly in every Miners’ Union Hall, as news of the result of Labour victory led by that former Australian miner Michael Joseph Savage and fellow Red Feds Peter Fraser, Bob Semple and Paddy Webb MP for Grey. Ship horns blew long into the night in every port in the country.

The social programme that this first Labour Government introduced was the product and achievement of industrial labour as much as political Labour.After the defeat of the Maritime Strike in 1890, unions had been rebuilding, but, generally, confidence was not overly strong. They used the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration (IC & A) Act to rebuild and today there are still many workers who would like an Arbitration court and also the right to strike then as now. Not to acknowledge this we do ourselves a disservice.The miners in 1890, in 1913, and again in 1951, living in isolated communities, paid the highest economic price. Mining communities had little in the way of social infrastructure, and often the unions funded their schools, paid for their doctors, as well as funding sports teams, doctors and brass bands.

Maritime and mining connectionTheir closest alliance in New Zealand labour was between the miners, seamen and watersiders. In 1908 when the Blackball miners traveled around New Zealand, and even Australia to arrange support for this strike, they traveled as ringbolts and their first meet-ings were in ships messes, and on the wharves. This connection was not part of the official celebration, and these were ongoing links that lasted right through the late 1970s when the MV Karetu, the last Union Com-pany collier was withdrawn. The miners’ support for the seamen in the heat and light dispute of 1947 another example.

National Prime Minister Sid Holland closed the Roa mine, one of the richest seams in the world in the 1950s.It was said this was payback to Blackball. This same mine has reopened and their product makes steel in other lands.Today, the miners are members of the EPMU and are well represented and re-spected within this union. They interface today not with seamen or watersiders but with railway workers who are members of the RMTU. Having said this, there is no reason why we cannot reestablish links with these min-ers. Throughout the celebration weekend, former President of the Miners Les Nelson and an up-and-coming Miners official Harold Gibson were warm, welcoming and insightful. Their knowledge of their industry and their general understanding of issues would sit comfortably in any mess room, or waterfront pub.We can share the stories of the banjo and the hard yacker that our fathers and grandfathers did and the struggles they shared.It would be of worthwhile for both the Maritime Union and the Miners through the EPMU, to reestablish and build on the strengths in appreciation of each other’s role in building New Zealand labour and in shaping our society.We are capable and have the resources to build on our common history and pos-sess the necessary skills to build on this relationship.“An injury to one is an injury to all.”

Gerard Hill was the last Auckland secretary of the Federated Cooks and Stewards Union, and was assistant secretary of the Auckland branch of the Seafarers Union

Photo by Simon Nathan, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 Generic


PORT ROUNDUPS

Wellington Seafarersby Joe Fleetwood

National meetingThe branch attended the MUNZ National Executive and Finance Committee meet-ings, held 18-20 May 2008.Mike Clark, Barry Millington and Peter Stills attended as observers from the branch. Also in attendance was Presiding Officer of the Maritime Union of Australia Jimmy Boyle. I believe we had a good two day session with much debate on the way forward for our union, making job secu-rity, organizing workers a high priority as always.Other items also high on the agenda were Coastal Shipping, a central funding/un-ion plan document, yellow associations, casualization, industry training, the Port of Tauranga, and our Veterans’ Association. These issues are very important to the survival of our union, so the strategy committee must get it right and provide a way forward for our survival now and for future generations to come.

Elections There was much debate about the up-and-coming national elections and the mas-sive repercussions on the working class and trade unions if the National Party is elected.

A vote for National is a vote to return back to the Employment Contracts Act that crushed many unions and workers wages and conditions.Some haven’t recovered even today.So remember before you can have your say you must be enrolled on the electoral roll.The Wellington Seafarers’ Branch has been busy sending around some posters and discussing the issue amongst our members.

Free tradeWell, brothers and sisters, it looks like everything we have been saying about this so-called great free trade agreement is coming true.Since it has been signed we have seen the meat workers come under the hammer, the displacement of 500 bank jobs overseas, our fear of the free movement of labour cross borders is in there.Why have industry training when it is easier to steal qualified workers from developing countries on reduced rates or minimum rate? Where is the career path for young New Zealand workers? The question we have been asking for years is still unanswered.

Mineral mining on seabedThe Wellington branch recently wrote to the Minister of Transport Annette King, Minister of Labour Trevor Mallard, Green MP Sue Bradford and New Zealand First MP Peter Brown, explaining our concern the Australian controlled companies Nautilus Minerals and Neptune Minerals are both seeking licenses to offshore mine minerals including gold, silver and zinc, within the New Zealand economic zone.

We see this as a massive exploitation of New Zealand resources, at the expense of the New Zealand taxpayer who has funded a decade of exploration data gath-ered by New Zealand scientists.These large multinational companies will reap potentially vast profits, and we note Nautilus has done the same to the Aus-tralian government, exploiting the data gathered by Australian scientists on the coast of Papua New Guinea.We have asked whether it is the intention of the New Zealand Government to let these companies trade and explore New Zealand waters with foreign crews at the expense of New Zealand seafarers?We have some further questions which we seek answers to.• What nationality of crew do these com-panies use (eg, if Australian controlled do they use Australian nationals)?• If not, where do they source their crews from, and what terms and conditions will these workers receive?• The Maritime Union has a collective agreement that covers survey and explora-tion vessels. Will this be undermined by the operations of such companies in New Zealand waters?• What effect will this sort of mining have on our underwater environment?• Why is New Zealand not mining its own resources, rather than selling off such rights to overseas companies, as has al-ready occurred in the oil and gas industry?We are currently awaiting a response from the Government on this issue.

FPSOThe Maritime Union of New Zealand wrote to the Prime Minister earlier this year raising our concerns about the man-ning of FPSOs.For those who don’t know, the FPSO or Floating Storage Production Offloading vessels are a specialist type of vessel being brought into New Zealand waters to work in the offshore maritime sector to service the oil and gas industry.The union has a number of concerns with the crewing practices on these vessels which we have raised before with govern-ment agencies, including Maritime New Zealand, and the Minister of Transport. There is potential for serious problems with these vessels unless they are crewed and operated to the highest standard of safety. There have been a number of incidents on such vessels in overseas waters and the union would like to ensure that any dan-gers to human life and wellbeing, and the safety of the environment, are minimized.Many FPSO vessels are oil tankers that have been converted then moored to the sea bed. They are then deemed no longer to be a vessel, and as a result are then cov-ered by OSH, not Maritime New Zealand, which enforce marine legislation in New Zealand.

Maritime Union Wellington Seafarers Branch Secretary Joe Fleetwood and executive member Barry Millington present President of the Wellington Irish Society Jim Bowler a $500 cheque towards the Kevin McGarry Trust. The Trust was formed for the benefit of a young Irish worker seriously injured while on a working holiday in New Zealand.


PORT ROUNDUPS

There is no provision for mari-time crew (seafarers) onboard these ships. They are manned by shore-based workers who have no maritime experience or qualifications as we see it.The Union view is this may lead to a scenario where during extreme weather conditions, the lack of qualified seafarers aboard FPSO’s in New Zealand waters may contribute to avoidable problems.Maritime skills such as the operation of ships cranes are necessary in a emergency situa-tion, for example connecting towing wires in a rough sea, which requires seafarer to sea-farer communication between the FPSO and seafarer-manned tugs that would be required in this scenario.The decommissioning of FPSO vessels is being driven by a desire to remove seafarers from the industry, rather than the first priority of ensuring a qualified and able maritime crew. The goal of the Maritime Union of New Zealand is to ensure the appropriate crewing of all vessels in New Zealand waters, with trained and qualified seafarers.We are looking forward to the Government taking some ac-tion in this area.

Off-shoreThe off-shore industry in New Zealand seems to be settling down now.We have seen two of the big construction vessels leave the coast. The Toisa Proteus has left and the RockWater2 will be leaving the coast in early June which will see a lot of seafarers unemployed. We are currently talking with the employers about pos-sible vessels on the way, but how long is a piece of string? MUNZ and the EPMU (Engi-neers Union) have had mean-ingful talks over organizing the off-shore workers’ coverage, and we are in the process of finalizing a Memorandum of Understanding that will be binding for our unions futures in the oil, gas and mineral min-ing areas.

Toll New Zealand ShippingThe Arahura is currently in Singapore dry dock undertak-ing a major refit that will add some 5-10 years to her life.The crews have been absorbed within the fleet, and the company have been providing extra training courses for the crew. We will be initiating bargaining soon then into another round of agreement negotiations. The branch deals with many issues on a daily basis.

Strait Shipping and Terminal stevedoreAfter a couple of meetings with the company, it looks like the teething problems we had with STCW training upgrade has fixed itself. We are currently talking over some outstanding issues that need to be fixed, as they have the potential to turn into prob-lems. The Picton terminal seems to be fairly problem free, I believe this is due to the delegate system in place and the calibre of the delegates we are lucky to have in the Port.

NIWA A letter has been sent to the vessels calling for remits for the up-and-coming round of negotiations to renew the multi collective, and we will be visit-ing the vessels to attend ship board meetings.

Branch clothingBranch clothing is running out quick, but we have a new batch of t-shirts and caps available for purchase.

Branch amalgamationThe Wellington branch execu-tive of the Seafarers and Wa-terfront will be meeting in late June to discuss the amalgama-tion of the two branches, and we have a draft set of branch rules that Victor Billot has put together for us. There probably will be a working party set up to work through issues.

Delegate systemI would like to thank all the stand up people that have been, and still are, delegates on board your vessel and wharf site. You with the rank and file are the back bone of our union and provide the grunt your union officials need. Thank you.

“It’s often a fine balance for governments needing to be seen and heard to be concerned for the peoples welfare whilst keeping corporate business happy.”

MUNZ Wellington Seafarers Secretary Joe Fleetwood and MUNZ General Secretary Trevor Hanson at the celebrations for the renaming of the “Hungry Mile” at the MUA Conference, Sydney, April 2008

New Plymouth by Ryan Cox

With the end to all the major oil projects in late May, the boys have been enjoying a few idle days.On the container side new runs and a ferry service also meant a few weekends off.I’d also like to say a well- re-spected member John Lam-borne has retired – thanks for the years of hard graft.

Gisborneby Dein Ferris

There is very little to report at the present time from Gis-borne.Winter has arrived and along with it our quiet period.We are still awaiting the ar-rival of our next ply vessel and maybe one or two kiwifruit ships. Other than this there is not much on the horizon. We transferred to Whangarei (Marsden Point) the other day, which is a long drive from Gissy.You have to do it to note the number of Big Rigs on the road – definitely a need for coastal shipping here.It was good to see some of the old faces again. I can’t say cheers from the sunshine city as we have had possibly the wettest couple of months for a long time, cheers anyway.


Lytteltonby Les WellsAs I write this the combined unions at Port of Lyttelton RMTU and MUNZ are about to take back to the members at LPC a new agreement for ratification.I believe we have made some break-throughs in a couple of areas.One of these is contracting out, we now have a document that says they will consult with unions before there is any contracting out. This may not seem like much but we had nothing in writing previously to cover this.We have also achieved a 1% increase in the employers’ contribution to the Super Fund (now 8%). This we believe is a major step forward as this will give the young members especial-ly an opportunity to secure a better future going forward.At a meeting of the members on Thursday 29 May the document was presented to the members by the Union delegates, and although it was not unanimous there was a good majority in favour.As always you can’t satisfy everyone.One of the major concerns of both advo-cates was to have an agreement in place in an election year as things at this moment do not look good for Labour. We hope this will change as we near the Elections.I must remind members that if you do not get out and vote it is as good as giving a vote to the opposition.Anyone who thinks National is a better alternative to Labour are in for one hell of a shock if they get in.

Pacifica Shipping We have settled the Wharfies and Cus-tomer Service areas agreement and we still have to do the Foreman’s again. I believe we have made some advances on the previous document.

C3 As their agreement is expiring this year they have indicated that they would like to get into talks before the expiry date so hopefully this is a positive thing.In general I would like to say that it is very disappointing when we have two areas in this Port that are not represented on our executive.Now that we have gone to company em-ployment, it is imperative that each area has someone on our executive to pass back to the members what is happening in our port and others.

PORT ROUNDUPS

Auckland Seafarers by Garry Parsloe

Auckland May Day activities 2008On Thursday 1 May 2008 we assembled at the bottom of Queen Street at 5pm where we offered speakers an open mic to deliver workers’ issues to the Rally.At 5.45pm we marched from the bottom of Queen St to Aotea Square where the Delegates and activists were treated to a BBQ cooked up by Todd Douglas and Phil Graham both from AWUNZ.As Chairman of the May Day Commit-tee I had the privilege of introducing the speakers.The first speaker was Council of Trade Unions’ Vice President Richard Wagstaff, who was followed by Darien Fenton MP (Labour Party), then Ivan Sowerby (Green Party.)All speakers spoke on current issues and were well received by the Rally.After the speeches most of the MUNZ members went down to the Maritime Club where we continued the May Day Celebra-tions well into the evening.On Saturday 3 May 2008 the Auckland unions celebrated both International Work-ers Day and Workers Memorial Day at the May Day Function that was held at the Onehunga R.S.A.As Chairman of the May Day Committee I opened the function by welcoming all the delegates, union officials and friends of the trade union movement. I welcomed the Labour MPs Mark Gosche, Lynne Pilay and Darien Fenton.

I then took the opportunity to acknowl-edge the magnificent act of solidarity in South Africa where Dockers refused to dis-charge a vessel carrying arms and weap-ons that were going into another country in Africa to be used against workers in that country. This magnificent action makes us all proud to be part of the trade union movement.Our first speaker was Secretary of the Council of Trade Unions Carol Beaumont. Carol’s speech was well received by all the unions as she took the time to mention every union and spoke on some of their recent activities especially their victories.The unions acknowledged Carols massive contribution to the trade union movement.After Carols speech I asked everyone to stand for one minutes silence to acknowl-edge Workers Memorial Day.The function then continued with an EPMU presentation then a SFWU presen-tation. Both presentations were about past, present and planned activities.The last presentation was from the Work-ing Women’s Resource Centre. The presenter Tanja Bristow gave an indepth report on all the work that this group is involved with.After the speeches we were treated to an excellent dinner, which was followed by videos and music to set the tone for a most enjoyable evening.When I summed up at the end of the function, I thanked both Russell Mayn (MUNZ) and Linda Holt (PSA) for all the work they put into making the function the success that it was. I concluded by thanking all the delegates for being part of this most important oc-casion.

At Auckland May Day 2008, from left, Henry NeeNee (Local 13), Archie Hawkins (Auckland Seafarers), Daniel Stacey (Auckland Seafarers), Auckland Seafarers Secretary Garry Parsloe, Auckland Seafarers Vice President Peter Davis, Craig Harrison (Local 13)


PORT ROUNDUPS

Napierby Bill Connelly

Around and about:The port is reasonably quiet at the moment and at the time of writing I am sitting in the office, being the only member of MUNZ gainfully employed.

Hawkes Bay Stevedoring Services Limited:At this time I usually say who has left the industry, but this time I am pleased to report, and welcome, two new permanent employees, they are Andrew Maclean andAnthony Warren.Although they have been on the Napier register for many years, the officers, execu-tive and members of the Napier branch welcome Andrew and Anthony to their permanent ranks and hopefully their con-tinued association with the branch will be a long and fruitful joint venture.

Workers’ Memorial Day:A service was held at the port on Monday 28 April 2008 to commemorate Workers’ Memorial Day. The weather for a change was fine and representatives from the CTU, RMTU, MUNZ and Port of Napier gave their respective addresses on safety within the workplace.

Hawke’s Bay Stevedoring Services Limited:The current Local Port Schedule expired on the 28 February 2008. The branch and membership met on 16 June to discuss their concerns and a draft claims list is in the process of being formulated for the employer.

C3 (Formerly Toll Logistics New Zealand Limited)The Collective Agreement expires on the 31 December 2008.

Bluff by Ray Fife

MSCThe Mediterranean Shipping company has added a weekly call at Bluff. Streamlining the direction of the service through New Zealand from the previous north-south-north format has enabled South Port to be added without the need to drop any other calls. The result will see more jobs created in the port and a more stable future for our members.

Seismic ResearchThe first stage in the search for oil in the Great South Basin has drawn to a close with both the seismic research vessels which have been working there having completed their duties and headed north before the onset of winter.Both the 'Western Trident' and 'Discoverer 2' worked through Bluff and their chase boats were regular visitors here, the 'Ocean Pioneer' for the 'Western Trident' and the 'Margaret Philippa' for the 'Discoverer 2'.The enormous volume of recordings the vessels have produced will now be analysed by their respective charterers before any decision is made to take oil exploration in the Great South Basin to the next stage.

Tasman Orient changesThe port is to stand to gain from the recently announced enhancements to Tasman Orient Line's service through Bluff to East Asia. Direct calls will now be made in the Philippines on this service while retaining the existing frequency. The most obvious change to the Tasman Orient service through Bluff will be the introduction of the gantry-crane equipped sisters 'Tasman Independence' and 'Tasman Resolution.'

MUA Conference Branch President Harry Holland attended the Maritime Union of Australia conference held in Sydney along with 28 other New Zealand delegates.The conference was timed to coincide with the 10th anniversary of the Patricks dispute and the role many played in the 1998 victory.Many issues were discussed and debated at the conference that our union can take on board to progress our union and benefit our members.There were approximately 140 international guests from throughout the globe in attendance. After listening to the international guests report on the problems they are facing, it seems the issues we face in our country are the same in other countries.The sense of belonging, the camaraderie and pride in being part of a union that has links globally makes you realise the importance of how we must continue to encourage and support international solidarity. It was a great conference and I would like to thank the Branch and members for the opportunity for both myself and Harry to attend.

ElectionsThe coming elections are going to be very important to our union. If a National Government is elected we will see the gains we have made through the Labour coalition lost and find ourselves back to the union bashing days of the 1990s. All union members are reminded to make sure that you are enrolled, make sure that you vote and make sure that you do not vote for National.

WISFOur branch would like to acknowledge the contribution Susan Leuchers has made to the Waterfront Industry Superannuation Fund while Fund Director.

Susan has left the industry and we wish Susan all the best in her new endeavours. Susan was easily approachable, she was readily available to attend branch meetings and always found time to answer any queries that the members had on superannuation.

RetirementThe branch would like to wish Peter Waddel all the best in his retirement. Peter was a true loyal, staunch member who always had the union at heart. Peter served on our local executive for a number of years and his experience and straight talking will be missed. We thank Peter for contribution and support of the union over the years.

Bluff branch President Harry Holland, Prime Minister Helen Clark, Labour MP Lesley Soper and Bluff branch Secretary Ray Fife at Invercargill Government–Union forum


PORT ROUNDUPS

Port Chalmers Dunedinby Phil Adams

Greetings from the south. As winter starts to bite we are particularly busy in the terminal where more permanent cargo handlers are being taken on. The termi-nal has gained more work at the expense of Timaru which has lost some Maersk services, and the return to Port Chalmers of Hamburg Sud.

Port Chalmers Cargo ServicesPort Chalmers Cargo Services continues to be busy with fish, fertiliser, cement, logs and out of port transfers. Negotiations for a new agreement is currently taking place with Phil Adams and Noel Currie respre-senting the union.

StaffThe new staff that have started at the port company have joined our union and we hope in the couple of weeks to have a meeting with them to give a run down of our union and the expectations of new members.

Port Otago negotiationsThe port company negotiations continue on with changes being asked for in the working of 4100 vessels and three cranes over a 24 hour period, which is a major negotiating point. The unions have been subject to change over the terms of the agreement in the hours they work.

Our negotiating team is made up of a cross section of all departments working for Port Otago and this gives a true reflection of what all departments seek in the negotia-tions.

MUA conferenceThe national MUA conference, which was held in Sydney in April, was attended by four members from our branch as well as myself. Albie Patton, Paul Napier, “Tank” Lysaght and Ian Quarrell all enjoyed the experience of meeting dockers and seafar-ers from all over the globe. All represented our branch in a way expected from us all.

Branch electionsOur recent elections have concluded with Davy Dick back as President after a close tussle with Andrew Jennings. Ian Quarrell is back as Vice-President and Phil Adams as Secretary/Treasurer. The Executive are: Graham Wall, Paul Napier, Andrew Jennings, Stuart Crawford, and Graham Wright.Congratulations to all and commiserations to those who missed out, we hope they give it another go in the future.

New arrivalsCongratulations to Fraser Adams and part-ner Margaret on the birth of your daugh-ter, and to Glen Clarkson and wife.

New pilot boatThe new pilot boat has arrived from Australia and it is rumoured that Davy Dick and his crew are being fitted out with uniforms along with the gold braid which Dicky should look good in.

ClothingRemember we have polo shirts, beanies, caps and jackets with the MUNZ emblem for sale. See the Secretary for orders.

Government ElectionsThe elections for Government will be held near the end of the year. All members should be politically active otherwise we will be looking at a government hell bent on taking off any gains we have made while under the current government. It is indeed very interesting to see the lo-cal National Party nominee for Dunedin North is the son of a former Tally Clerk in the terminal, Alan Woodhouse. Members should make sure they attend election meetings to put the hard questions to these people.

Holiday unitThere are some gaps at our Queenstown unit for people wishing to use the unit over winter. All you skiers see Ian Quarrel and Alan Middleditch for bookings.

RetireesBruce Law and Murray Gillon will enter retirement soon. Both are popular mem-bers so we wish them all the best for their retirement.

Sports tourneyWe are currently asking members to put their names forward for the sports tourney in Timaru in February 2009. Any inquiries see Winky Waugh.

Super and MedicalA reminder to all to make sure you join the medical and super scheme to plan for years at Port Otago.In addition we note that the manager of the Waterfront Industry Super Fund Susan Leuchars has moved on to a new job. Susan was in this position for a number of years and had a challenging job as many of our members take an active interest in their super fund and would ask the tough questions. We wish Susan all the best and thank her for her contribution.

RetireesWe are currently asking all those retired to look at being part of our National Veteran Association and those interested should speak with the President or the Secretary.

ITFOur branch would like to extend our thanks to Kathy Whelan for her work as ITF representative in New Zealand. We wish you all the best as you explore other avenues.Well that’s about it from our port.

Port Chalmers Dunedin Branch Executive, June 2008: front row from left, Stuart Crawford, David Dick, Paul Napier, Ian Quarrell, back row from left, Graham Wall, Andrew Jennings, Graham Wright, Phil Adams (photo by V. Billot)


PORT ROUNDUPS

Wellington Waterfrontby John Whiting

PacificaThe collective agreement for the Pacifica Wellington stevedoring operation has been renewed for a one-year term with a wage rate increase acceptable to these members.Personnel changes include the resignations of Daniel Whelan and Robert Tiatia and the move from GWE to fulltime for Jason Simi. Also new GWE Rupert Simi and further additions to follow. The decision of Robert Tiatia to seek new opportunities in Western Australia is a major loss for the branch and our members at Pacifica and we acknowledge his loyalty to the union and the members over his 15 years service, the last eight as a very effec-tive job delegate taking on the role of work place leadership.Our loss is a gain to the MUA and the West and we wish Robert and his family all the best for the future.

CentrePortThe recent moves by Maersk to call week-ly, MSC to continue the Trans-Tasman call weekly with the addition of MSC Frisia, and also the PIL/MISC decision to change to a weekly call with bigger ships are good news for the members at the Port Co.

Mount Maunganui by Eddie Cook and Peter Harvey

We have an executive committee up and running now with Peter Harvey as Presi-dent, Glen Hicks as Vice President, Eddie Cook as Secretary and 10 members from C3, NZL Group, Ballance and Seafarers.We have been quite busy with mediation, collective agreements and other problems which we are getting on top of and things are coming together rather well.It has been rather difficult with the prob-lems that the previous Branch Organizer left for us but we are getting more mem-bers each week and the branch is on the move forward.Our thanks to Russell Mayn and Gary Parsloe and everyone else for the helping hand we have received, it is greatly appre-ciated from our members of the committee and the branch.The branch attended a CTU Government Forum on Thursday 19 June with Prime Minister Helen Clark and Mita Ririnui MP.We are trying to get as many branch members active as possible in the election campaign and formulating our different activities. We need as many activists on the ground as possible to get a worker friendly Gov-ernment re-elected.

This new work together with recent retirements has resulted in the following personnel moves:Vince Little, Bradley Clifford and Jason Crown to permanent 40 hours. New starts as permanent part-timers (GWEs) are Fabian Elliot, Zac Isaako, Michael Mace, Grant Hyland, Johnny Hen-son, and Garry Carter. All positive news for these members.

Wellington branch unityWe intend to proceed with urgency to bring about the merging of the Wellington Waterfront and Seafarers Branches into one united entity. Firstly, via full consideration by both ex-ecutives to shape the new combined struc-ture, followed by seeking the endorsement of our respective memberships.This move, overdue, and arising from the formation of the Maritime Union of New Zealand will improve our strength and resources, enable better membership service, and enhance our primary function – the protection and advancement of our members terms and conditions of employ-ment, both ashore and at sea.In short, to continue on an even better footing the ability of the Maritime Union to punch above its weight!

At the MUNZ National Executive meeting, May 2008, from left, Timaru Branch Secretary Kevin Forde, Wellington seafarer Peter Stills, MUA National Presiding Officer Jimmy Boyle, Auckland Local 13 President Denis Carlisle, Wellington Sea-farers Branch Secretary Joe Fleetwood, Wellington Waterfront Branch Vice President Bradley Clifford (photo by V. Billot)

maritimes july 2008

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