LOGGING ON
Logging on MUA - Here To Stay!
Our National Council in April coincided with the date 24 years ago that Patrick Stevedores sacked almost 2000 workers around Australia, and set their dogs and balaclava-clad enforcers on to the Australian waterfront. It was 7pm on April 7th, 1998 that bosses and the Howard-led Liberal Government of the day set off one of the nation’s longest and most bitter industrial disputes. The High Court later found that there was a probable criminal conspiracy against the union and its members by the government and the company. Today, two things mark this significant anniversary. Firstly, the commencement of a newly finalised Enterprise Agreement with Patrick Terminals -- which will deliver immediate, significant and ongoing pay rises and long-term job security for our members. This comes after two years of negotiation, dispute, and struggle in the face of a management team that had not learned the lessons of the past and wanted to cancel their entire workforce’s agreements and send them back to the Award. Reports abound of them and some other Stevedoring employers lobbying the federal government over the last two years to remove the industrial rights under the Fair Work Act afforded every other working Australian woman and man in the workplace. Secondly, the Australian Trade Union Institute has released an excellent historical resource for educating future generations about the social, economic and historical importance of the 1998 waterfront dispute. It includes some excellent historical footage from the MUA’s own archives, and is a timely reminder on the cusp of the 2022 Federal Election of the lengths a Liberal Government will go to on behalf of their big business backers.
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Just as we did 24 years ago, the MUA stands resolutely defiant against these attacks by conservative political figures and their sponsors in the big end of town. We are armed with the facts, united by the courage and determination of our membership, and with the backing of unionised maritime and transport workers around the world. We will keep our essential domestic supply chains in Australian ownership and working transparently in the public interest of our nation during this time of massive upheaval and international dysfunction. We are on the cusp of a Federal Election. Mobilise and reach out to everyone you know to vote out Scott Morrison and his Government. This is the only way to secure your access to decent employment , secure jobs and a genuinely independent Australia where the rights of working Australians are always placed first in word and action. The union can assist you with the facts and anything you may need in the task. Contact your branch to join the campaign efforts locally.
Another Grubby Act
DP World advertises itself internationally as a progressive business concerned with social
and corporate responsibility that supports labour rights and works ‘in a responsible way that prioritises sustainability and impact on the people, communities and environment in which we operate’. The company now has serious questions to answer following the ruthless sacking of 800 seafarers at its subsidiary P&O Ferries in the UK. On March 17, in a strikingly similar act to what Australian Seaferers have been subjected to over decades, P&O Ferries fired 800 British-based seafarers with 30 minutes notice over a pre-recorded Zoom call. The company made the decision without any consultation with its workforce or their unions. The MUA, The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) and European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF) are calling on DP World to engage in proper and transparent discussions with their maritime workforce and unions to repair the situation. The Rail and Maritime Union and Nautilus have been long term friends and brothers and sisters of Australian maritime workers. The former RMT general secretary Bob Crow was a particularly strident and militant supporter of our union throughout his working life and up to his premature death. He attended every quadrennial conference of our union www.mua.org.au
