Issue 4 • November/December 2003 Magazine of the Maritime Union of New Zealand ISSN 1176-3418

Port RoundupPort Roundup

ITF delegate trainingITF delegate training

Union election results 2003Union election results 2003Port Security or threat to workers rights?Port Security or threat to workers rights?

The New Breed: Youth activists in the UnionThe New Breed: Youth activists in the Union

First Maritime Union conferencebuilds international solidarity

First Maritime Union conferencebuilds international solidarity

2

State of theMaritime Union

by Trevor HansonGeneral Secretary

The Maritime Union held its firstTriennial Conference in Wellington from21–23 October 2003.

It only seems a short time since ourfirst Joint Council Meeting in October2002 which set us down the path to thisConference.

The intervening amalgamation periodhas seen the Seafarers and WaterfrontUnions work closely on many commonissues.

The past history of our two unions is aproud one.

Both Unions have been generoussupporters to community causes and arewell respected for this.

Our Unions have taken strong andprincipled positions on political issues onbehalf of working New Zealanders.

Banning scrap metal to Japan prior toWorld War Two, the ban on nuclearwarships, and taking a day off each yearwithout pay in support of Waitangi Dayare just some of the examples.

Workers struggling in harsh economicand social climate

New Zealand workers are stillbearing the brunt of the bad legislationdealt to them in the early nineties.

Government handed over the wheelto big business and unfettered competi-tion, creating a society where a highnumber of New Zealand workers cannever say their jobs are safe.

Permanent work is being replaced byshort term contracts, part time and on callcasual work.

The shipping industry has been badlyhit by these developments, and bothseafarers and wharfies have sufferedbecause of it.

The Government can crow as much asit likes about low unemployment andskill shortages and import as manyimmigrants as it likes, yet the facts remain– the New Zealand workforce is full oflow paid “permanent casual” and parttime workers.

The social impact on New Zealand isterrible.

Older workers lose jobs and lose selfesteem as they take the knock backs andface a bleak future without stable employ-ment opportunities.

Younger workers have been crushedinto accepting that this is “the way it is.”

As far as they are concerned, casualpart time work is the reality, and fitting inwith the boss is the only way they see toget the next call for some more work.

The freemarket policies of the last twodecades have been watered down somewhat by the present Government.

But the social costs of the freemarketera have been extreme.

New Zealand has comparatively highand growing rates of youth suicide, drugabuse, child abuse and violence.

We are still not walking forwardtogether as a country on a path of fairnessin the work place.

Good faith bargaining means verylittle to an employer who can very simplyturn a democratic union work force ontoits heels.

They simply set up another yellowunion on any site where they need to splitand divide.

Sadly, some workers allow themselvesto be used as pawns in a brutal game ofdivide and conquer.

One way forward from the presentsocial mess is to reintroduce an industryaward system and regulation.

Both of these measures would begreeted with “shock horror” by themajority of today’s politicians.

However it is the only way that thefailures of the present system can besorted out.

The big problem for the MaritimeUnion is the fragmented way we areforced to deal with 13 ports.

Contained within these ports we havea number of companies in competitionwith each other.

Although we have tried to keep alevel playing field, our successes areslowly being eroded.

The majority of our problems came inthe early 1990s with company crashes,liquidations and redundancies.

To ensure continued employment,terms and conditions were reduced, andof course each time this occurred thespiral downwards continued.

Port and national officials were putbetween a rock and a hard place in tryingto save jobs and retain conditions.

At the present time, we are beginninga new wave of labour reform broughtabout by the big corporates attempts tosqueeze out more profit.

Since 1991 New Zealand workers havebeen caught up in a series of competitivecycles that turn round every three years.

The final phase of these cycles isworkers paying through loss of jobs andwork conditions.

There is a war going on in the work-places of New Zealand, where we are thetargets of corporate globalization.

The power of anti-union employershas placed increasing pressure on us.

In Wellington, the latest attack byTasman Orient owned subsidiary Quad-rant and part shareholder Hans Axt is themost grave situation seen yet.

Rather than just compete, thiscompany was set up to work its ownvessels, and any other work it gets at thePort of Wellington – work traditionallycarried out by our members employed byCentre Port.

Seafarers have suffered in the sameway with the loss of coastal shipping toforeign companies and ship-owners who[continued on page 4]

National OfficeTelephone: 04 3850 792Fax: 04 3848 766Address: PO Box 27004, WellingtonEmail: nationaloffice@munz.org.nz

General Secretary: Trevor HansonMobile: 0274 453 532Email: trevor.hanson@munz.org.nz

National President: Phil AdamsMobile: 0274 377 601Email: phil.adams@munz.org.nz

Contact the Maritime UnionVice President: Joe FleetwoodMobile: 021 2364 646

Assistant General Secretary:Terry RyanMobile: 021 760 886Email: terry@munz.org.nz

ITF Inspectorate: Kathy WhelanMobile: 021 666 405Email: kathy.whelan@munz.org.nz

3

‘The Maritimes’Issue 4, November/December 2003

Contents

Trevor Hanson Report ............... 2

Dave Morgan Report ................. 3

Maritime Union Election results ... 5

News ................................... 6

Les Wells Report ..................... 8

ITF News and Views ................. 11

Vale Danny Schick ................... 12

Port Security.......................... 13

Cabotage Campaign Part Two ...... 14

Conference Report .................. 16

Youth Union Activism................ 18

Womens’ Union Meeting ............ 19

Port Roundups ........................ 20

Letters ................................. 28

Interport 2004 update .............. 30

Clothing ............................... 30

Union Education ..................... 31

Union Contacts ....................... 31

The Back Page ........................ 32

‘The Maritimes’ is the official nationalmagazine of the Maritime Union of NewZealand, published quarterly.

ISSN 1176-3418

National Office:PO Box 27004WellingtonNew ZealandTelephone 04 3850 792Fax 04 3848 766Email: nationaloffice@munz.org.nzWeb: www.munz.org.nz

Edited and designed by Victor BillotEmail: victor.billot@munz.org.nz

Editorial Board:Trevor Hanson and Dave Morgan

Thanks to the photographers includingHarry Holland, Rachael Goddard, BobThorpe, Terry Ryan, Ray Fife, PhilSpanswick, Joe Fleetwood, KathyWhelan, Mike Williams, Trevor Hanson,and others unnamed. Thanks to theMUA, ITF and ILWU for material.

Front cover: Jim, Joseph and Leonworking on the Aorere inDunedin.

Passing on a strongUnion to the nextgeneration

by Dave MorganRetiring Joint National President

Dave Morgan Valedictory Speech and Report to

Maritime Union Inaugural Triennial Conference

Wellington, 22 October 2003.

International guests, General Secretaryand Officers of the Union, Delegatesand observers, my greetings to you allon the occasion of the InauguralConference of the Maritime Union ofNew Zealand.

It is an honour for me to address youtoday as a President of this great Union,the Maritime Union of New Zealand.

The principle Union of Watersidersand Seafarers in this country with amembership resolved to keep it that way.

We remember also our Tipuna – ourForefathers who preceded us and theheritage given to us by them.

We accept the responsibility as theydid, to pass on a strong Union to thenext generation.

The Maritime Union is great becauseit represents the coming together of twogreat Unions, it enshrines their historyand traditions and will keep them andnurture them into the future.

Its greatest resource is its members,their history, their heart, their workingclass politics and their determination.

In the need to perpetuate our historyand traditions we should not discountour retired members as soon as theywalk out the door.

They remain a political force for theUnion and we should assist them toorganize along the lines of a MaritimeUnion Veterans Association.

The MUA have shown the way inthis and we have a copy of their consti-tution to build on should our retiredmembers embrace it.

Brothers and Sisters, this is the lasttime I will address you or any othergroup of workers as President of theMaritime Union.

As you are all aware that after 30years in the President’s position, 33years in total as an official, 40 years inthe NZ Seamen’s Union then theSeafarers and through our transitionalyear, the Maritime Union, it is time forme to pass the reins to the next genera-tion and accordingly I will not goforward with you in an official capacity.

The ballot is currently underway thatwill complete the task of selection of theNational Officers to lead the nationalMaritime Union into the future.

I would pause here so I can expressmy congratulations to Trevor Hanson onhis election unopposed as GeneralSecretary.

In a decade of working closely withTrevor, and over the past year inparticular in the Maritime Union, I havefound him to be a man of great capacityfor the task.

He needs support and should get itfrom you all.

Given that support, he can, and willdeliver, and you will find his fullpotential as a leader.

Also, and not without some greatfeelings of satisfaction and pleasure, Icongratulate Joe Fleetwood a rank andfile seafarer who steps up into opencompany as the National Vice Presidentof the Maritime Union, unopposed anda popular choice.

Satisfaction because Joe has comefrom the ranks of a great Union andshows the caliber of trade unionist theSeafarers Union brought forward.

Joe Fleetwood is a man of compas-sion and integrity with huge enthusiasmand vitality for the fight.

He has it before him and I wish himthe very best of success in his work onbehalf of the members of the MaritimeUnion and pledge that I will give him,and through him the Union, everyassistance I can from whatever perspec-tive I may be able to give from myaccumulative years of experience.

Comrades it is a time of continuingchange in our industry and organizationand we need to be aware of that as wego into our deliberations over the nextthree days.

The Conference sets our course andwe need to get it right.

There is no need for me to outline theissues short and long term that we face.

The General Secretary will articulatethem and in truth, you already knowthem.

There are some large and complexchanges looming already as a new waveof reforms and takeovers sweep thecountry and impact on our industry andour Union.[continued on page 10]

4

Trevor Hanson

continued from page 2

are crewing their vessels with theThird World “sweatship” labour.

It’s not a happy picture, but that is thetruth of the matter.

Although things are bad, the situationcould have been much worse if our twounions had not been in place to defendworkers in our industry.

How can we combat these attacks?

The fightback cannot be done withoutthe will of our rank and file members,and it has to start on the job.

Officials and delegates can achieveprogress in a dispute when members givethem the lever of industrial action.

Union members have been in themode of looking to the Union as a‘outside solution’ to problems.

The fact is the members are the Union,and all union members have to takeownership of problems.

Our waterfront section is sufferingfrom lack of meetings at some ports.

While I appreciate the difficultiesfacing branches, the results of not havingregular meetings mean our members arenot up to speed with national develop-ments, or even within their own port.

Growing the Union

There is also a need to build member-ship in areas outside the wharf gate.

We have good examples in someareas, but we have allowed others tomove in on our natural territory.

One area that we should be involvedin is Inland Ports.

It is not too late and we should takeany opportunity we can to get theseoutfits organized.

Amalgamation with the RMTU is vitalto our future as well.

We cannot afford to go into any morenegotiations with two sets of negotiatorsand lawyers against one employer.

The cost and delays to negotiations isobvious, and our combined resources andknowledge should benefit all members.

One of the most compelling immedi-ate reasons for joining with the RMTU isthe Toll takeover of TranzRail.

Both unions members will be em-ployed by this company in three keytraditional work areas – Ferries, Wharfand Rail.

International Affiliations

Our affiliation to the InternationalTransport Workers Federation (ITF) isessential to the Maritime Union.

In particular we are able to supportand assist foreign seafarers in the manyareas of their employment where they aregetting ripped off: wages, health andsafety issues, and living conditions.

In the long run, this will build theinternational solidarity for a solution toFlag of Convenience shipping.

Our ITF co-ordinator Kathy Whelancarries out all of these activities.

She recently organized a successfultraining seminar held in Auckland withDockers and Seafarers attending fromover the Pacific.

Our Conference was attended byguests from the Maritime Union ofAustralia and the International Long-shoremen’s and Warehousemen’s Union.

For a long time now I have been of theopinion there is a need for our member-ships to see more practical results ofinternational trade unionism.

The ILWU Lockout in the USA and thePatricks Dispute in Australia were twoprime examples.

These were major disputes and simplyhad to be won.

Victory gave wharfies, dockers andour allies worldwide a badly neededmorale boost.

We are in an era which requiresstronger Union resistance to internationalemployers.

We have the power and should not beashamed to use it for the benefit ofmaritime workers worldwide.

Recently I spoke to a young casualmember who explained to me theindignities of his status in life.

He asked me why Unions didn’t startan international fighting fund.

I told him it would be a legal andorganizational nightmare.

But maybe he was right – we all havecommon employers and the ‘Just in Time’concept makes the Ship Owners veryvulnerable.

Maritime Safety Authority and OSHregulations

After eight years of negotiationsbetween OSH (Occupational Safety andHealth) and ourselves the Port SafetyCode has finally been agreed upon.

Bill Connelly and I were asked byOSH for a meeting to finalize the Code.

The meeting took place in Septemberand after checking for weasel words weagreed to the document.

As far as we were concerned it was afinal agreement and fully covered theareas required for our protection.

We were aware the old HarbourRegulations no longer exist, and areplacement is essential.

Our understanding is the next stepwould be that the code will become aMaritime Rule.

At a recent meeting between Unions,Government and the MSA, I raised thematter with the director of MSA, whotold me they knew nothing about it andsaid he thought the whole thing was onthe back burner.

This is another case of bureaucracy atits worst – we will now have to do thespade work to get action, otherwise ourmembers will be endangered.

Port and Shipping Security

The Government has made a cleardecision that come hell or high water thenew Port and Shipping Security systemwill commence in July 2004.

Thank you to our representatives forthe work done at local Port Securitymeetings and for sticking with ournational policies.

We have never opposed the introduc-tion of Port and Ship Security, and we arewell aware that the George W. Bushregime in America is paranoid of bombscoming into their ports.

Our union has taken the view that weare the major stakeholder in Seafaringand cargo handling areas within portsand should have a major role in changesthat affect our members.

We also are aware our jobs areinfluenced by the American market.

We have insisted that our co-operationis dependant on all members remainingin their current employment via a fairvetting process.

We have made it clear we want anational register and access cards issuedwhich would allow the movement ofunion labour between ports.

Although our stance has been gettingresults, there have recently been movesby individual Ports to go it alone.

As a result we were forced to go backto Government and restate our case.

The other real concern we have is thatPart 3 of the Maritime Security Bill hasmany clauses that talk about the powersof an ‘Authorized Person’ who will be incharge during any terrorist alert at a Port.

The Union’s view is that the Autho-rized Person will have police powers –this is a very dangerous precedent.

We raised the issue with both theNational Port Security committee andwith the Minister for Port Security HarryDuynhoven.

This resulted in the CTU becominginvolved.

The present situation is that we haveasked our Union Lawyer Peter Cranneyto prepare submissions for the selectcommittee.

The two options we have are to turnthe issue into a Civil Liberties case, or tostart a campaign of no cooperation – Isuspect we will have to do bit of both.

The positive attitudes and interna-tional solidarity shown at our Conferencegive me a sense of confidence about thefuture of our Maritime Union.

5

‘The Maritimes’ is the official magazine of the

Maritime Union of New Zealand.

All correspondence to: ‘The Maritimes’,

PO Box 27004, Wellington, New Zealand.

Email victor.billot@munz.org.nz

Deadline for all Port reports, submissions, photos and letters:

January 18, 2004.

Election Results

The Maritime Union says it will resistthe Government’s port security plansunless workers rights and civil liber-ties are guaranteed.

Associate Transport Minister HarryDuynhoven gave the keynote speech atthe Maritime Union conference inWellington in October.

The Union welcomed MrDuynhoven’s comments, but has beenquick to point out we will not accept anyport security measures that harmworkers.

Maritime Union General SecretaryTrevor Hanson says the port securityplans will provide employers with thepowers to vet, search and detainworkers at will.

He says the Maritime Union willactively resist port security measuresunless workers concerns are addressed.

“If the Government wants to get portsecurity, it needs to listen to the workerson the coalface.”

Mr Hanson says a remit passed attoday’s conference demands the Gov-ernment introduce a national register ofbona fide waterfront workers andseafarers.

He says this will ensure a fair andeffective solution to workers concerns.

“Our concerns are echoed by ourinternational delegates from Australiaand the United States who have told theconference they face similar problems intheir home ports.”

The Maritime Union has joined withthe Rail and Maritime Transport Union(RMTU) in making a submission to aParliamentary Select Committee on portsecurity.

The Union submission emphasizedworker’s concerns with employerspowers and worker safety in dangeroussituations.

Port securityplans will beresistedunlessconcernsaddressed

The Maritime Union has elected newNational Officials following the firstelections for the new Union.

The new National President is PhilAdams of Port Chalmers DunedinBranch who received 704 votes.

The other candidate for Presidentwas Denis Carlisle of Auckland BranchLocal 13 who received 336 votes.

The other contested position was thatof Assistant General Secretary.

Terry Ryan of Auckland BranchLocal 13 was the successful candidatereceiving 334 votes.

Other candidates were Ray Fife(Bluff Branch) 196 votes, Garry Parsloe(Auckland Seafarers Branch) 221 votes,and Mike Williams (Wellington Seafar-ers Branch) 289 votes.

The position of General Secretarywas uncontested and remains with theincumbent, Trevor Hanson.

The position of Vice President wasalso uncontested and is filled by JoeFleetwood of the Wellington SeafarersBranch.

2,468 members were entitled to voteand 1,055 votes were cast.

General Secretary Trevor Hansonthanked all candidates for their time andcommitment.

“We drew an excellent pool ofcandidates and it bodes well for thefuture of the Maritime Union.”

He thanked Returning Officer PhilMansor for a thorough job.

Several officials have retired fromelected office including Joint NationalPresident Dave Morgan and JointNational President Les Wells.

Joint National Vice President BobThorpe also retired from office.

National President Phil Adams

General Secretary Trevor Hanson

Assistant General Secretary Terry Ryan

National Vice President Joe Fleetwood

6

US pressure onnukes a disgraceThe Maritime Union says that pressurefrom the United States on NewZealand’s anti-nuclear policy is a wakeup call to Kiwi workers.

Speaking in October, former jointNational President Dave Morgan saidcomments in a speech by US ambassa-dor Charles Swindells in Wellington onOctober 8 indicate the USA is preparingfor further military attacks.

“New Zealand seafarers and water-front workers were leading activists inthe fight for a nuclear free New Zealandin the eighties,” says Mr Morgan.

Watersiders were attacked in NewZealand and Australia when theyrefused to load pig iron for fascist Japanprior to World War Two.

Watersiders , seafarers and harbourworkers stood together against the USSTruxton in 1984.

The nuclear warship was leftstranded in Wellington harbour becausemaritime workers refused to bring heralongside.

The Maritime Union continues tooppose nuclear madness and militaryaggression.

“It is to their undying shame Na-tional and ACT politicians talk of ourinability to secure a free trade agreementwith the United States if the anti nuclearlegislation remains in place,” says MrMorgan.

New Zealand seafarers and water-front workers have always had a simpleapproach to the question of peace andthe anti nuclear campaigns.

In the Second World War, one ineight who died was a merchant seafarer.

“It is always the workers who paywith their lives for the wars started bytheir so-called leaders.”

The Maritime Union statements arenot directed against the Americanpeople, but against the Americanregime.

The Union has extremely goodrelations with the InternationalLongshore and Warehouse Union(ILWU), our sister Union on the WestCoast of the United States and Canada.

Watersiders delegates travelled tothe United States in 2001 to supportlocked out dockers in California.

Resistance to Mainlandcontinues in BluffBluff wharfies and local supportershave continued their resistance toMainland Stevedores at Southport.

An overnight picket in late Augustmade the national media when Main-land employees were brought intoSouthport in a box to work the fishingtrawler “Amatal Columbia.”

A further dawn picket on Sunday 21September was held when Mainlandarrived to work the log carrier “Pacsea.”

Maritime Union Bluff BranchSecretary Ray Fife says Bluff workerswill not let their livelihoods be ruinedby a company trying to drag the indus-try a hundred years backwards.

“What we are seeing is the continu-ing attempt to create a powerless,divided, and casualized workforce,ruled over by the pure greed of compa-nies such as Mainland.”

He says the consequences ofcasualization in Bluff would mean thedestruction of a highly skilled workforceand the collapse of workers wages, withserious implications to the localeconomy.

“Casualization is destroying NewZealand jobs, families and communities,and Bluff is not going to standby andwatch it happen here.”

Mr Fife says Mainland’s claim it wasemploying local workers at Bluff wasanother sham.

No letup: Bluff wharfies were on hand for an early morning picket on August 28 when Mainland

employees were herded into South Port in their box (picture: Southland Times)

“I’ve been working here for overtwenty years and I don’t recognize anyof them.”

Maritime Union General SecretaryTrevor Hanson says Mainland’s claim ofproviding ‘freedom of choice’ was a“smokescreen for their divide and ruleplan for workers.”

“Most New Zealanders will be ableto translate ‘freedom of choice’ intowhat it really means in plain English –freedom of choice for the boss to rip offworkers, stuff up their community, andwalk away from the wreckage with a bigbag of cash.”

“Casualization means not knowingwhen or if you are working, living onthe end of a phone, working unsafehours, having family life ruined andhaving no ability to financially planyour life – this is a line in the sand issuefor us, ” says Mr Hanson.

As we go to press, the fishing trawler“Amatal Enterprise” is due to arrive inBluff – with the unloading to be done bylocal Maritime Union members em-ployed by Southland StevedoringServices.

7

The waterfront strike of 1913 was aturning point in New Zealand history.

As an industrial dispute, it involveda larger number of people and had abigger impact at the time than the 1951waterfront lockout.

The Auckland University of Technol-ogy is presenting “Cossacks & Com-rades: An Exhibition to Commemoratethe 90th Anniversary of the 1913 Water-front Dispute” which will be open to thepublic from Monday 24 November toFriday 28 November.

A guided tour will be provided at10am and 3pm daily.

The exhibition began with researchby historian Dr Cathy Casey andfeatures a wide range of artifacts andmaterial from the time of the strike.Some of the programme includes:Monday 24 November: Opening, 5.30pmTuesday 25 November, 7pmSpeaker: Dean Parker“Tom Barker of Auckland and theWorld.”

(Dean Parker has a 3,000 word articleon the 1913 strike printed in the Novem-ber edition of Metro magazine.)Friday 28 November, 1pmSpeaker: Chris Trotter (writer, politicalcommentator) – “Unfinished Business:The 1913 General Strike & NewZealand’s Radical Tradition.”

The Trade Union History Project isalso holding a seminar on the 1913Strike entitled "A Laboratory or aBattleground of Democracy?" on 22November 8.30am – 5pm at PSA House,Aurora Terrace, Wellington.

Seminar Fees are waged $30.00 andunwaged $20.00.

1913: maritimestrikes hitNew Zealand

Associate Minister of Transport HarryDuynhoven opened the First TriennialConference of the Maritime Union inWellington on 21 October 2003.

Mr Duynhoven said he appreciatedthe frank advice he had always receivedfrom the waterfront and seafarersunions, and now the Maritime Union.

He spoke to the Conference onMaritime Security Bill, which he de-scribed as establishing a securityframework that would reduce the risksof security incidents or any potentialterrorist attack.

“The Maritime Security Bill willbetter protect New Zealand’s ports andships from being potentialterrorist targets, and indoing so will ensure thesafety and personalsecurity of port and shipworkers.”

The new laws wouldbring New Zealand intoline with the policies ofthe International MaritimeOrganization by thedeadline of 1 July 2004.

Mr Duynhoven saidthe reason for the changeswas that New Zealandwas highly dependent onseaborne trade carried by foreignshipping.

“Apart from the need for NewZealand to fulfil its international treatyobligations, if New Zealand does notimprove its maritime security, the risk totourism and trade transported by seawould increase significantly.”

He said the Maritime Safety Author-ity would be put in charge of themaritime security regulations.

In answer to Maritime Unionconcerns about screening and searchingof workers, he said the powers grantedunder the Maritime Security Bill weresimilar to those of the Civil Aviation Act.

Temporary port security areas couldbe set up with official permission, andscreening and searching processeswould not be applied permanently, onlyin circumstances where the MaritimeSafety Authority or the Minister wereconcerned about particular securityrisks.

Mr Duynhoven said that powersunder the new laws had been consid-ered in relation to the Bill of Rights Act.

Harry Duynhovenopens conference

He said that the new laws requiredports established an identificationsystem for entry to the port.

This could use currently existingforms of ID, although in the longer terma national identification system such asa national register “could be the way togo.”

The process would be controlled bythe MSA who would seek to ensure thesystem was applied impartially andwithout prejudice to workers.

Mr Duynhoven said the Governmenthad been considering the report of theShipping Industry Review looking atways of increasing New Zealand’s

involvement in shippingand maritime services.

The Maritime Union hasbeen campaigning for theintroduction of a cabotagesystem which would giveNew Zealand carrierspreference on domesticshipping routes.

The key proposal of theShipping Review suggestedtax breaks, a second registeror a tonnage tax.

The members of theReview did not reach aconsensus on the cabotage

policy.Mr Duynhoven said the implications

for coastal freight rates under cabotagewas an issue for the Government.

Minister of Labour Margaret Wilsonfollowed Mr Duynhoven’s speech withan address on the Employment Rela-tions Act and the status of New Zealandworkers.

Minister of Labour Margaret Wilson

Strikers, Auckland, 1913

8

It is with mixed feelings that I presentthis report, given it is to be to the firstconference of the Maritime Union ofNew Zealand, and my last as Presidentafter seven years as President and twoyears as Vice President.

I have enjoyed my time as President,and anyone who has undertaken a topunion position knows you don’t do it forpopularity or kudos.

Everyone I know in similar positionshave paid a price in health, and sufferedstress related problems to one extent orother.

But I believe in the Union, and I’mconfident we will as a Maritime familybecome an even better vehicle to assistworking people to group together andfight for a fair, just and safe workingenvironment, along with an equitablereturn and living standard in return fortheir labour.

We have seen many name changesfor collectivism on New Zealandwharves and ships since the first unionswere established in the 1870s.

130 years of struggle later, aftermany amalgamations, assimilations, andmergers we arrive at where we aretoday.

Now the Maritime Union of NewZealand becomes the inheritor, andtemporary guardian of a well-led, wellresourced, well disciplined example toall other unions.

of the process, providing tools for bothemployers and unions.

The point being if we wait forlegislation to improve our lot, it won’thappen.

The new legislation amendmentsonly provide the tools and the opportu-nity for us to help ourselves.

As the employer also receives rightsit comes down to our organizationalabilities and negotiation skills, com-bined with the discipline, and determi-nation to progress claims.

It has been my pleasure to be part ofa sound, solid team nationally.

I have been fortunate to work withTrevor, Terry, Phil Adams, Phil Mansorand Valentina, also more recently withDave and Kathy.

I wish all these attending, particu-larly our international guests a goodconference.

I’m sure some hard work will seethe way into the future well mappedout.

Les WellsConferenceAddress

In fact it would be fair to say that noother group of workers of a similar sizeis better resourced.

I guess what I’m trying to say is thatthe key to maintaining our position isthrough organizing.

The only way wages and conditionscan be protected, and advanced isthrough collectivism.

I have yet to meet the employer whowill increase your pay and conditionsbecause you’re a nice guy.

On the other hand I have met plentywho reluctantly agree to increases on thebasis of what they perceive yourstrength and unity to be.

With Maritime Union determinationto have its leaders rise from the ranks,the most important aspect of the overallstructure is the Job Delegates.

Our ability to train, encourage, andsupport our delegates, who usuallybecome our future leaders, is imperativeto our future successes.

I feel I can say without contradictionthat any collective is only as good as itsmembership.

Nationally the period of transitionhas been extremely hectic over the pastyear with various contracts, amalgam-ation decisions, preparation of submis-sions to select committees – with the twobiggies being the formation of theMaritime Union and the advent of theTasman Maritime Federation.

We as the Union must never losesight of the bigger picture – our destinyis so much dependant on those withwhom we are joined at the hip.

The attacks on jobs and conditionsare not a New Zealand event, the attackis worldwide as the multinationalscontinue to search for the cheapestoption.

I cannot let this report finish withoutreference to Ted Thompson’s passing at87 years of age.

Ted was mainly responsible for theestablishment of the Waterfront IndustrySuperannuation Fund, which, as hepredicted at the time, allows wharfies toretire in dignity.

He retired in 1975, but remainedactive and aware of waterfront issues.

He even attended our last conferenceand spoke of his delight that after somany years the combination of wharfiesand seamen was becoming a reality withthat conference voting for the formationof the Maritime Union.

May our old warrior rest in peace.In conclusion I believe the Maritime

Union is a sound solid combination, theequal to any union in the country.

The current government is steadilyaltering and placing some fairness backinto legislation that allows us to be part

Mordechai VanunuRally

Maritime Union Joint President DaveMorgan spoke at a rally for MordechaiVanunu held at Parliament Grounds onTuesday 30 September.

Mordechai Vanunu has spent overseventeen years in an Israeli prison,including eleven years in solitaryconfinement.

His crime was to act as awhistleblower on Israel’s nuclear armsprogramme.

Vanunu worked for nine years as atechnician at Israel’s nuclear weaponfactory.

The New Zealand Campaign to FreeVanunu says that during that timeVanunu developed a conscience forpeace and justice, and decided thatnuclear weapons were thoroughly evil.

After leaving his work travelledthroughout the world and got his storypublished in the Sunday Times (UK).

He was enticed to Rome by an Israeliagent, kidnapped, shipped to Israel,tried in camera, and given an eighteenyear sentence.

He is due to be released on 22 April2004, but campaigners are keeping upthe pressure to make sure the Israeliauthorities do not renege on this releasedate.

9

Contributions welcomed!The Maritimes welcomes contributions from members and others aroundNew Zealand. Letters, articles and photos can be sent in – they can beabout on the job topics, personal interests, sport, history, politics, socialevents, in fact anything you like.Please send to: ‘The Maritimes’, PO Box 27004, Wellington, New Zealandor email victor.billot@munz.org.nzor fax 03 4736 975 or phone 021 171 0911

The Maritime Union says it is nosurprise New Zealand has come underthe international spotlight followingreports in October that a ship recentlyin New Zealand waters is suspected ofterrorist links.

The Bahamas-registered ‘flag ofconvenience’ ship Athena called atAuckland, Tauranga and Lyttelton inlate September and early October beforedeparting for South Korea, whereauthorities placed the port of Kunsanunder alert.

The Athena regularly carries logs,fertilizer and cement filler, and wascarrying goods to Korea fortransnational corporate Carter HoltHarvey.

Maritime Union General SecretaryTrevor Hanson says the shipping andwaterfront industries are New Zealand’scontact point with the outside world,and need to be regulated to protect portsecurity, biosecurity and the rights of allmaritime workers.

“The reality of the crazy deregulatedindustry we have is that security andworker safety are secondary to profits,and the whole thing is just quietly sweptunder the carpet,” he says.

The Maritime Union has beencampaigning for stronger regulation ofshipping through cabotage (wherecoastal shipping is reserved for NewZealand carriers) and a national registerof bona-fide seafarers and waterfrontworkers.

Mr Hanson says there is no doubtthat further incidents of this kind willoccur, and it was vital the workers onthe ground were listened to.

The International Transport WorkersFederation (ITF) is also concerned aboutthe case.

New Zealand ITF co-ordinator KathyWhelan says the deregulated interna-tional shipping industry is dominatedby ‘flag of convenience’ vessels regis-tered in the Third World and operatedby transnational companies.

“We have been fighting for years toget proper international conditions andregulations aboard these ships whichbasically operate outside the law,” shesays.

Has Osamacalled into yourport lately?

The New Zealand Seamen’s Unionplayed a very active role in the cam-paign against the war in Vietnam in the1960s and 1970s.

New Zealand seamen attended enmasse the rallies, demonstrations andmoratoriums which took place through-out New Zealand and Australia, alwaysunder our own banner.

Maritime Union Joint President DaveMorgan says protests opposing NewZealand involvement in the US waragainst the Vietnamese people wereregistered at various stages of the warby telegrams to the Holyoake Govern-ment of the day.

“The movement grew to a massivetide and the war was ended, and a lot ofpeople went home.”

New Zealand seamen did the same,but before they went they agreed to alevy of members for the task of rebuild-ing Vietnam.

The levy was fully subscribed by themembership and we purchased a mobilemedical unit that was humbly donatedto the Vietnamese people in appreciationfor their struggle against imperialism.

At the time the Labour Governmentof Bill Rowling was offering dollar fordollar raised to assist the Vietnamesepeople and that subsidy was added toour contribution.

Today another call has gone out tothe New Zealand Government.

The massive use of the chemicaldefoliant Agent Orange by Americanforces meant that many people cameinto contact with this poison.

The foreign nationals could leave butthe Vietnamese couldn’t, and their landwas destroyed.

The New Zealand Government islooking at the effects of Agent Orangeon our own troops and the continuingeffects on their families.

Fallout fromVietnam warcontinues

It must in the name of humanity alsoaddress the people who were the directtargets of this dire form of warfare, nowso thoroughly rejected by the worldspeople, including the USA who used itin Vietnam.

Parliament’s health committee is toconduct an inquiry into the exposure ofNew Zealand troops to Agent Orange,after new evidence showed that PhuocThy province (where New Zealanderswere based) had been subject to chemi-cal defoliation.

A report commissioned by thegovernment last year declared that therewas no aerial spraying of Agent Orangein the province.

But Colonel John Masters, whocommanded a New Zealand gun batteryat Nui Dat, in Phuoc Thy, has now saidthat a map he had been issued showsNew Zealand troops lived and workedin areas chemically defoliated.

Masters said veterans and theirchildren continue to suffer from a rangeof medical problems blamed on thedefoliants and say they need morecompensation from the government.

The Australian Task Force includedthe New Zealand military units operat-ing in the province.

A Government report commissionedlast year said there was no conclusiveevidence to link service in Vietnam withveterans’ claims that it was responsiblefor birth defects and childhood cancer intheir children.

However according to deputychairperson of the Health Committee,Green Party MP Sue Kedgley, “thereappear to have been attempts to coverup the whole issue for years, and theinquiry offers a long overdue opportu-nity to get to the bottom of the wholeaffair.”

Ms Kedgley said Vietnam warveterans had a right to know if theywere exposed to chemical defoliationand what the health effects may be, aswell as to have full recognition andassistance from the government.Extra information supplied from the Vietnam,

Cambodia and Laos Support Network

Newsletter

10

Dave Morgan

continued from page 3

We need to ensure at all costs that wehave the organization to meet thechallenges that lies ahead.

It will mean personal sacrifice andability to change and more importantlya will to change, submerging ego intothe commonweal.

We need also to examine the strengthand weaknesses of our organization andhow it can be improved.

Some of the remits to Conferenceshow the way.

We are in fact a rather disparategroup of branches representing portsand seafarers who are often in competi-tion with each other.

That is truer of the Ports than theSeafarers maybe but the competition is athreat to us all unless we understand itand manage it by recognizing, thatCompany employment notwithstand-ing, an injury to one is an injury to all.

We need to weld the branches closertogether, starting immediately with theduality of Seafarers and Watersidebranches in the main centres of Auck-land and Wellington.

Regional structures need to be put inplace to commence this development.

Hard yards but they must be faced.The election of a centre left govern-

ment is not a lay down misere.As things stand today we can expect

another term of a centre left govern-ment, (whatever its composition maylook like), only if we work at it.

The political right has alreadysignaled a return to the ECA typelegislation and environment should theyregain the Treasury benches.

We need to think forward andprepare for the 2005 election as part ofour strategy deliberations.

Running parallel with this internalstructuring of a fighting union is theneed for continuing recruitment on andoff the Waterfront.

Further to that, amalgamationbetween the Maritime Union and theRail and Maritime Transport Union inNew Zealand is also a must for theimmediate future.

This is so important that we need ameeting to kick-start the discussionsagain before the end of the year and atarget of mid 2004 for finality.

The foundations are also laid for aninternational union grouping, which inconcept is the most logical step that wecan make as a group of Unions of likemind in the Pacific Basin.

The Tasman Maritime Federationconsisting initially of the MaritimeUnion of Australia and Maritime Unionof New Zealand has the potential tobecome a Pacific Rim grouping ofUnions very quickly.

We have seen this union groupingwork most effectively in struggle andlargely on an informal basis, so have theemployers to their detriment.

Therefore, the development of theTasman Maritime Federation, as a startto this end, is important also in theimmediate future.

A draft constitution is currentlyprepared for consideration of bothUnions so we are not letting the grassgrow under our feet on this develop-ment.

The next thing will be to put someflesh on the bones and identify officersfor the Tasman Maritime Federation,which will in short order, working withand alongside the International Trans-port Workers Federation change the faceof Unionism in our region.

The ITF will continue to be anintegral part of our Union lives bothinside and outside the Tasman MaritimeFederation.

It has been the main vehicle throughwhich Unions in our region havebecome closer and we are grateful forthe manner in which the Officer’s of theITF have always stood ready to assist usin the development of Unity.

Their record of assistance to us intimes of dispute is second to none andalso speaks for this great internationalorganization of Transport Unions.

The Maritime Union is proud of ourassociation with and affiliation to theITF.

The New Zealand ITF Inspectorate inthe formidable international campaignagainst flag of convenience shipping ishoused in our national office run by theequally formidable and effective KathyWhelan.

I would again pause here to pay aspecial tribute to Kathy Whelan whom Ihave worked with for 30 years in theWellington/National office of the Union.

There are no words adequate toexpress our debt of thanks to Kathy forher loyalty to the Union and her selflessyears of service to the members.

Kathy now works for the ITFthrough our National office and contin-ues to work on behalf of Seafarersinternationally, and in that work shecontinues to work for New Zealand andAustralian seafarers also – truly a mostdedicated and useful life.

We continue to organize and agitateinside the ITF Seafarers and DockersSections to progress and defend therights of our members in the face ofinternational attacks on our work on thewharf and for jobs and conditions forseafarers in the Ratings Task force andthe Cabotage Committee that have nowbeen rolled into one group.

In this respect the ITF has been ourearly warning system on internationaltrends and employer anti-union cam-paigns in our industries.

They are as important to us in manyways as the national trade union centre.

As important as the international is,it is not a replacement for, the role of theCTU in our daily union lives.

After a period in the 1990s when thenational trade union movement wassplit, the CTU is the only national tradeunion body and our unions together arewell respected within its ranks.

To quote the former Secretary of theCTU Paul Goulter we continue to“punch well above our weight” in CTUForums.

The CTU supports and has providedguidance and assistance to the Union inamalgamation discussions to date withthe Rail and Maritime Transport Union.

Our affiliation to the NZCTU isimportant to us and to the CTU.

When next we reaffirm our affiliationit will not be as two Unions but as one,the Maritime Union of New Zealand.

We will continue to work within theNZCTU with other progressive NewZealand Unions.

It is important we do so to make theCTU into the fighting organizationneeded to improve working conditionsand for better standards of living for allworkers in this country.

We really don’t have a choice.It’s what Seafarers and Wharfies

have always done.In conclusion I want to say thank

you to all of the seafarers past andpresent I have represented over 33 yearsin office.

Thank you for your trust that carriedme through 18 elections over the years.

Thank you for the loyalty shown tothe Union and the solidarity in responsewhen the leadership called for directaction on the job.

Thank you for the great experience ofholding our Union high and advancingour cause in international forums.

Thank you for the experience andknowledge and skills you gave me.

I pledge that given to me by workingpeople these things belong to workingpeople and will continue to be used intheir service.

To my family, thank you for havingthe patience and the politics to under-stand – for you maybe it has been a lifeless ordinary.E nga Iwi, E nga mana, Maritime Union,Kia KahaDave MorganJoint National PresidentMaritime Union of New Zealand

11

Kathy WhelanITF Coordinator for New Zealand

An International Transport WorkersFederation (ITF) funded trainingseminar was held in Auckland on 13 –16 October 2003 for maritime workers.

The seminar was attended by 26volunteer activists from the MaritimeUnion of Australia, Maritime Union ofNew Zealand and the Papua NewGuinea Maritime Workers Union.

The aims of the seminar were toassist ITF Flag of Convenience campaignactivists to understand the role andfunctions of the ITF.

This helps them to monitor policyand policing of ITF agreements on Flagof Convenience vessels in the threecountries.

It also extends Flag of ConvenienceCampaign activities to all ports in thethree countries where there is a rank andfile union presence.

The seminar was conducted bySimon Des Baux (ITF Asia Pacific office),Finlay McIntosh (ITF London), DeanSummers (ITF Coordinator Australia),Matt Purcell (ITF Inspector Melbourne)and Kathy Whelan (ITF CoordinatorNew Zealand).

The seminar took the form of a twoday meeting which took in the practicalaspects of ship inspections and then aday of ship inspections in the ports ofAuckland and Tauranga.

ITF Newsand Views

This is the second seminar the ITFhas funded for the purposes of trainingvolunteers who are active in the ITF Flagof Convenience campaign and are ofgreat value to our organization.

A very successful seminar concludedwith the following resolution :

“That this ITF seminar focus atten-tion on Flag of Convenience vesselsoperating on trans Tasman routes, andsecondly other foreign ships regularlyengaged in the trade to New Zealandand Australia from other ports.

The ITF support the Tasman Mari-time Federation in their campaign toachieve the above and declare the transTasman an ITF zone of co-operation.”

Port work must beleft to theprofessionals

As threats to their employment havecome and gone, waterfront unionsaround the world have campaigned tokeep port work for port workers.

But the diversion of cargo-handlingwork away from unionized port work-ers has become a strategy pursued byboth governments and business interestsin recent times.

The International Transport Workers’Federation (ITF) reports that shippingcompanies and terminal operators arepromoting cargo handling by seafarerson roll on-roll off ferries and in short seashipping.

Meanwhile shipping lines areattempting to bypass trained, experi-enced and registered port workers bydeliberately employing casual workers.

Usually this has also meant replacingunionized workers with unorganizedworkers.

The deliberate avoidance of union-ized terminals and the moving of cargohandling to non-union operations hascaused increasing problems in ports inthe USA.

Meanwhile, the liberalization ofEuropean ports threatens the replace-ment of trained, experienced andregistered port workers with casual,unregistered and inexperienced labour.

The ITF has launched a new cam-paign to tackle these developments.

Affiliated waterfront unions havebeen asked to observe cargo handlingactivities in their ports with particularcare, and to report any violations of ITFCargo Handling policy – especiallyinvolving Flag of Convenience ships.

If the ship is covered by an ITF-approved agreement, cargo handling byseafarers would mean a violation of thecontract, as all contracts contain a so-called cargo handling clause.

The mobilization of ITF-affiliatedport workers’ unions against theEuropean Union port liberalization hasgathered momentum, as the recentprotest action in European ports demon-strates.

Globalizing solidarity: maritime unionists from Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea at

ITF ship inspection training in Mt Maunganui, October 2003

ITF trainees learning the ropes of ship

inspections onboard at Mt Maunganui

12

Vale Danny Schick

Bob StephensonretiresBy Terry Ryan

Robert (Bob) Bryan Stephenson hasstepped down as Local 13 Health andSafety Officer and retired to a wellearned break after a worklife of 51years as a trade unionist.

Born in London in 1938, Bob’s familylived in the East End until they werebombed out by Hitler’s war machine.

Maritime Union Whangarei BranchSecretary Daniel Henry (Danny) Schickdied on 8 August 2003 following anaccident.

He was 35 years old.Danny had joined the branch in May

1993 to work alongside his father, Henry.In 2002 he was elected branch

secretary and Whangarei representativeon the National Executive.

Around three hundred peopleattended his funeral and shared theirmemories.

Representatives from the Aucklandand Mt Maunganui Tauranga branchesattended, as well as Trevor Hanson onbehalf of the national union.

“Danny was finding his feet asWhangarei secretary” says Mr Hanson.

“It is a sad shame his family and theUnion have lost a son and comrade soyoung.”

The Maritime Union offers its sincerecondolences to Danny’s family and twochildren, Danielle and Keaghan.

On Boxing Day 1953, a month beforehe was 16, Bob shipped out fromLiverpool aboard a giant iron ore carrierbound for Newfoundland.

Thus begun a series of adventuresand visits to many of the worlds portsbefore he finally arrived in New Zealandin 1966.

He has remained here since that timewith his 51 years of trade union activitybeing with the British Seafarers, NewZealand Riggers and New ZealandWaterfront Workers Union.

Bob first joined the WatersideWorkers Union in August 1971.

Always active, he has filled the rolesof delegate, first aider, Port Companytrainer, and Chairman of the Sick BenefitSociety where he was primarily respon-sible for the Gold Coast apartment.

As Local 13 Health and SafetyOfficer, Bob developed the five trainingmodules for the whole Union to under-take courses under the ERA paideducation leave scheme, a fitting legacyfor future members.

After 51 years, he is due for a well-earned retirement.

He and his wife Adriane are seri-ously considering spending this onQueensland’s Gold Coast.

Maritime Union Joint National Presi-dent Les Wells retired from fulltimework on the waterfront in August 2003.

He steps down from his role as JointNational President after the Novemberelections.

Les has worked on the Lytteltonwaterfront for 32 years, starting in 1971,the last thirteen years with the LytteltonPort Company.

Les was elected National President ofthe Waterfront Workers’ Union in 1996.

He is currently working a three dayweek as Union organizer at the LytteltonBranch Local 43.

Les says “I’m still on the waterfront,just working out of the office.”

He has sent this message to allmembers through the Maritimes.

“It is with some regret that I pen thisletter after 7 years as National President.

Circumstances have made it impos-sible for me to stand again for theposition.

I would like to say it is a position Ihave been very proud to have held.

I believe as a Union we have donevery well to survive changes broughtabout by port reform in the last fewyears.

You could see employers rubbingtheir hands together when reformstarted.

As things went along the big changesdid not take place and the Unionpresence was just as strong if notstronger than at the start.

This I believe speaks heaps for themembers and officials, and their abilityto adapt to changes.

One regret I do have is not getting toall ports in the country, to those that Idid I thank you for your camaraderieand hospitality.

I wish the Union the best for thefuture and remind everyone united westand, divided we fall.”

Les Wellssteps down

13

Maritime Union and RMTU jointsubmissions on security billThe Maritime Union in conjunctionwith the Rail and Maritime Union(RMTU) prepared the following SelectCommittee submission on the Mari-time Security Bill in October 2003.

The following points outline theconcerns of the Unions in three mainareas affected by the new laws – what isa “security incident”, port employersreceiving police powers, and the right ofworkers to not work in dangerouscircumstances.

1.1 Introduction

The Maritime Union of New Zealandand the Rail and Maritime Union (theUnions) are opposed to the MaritimeSecurity Bill for the following reasons.

1.1 The Bill’s definition of “securityincident” in section 5 is too broad. Ascurrently worded, the definition wouldcover lawful and unlawful strike action,protests and pickets. Those matters needto be excluded from any maritimesecurity statute.

1.2 The bill places significant powersof the State into the hands of certainspecified employers. That represents aserious inroad into the rights of allmaritime employees.

1.3 The bill does not address therights of employees to decline to workin dangerous circumstances caused by asecurity incident.

2. This submission addresses each ofthose three matters separately, and thenconsiders the bill on a clause by clausebasis to address specific concerns.

The Definition of “Security Incident”

3. The definition of “security inci-dent” is central to the bill. That isbecause the bill anticipates the various“security levels” (security level 1,security level 2, security level 3.)

4. The last two of those - securitylevel two and security level three - areexpressly defined by reference to thedegree of risk of a “security incident.”Security level two applies when there isa “heightened risk of a security inci-dent.” Security level three applies when“a security incident is probable orimminent.”

5. The definition of “security inci-dent” is too wide:

“security incident means anysuspicious act or circumstance threaten-ing the security of a –

(a) ship, including a mobile offshoredrilling unit and high speed craft; or

(b) port facility; or(c) fixed or floating platform; or(d) mobile offshore drilling unit; or(e) ship-port interface; or(f) ship to ship activity6. By defining a security incident as a

suspicious act or circumstance threaten-ing a port’s security, or a vessel’ssecurity, the bill brings strike action,picketing and protest action plainlywithin its scope.

7. In 2000 and 2001, widespreadprotesting and picketing by MUNZ andRMTU successfully raised the issue ofcasualization with the New Zealandpublic.

8. Port employers and shipownershave long recognized that such pickets,protests threaten a vessel’s or port’ssecurity, as do strikes.

9. In the Union’s view, such activitiesmust be placed firmly outside of thescope of a bill of this type. Such mattersshould continue to be dealt with by andunder the general law.

10. It is not appropriate that worker’srights to picket, strike and protest atNew Zealand’s ports and against vesselsin those ports should potentially becurtailed by legislation designed in largepart to “prevent international terrorism”(see clause 3c).

11. The definition of “securityincident” should therefore be amendedby adding the following additionalwords:

“ . . . but shall not include any threatto security caused by a strike, protest orpicket, whether lawful or otherwise.”

12. The need for such an exclusion isemphasized by the broad scheme of thebill which transfers significant securitytasks to some industry employers.

13. It is contrary to long establishedpractice and policy that such powers beexercised to address a security riskcaused by a legitimate strike, protest orpicket action.

Placing powers of the State into thehands of employers

14. The Unions are seriously con-cerned, generally, about their membersbeing made subject to a security appara-tus which renders employees subject tointrusive security requirements carriedout by employers.

15. The Bill introduces a significantnew screening and searching regimeinto the maritime industry.

16. The new powers include arrest,detention, seizure, and exclusion from aport area.

17. Many of those powers are to beexercised by or with the assistance ofmaritime security officers appointed byport companies or managers of a portfacility.

18. Such “maritime security officers”employed by a port company can insome circumstances search or screenfellow employees, and search and screenother maritime employees.

19. It is acknowledged that the billcontains provisions which purport toassert that no screening or searching canbe carried out by maritime safetyofficers without consent.

20. In reality however submission tosuch searches and screens will becompulsory. A refusal to “consent” willresult in forcible removal from theworkplace (clause 53); or arrest by thepolice (clauses 54 and 55.)

21. The Unions object to theirmembers being subject to search orremoval by employees of port compa-nies appointed as maritime securityofficers.

22. Any such powers should onlyever be exercised by customs and police,and even then only in accordance withthe law.

23. The Unions therefore seek thefollowing amendment to clause 43 of theBill:

“(2) No maritime security officerappointed as such by a port facilityoperator shall exercise any powerconferred by or under this Act againstany employee of a maritime industryemployer.”

Employees’ right to decline work indangerous circumstances

24. Finally, the Bill does not addressthe right of maritime employees todecline to work (without loss of pay) indangerous security situations.

25. This is a glaring omission.26. If, as the Bill anticipates, there

may be situations or circumstances with“terrorist” overtones (clause 3b) thatrequire draconian steps to be taken, itshould also be recognized that employ-ees who face such risks are entitled toremove themselves from the situationsin which such risk exists.

14

The Campaign for Cabotage:South Island Reportby Rachael Goddard0207

Hello Comrades, the campaign trail inthe South Island saw Maritime Unionmembers actively encouraging thepublic to get behind our struggle.

We want the right for Kiwis to havethe future option of becoming a Seafareror Wharfie.

Our aim is to save our industry aswell as protecting other industries andNew Zealand.

New Zealanders (and tourists) in theSouth Island were reminded that wewill never give up the struggle to retainbasic human rights in our country.

Our road trip started onboard theSpirit of Competition where our newlypurchased Maritime Union campaignvan once again hit the road to preservethe New Zealand Shipping industry.

Once berthed in Lyttelton, localmembers soon gathered to hammerChristchurch with the Cabotage Cam-paign.

We began in the square and un-loaded a few thousand pamphlets overlunch hour.

Ricky and I tackled the local poly-technic, supermarkets, malls, restaurantsand shops.

After the central city area we movedinto the suburbs of Christchurch withpamphlets and posters.

The next day we visited all the smalltowns down the east coast to explain thethreat our industry is under.

Maritime Union members in Timarugreeted us on the wharf and in the localsocial gathering place.

Further down the coast, Oamaru hada burst of the campaign before weheaded for Dunedin only to stumbleupon a Bed and Breakfast that oncebelonged to the first trade unionist ofNew Zealand, Rutherford.

(This union friendly accommodationshould be recommended to everybodywanting to have a short stay in Dunedin– Deacons Court in High Street.)

In the morning at 4º below zero, theOctagon saw a load more pamphleteer-ing.

Our communications officer VictorBillot and his partner joined us andhelped for a few hours until we decidedto head out to Port Chalmers together tomeet the local wharfies.

The Otago Daily Times managed tocapture a few photos and a bit of a storybefore we left.

In Port Chalmers local MaritimeUnion Secretary Phil Adams rallied upthe members.

Joe Fleetwood, Tommy McMullanand I all spoke on the Cabotage Cam-paign.

We wanted to build the feeling ofsolidarity amongst the Wharfies andSeafarers and unite members followingour amalgamation.

Joe, Tommy and I resumed thecampaign trail afterwards with a feelingof achievement and unity of purpose inour great union.

We swept through Milton, Balclutha,Clinton and Gore until we reachedInvercargill and came into contact withex member John McCoy whom showedus the warmest solidarity welcominganyone could receive.

While hosting us in Invercargill Johntold us he was the number one personwe could rely on for any action that wewanted to carry out in Invercargill.

By now I’m sure the local residentsand mayor have been well informed ofthe Maritime Union Campaign forCabotage.

Thanks Comrade McCoy!The kind hearts of Bluff also sup-

ported our battle for cabotage, and gaveevery bit of attention needed to help ourCampaign.

The Bluff hill became enhanced withCabotage posters before we left, headingup the west coast.

Tommy, Joe and I persisted up thecoast despite being overwhelmed withthe amount of Swedes, soft left turnsand American hillbillies playing banjoes.

Every town on the way had a smalldusting with posters and pamphlets,even Haast.

We skirted up the small towns,finally reaching Hokitika, where a localjournalist endeavoured to capture ouron the road campaign as we visitedlocals.

The campaign hit close to home withthis community of what the NewZealand Government is doing to ourindustry and environment.

Evening saw us hitting the road, thistime to Nelson for one more day ofmustering support.

There we met wives of ex-Seamenwanting to show they had played a partof our industry and could lend a handwhile we were there.

Tommy left us that afternoon whileJoe and I headed for Picton to return toWellington onboard the Santa Regina –but not before unloading a remainingfew bundles of pamphlets into the localestablishments and houses.

Thanks to all members who playedan active role when we were travellingaround the South Island.

Thanks for all that made the Mari-time Union feel welcome and unitedamong workers.Seafarers Ricky Chapman, Zane Finlayson and Kenny Westbury on the cabotage campaign trail in

North Canterbury, August 2003

15

MV Competitioncampaigningfor cabotageBy Tom McMullan1417

On the morning of Thursday 28August, waterfront and seafarermembers of the Maritime Union leftChristchurch on the ‘CompetitionCabotage Picnic Day.’

Our group left Christchurch at8.30am and proceeded to Woodend andAmberley.

We had some morning tea at theBaker Boys Café, explained the meaningof cabotage to staff and customers.

As good support was given, weasked the staff to have their photostaken with us.

At 10.45am, a table was set up atAmberley shopping square opposite thePolice Station.

Tom was elected to explain to thepolice who we were, out of courtesy, andleft the officers some cabotage petitionforms.

Members broke up into groups, somepetitioned shops and businesses, withpost box drops also made.

Others interviewed the public,mainly farmers.

Interest from the latter was noticedwhen we explained to them the hiddencosts that affected them directly such asthe B’mite and other pests that havecome into our country since the opencoast policy was put in place by theNational Government in 1994.

At 1pm, Tom and Zane Finlaysonhad an interview with the HorunuiTimes.

At 1.45pm, we proceeded to theLeithfield Hotel for lunch.

Cabotage was again explained tostaff and patrons, and most signed ourpetition.

Following lunch we did post boxdrops to 90% of the area before calling ita day.

We arrived back in Christchurch by5pm.

A good time was had by all.As cabotage is so important to our

survival, it should not be too much toask for all off-swings to donate one dayof their leave and make a united effort togain public support for the campaign.

With a little foresight, the day outcan be a memorable one.

Maritime Union of New Zealand First Triennial Conference, October 2003

Back row (from left): Terrence Tai, Rachael Goddard, Russell Mayn, Mike Masters, Stephen Murray, Graham Roberts, Victor Billot, Clive Giles, Joe

Fleetwood, Shane Rowe, Brian Callaghan, Craig Harrison, Andrew Rhodes, Warren Smith, Jeffrey Hoy, Graham McKean

Third row standing: Henry Couch, David Dick, Benny Criscillo, Wayne Anderson, Slim Ford, Phil Spanswick, Dein Ferris, Kevin Forde, Harry Holland,

Alan Windsor, Mike Williams, Bill Connelly, Dean Sampson (MUA), Bill Lewis

Second row seated: Phil Mansor, Joe Donato (ILWU), Kathy Whelan, Trevor Hanson, Dave Morgan, Les Wells, Phil Adams, Terry Ryan, Mick Doleman

(MUA), Ian Quarrell, Armando Porras (ILWU)

Front row: Mike Shakespeare, Graham Chandler, Dave Winton, Denis Carlisle, Frank St Bruno, Gary Parsloe, Gordon Kopu, Ray Fife, Kevin Moore,

Maria Porras (ILWU)

Taking the cabotage campaign to the people,

Bakers Boy Cafe, Amberley

16

Conference

Report

8 officials, 22 delegates, 15 observers and12 international guests attended the FirstTriennial Conference of the MaritimeUnion of New Zealand, held in down-town Wellington from 21–23 October2003.

Delegates and observers from each ofthe fifteen branches of the MaritimeUnion of New Zealand were present.

International guests included adelegation from the Maritime Union ofAustralia, and three guests from theInternational Longshoremen’s andWarehousemen’s Union (ILWU) Local 13in Los Angeles.

Keynote speakers

The Conference opened with anaddress by Associate Minister of Trans-port Harry Duynhoven.

Mr Duynhoven heard concerns fromdelegates about the lack of a nationalregister of bona fide maritime workers,and Union concerns that port securityregulations might be used by employersagainst workers.

Minister of Labour Margaret Wilsonaddressed the conference on issues withthe Employment Relations Act.

Council of Trade Unions PresidentRoss Wilson addressed the conference onthe importance of the Union Health andSafety campaign.

Reports

Over the three day Conference,delegates heard reports from a wide rangeof speakers from inside and outside theMaritime Union, as well as having thechance to ask questions.

General Secretary Trevor Hanson gavehis national report, and the two retiringJoint National Presidents of the MaritimeUnion, Dave Morgan and Les Wells, bothgave valedictory speeches.

Overseas speakers included ILWULocal 13 President Joe Donato, MUAAssistant National Secretaries MickDoleman and Rick Newlyn, and Employ-ment Mediation Service mediators StevePenn and Peter Franks.

A number of reports were accepted bythe Conference, including the FinanceCommittee report (presented by Ray Fife),Communications report (Victor Billot) andUnion Education and Training report(Craig Harrison.)

The Conference also heard fromWaterfront Industry SuperannuationFund (WISF) trustees Susan Leuchars andDavid Young.

Remits

A large part of the Conference wastaken up by remits.

For those of you new to the Union,remits are proposals from branches of theMaritime Union.

These remits are submitted frombranches to the Conference where they aredebated and usually voted on.

If the remit goes ahead it then becomesofficial Union policy.

The following is a selection of themain remits heard at the Conference.

Union History

A remit from the Auckland BranchLocal 13 proposing that a union history ofthe Waterfront Union be commissionedwas carried.

A similar history of the SeafarersUnion is also planned.

Affiliation to the Labour Party

There was some debate on this remitput forward by Auckland Branch Local 13.

The remit was amended, to be adoptedin principle subject to ratification by thebranches of the Union.

Some individual branches are cur-rently affiliated and some are not.

ILO Convention 17

A remit from Local 13 asked that theUnion lobby the Government to ratify ILOConventions 17 and 137 that guaranteecertain rights and conditions for water-front workers including hours of work,health and safety, and a register ofwaterfront workers who have firstpreference to work.

The remit was passed.

Retirement Funds

A combined remit from AucklandBranch Local 13 and Bluff branch was putthat asks that the Waterfront Superannua-tion Fund and the Seafarers Fund ‘em-ployee trustee representatives’ be con-tributory members from within theirparticular industries.

The remit was passed.Another remit asked that the vesting

period for funds invested with the WISFcould be reduced to five years (from thecurrent ten.)

The remit was carried and referred tothe trustees.

A Bluff remit asked that members ofthe WISF had the option to withdraw theirfunds as per the Seafarers RetirementFund.

The remit was put and lost with two infavour, with Seafarer delegates abstainingfrom the vote.

Yellow Unions

Auckland Branch Local 13 proposed aremit that MUNZ should try to organizewaterfront workers who were members of‘yellow unions’ in order to combat thegrowth of yellow unions.

The remit also called for amalgam-ation with the Rail and Maritime Trans-port Union (RMTU) to be pursued withthe objective of reaching a satisfactoryoutcome within the next 12 months.

The topic of yellow unions causedsome debate, with some delegatesopposing the recruitment of formermembers of yellow unions, and otherdelegates arguing this was the only wayto combat them.

The remit was amended to propose theMaritime Union adopted the “realisticpolicy” of organizing or assimilating allother workers within our sphere ofinfluence, as well as giving priority toamalgamation talks with the RMTU.

GATS(General Agreement on Trade and Services)

A remit was put forward by AucklandBranch Local 13 for the Maritime Union tocampaign against any sellout of socialconditions under the international GATSagreement.

The remit was carried.A further remit from the conference

noted with concern the global trendtoward self loading and ‘Ports of Conve-nience’ and reaffirmed opposition to anyfurther liberalization of labour marketsunder GATS.

The remit proposed the MaritimeUnions would take immediate action inany case where foreign deunionisedlabour was used to replace union labourat any New Zealand, Australian orAmerican port.

National Register

This Auckland Branch Local 13 remitbacked the need to pursue a nationalregister of bona fide waterfront workersand seafarers, as a step towards the longterm objective of labour pools at ports.

The remit was carried unanimously.

Retiring Joint National President Dave Morgan General Secretary Trevor Hanson

17

Conference

Report

Employment Relations Act

Denis Carlisle (Local 13) moved andPhil Spanswick (Mt Maunganui) secondeda motion that the Maritime Unioncontinue to pursue positive changes in theEmployment Relations Act.

These included Transfer of Undertak-ings (protection for workers if thebusiness is sold or work is contracted out),Good Faith Bargaining (if workers want acollective the employer must agree andthey should not be able to discourageunionism on the job), and stoppingfreeloading (the benefits of union agree-ments should not be passed on to nonunion workers unless the union agreesand they must pay a bargaining fee).

The remit was carried unanimously.

Maritime Union Conferences

A remit proposed the triennialconference be held at more regularintervals, either annually or biennially,and the venue be changed to differentports throughout the country.

In the past this had shown thegovernance of the Union to the rank andfile successfully (carried unanimously.)

Health and Safety

Several remits were successfullycarried on health and safety issues.

These included promoting the trainingof first aiders on the job, ensuringcompliance with hoist safety regulations,and giving workers on dirty or toxiccargoes sufficient washing up time as partof their paid work.

A remit asking that workers usingVDUs (such as computer screens) shouldbe given vision tests paid for by theemployer was also passed.

Tasman Maritime Federation (TMF)

A remit from Auckland Branch Local13 asked that a structure and timeline bedrawn up for the TMF.

It was noted that South African, Japan,Korean and the ILWU unions have allexpressed interest in some form of link up.

The remits were carried with strongsupport from delegates.

Veterans

A remit to set up a Veterans associa-tion of the Union was carried.

It was noted the ILWU and MUA bothhave veterans sections who provideadvice and assistance to the Union.

Union Education

Craig Harrison moved a remit that theUnion needed to maximize the use ofEREL (Employment Relations EducationLeave) from all companies through outNew Zealand.

The Union should prepare and applyfor funding from the contestable fund for2004, advertise and encourage members tobe available for training and establish apart time position of a Training Officer.

The remit was endorsed by theconference.

Casual Workers

Several remits on the status of casualmembers and their voting rights werereceived and as they dealt with commonissues were grouped together.

After discussion, an amended motionwas carried that the issue of casualsvoting rights be referred to the firstNational Executive meeting and beforethat meeting takes place the officialsprepare a working paper on the issue.

South Island Organizer

Remits were received from SouthIsland branches asking that a South Islandorganizer funded by the national Unionshould be employed as previously agreed.

There was some debate on the issueand the funding implications, and theremit was carried.

Annual Leave

Bluff branch moved that 5 weeksannual leave be negotiated as a standardat National level – carried unanimously.

Youth Union Movement

The Wellington Seafarers Branchproposed that a youth member be electedfor the youth council of the Council ofTrade Unions (CTU).

The remit was carried unanimouslywith a further remit supported byConference that Rachael Goddard beinitially appointed the youth representa-tive to the CTU.

Women Members

A remit from the Wellington Seafarersnoted the changing makeup of the Unionand called for the establishment of anational women’s committee within theunion structure.

The committee would meet annuallyto forward issues relevant to the Unionsaims, and represent the Maritime Unionon the Women’s Council of the CTU.

There was some debate on the remitand it was carried.

Late Remits

Several late remits were received fromthe Wellington Seafarers branch andConference accepted them for consider-ation.

A remit critical of the branch structureof Maritime Union was lost.

A remit that described the MaritimeUnion constitution as autocratic and hadnot been subject to members consultationwas ruled out of order, following whichConference sent the remit back to the shiprecording that it was completely wrongand malicious.

A remit that the $250 Union electionrecount fee be replaced by a majority votefor a recount was also put forward.

During debate it was pointed out thefee has always been there but has neverbeen used.

The role of scrutineers in the electionprocess eliminates the need for it, but itcreated a safe guard against anyonewanting to attack the union’s democraticprocesses and structure.

The remit was rejected.

The Conference concluded on theafternoon of Thursday 22 October.

ILWU Local 13 President Joe Donato MUA Assistant Gen. Secretary Mick Doleman Associate Transport Minister Harry Duynhoven

18

The New Generation

by Rachael GoddardMUNZ 0207

I attended a Youth Union Movement(YUM) camp in Muriwai, Auckland,from 18–20 July 2003.

The camp brought together youngUnion activists, organizers and mem-bers to learn more about the trade unionmovement.

There was a great mood of solidarityon this camp, which like others was heldto provide young people with aninformal and relaxed atmosphere wherethey could find common ground.

The goal of the camps is to increaseyouth activism in unions.

Workshops at the camp broadenedknowledge and increased the enthusi-asm and commitment of members.

We were educated on how tocommunicate with our age group onunion matters, as well as how to talk oneon one with workers and potentialunion members.

“Anger, Hope, Action” is the processused to engage others in collectiveaction in the workplace.

After identifying barriers to involve-ment, we looked at collective ap-proaches to solving workplace prob-lems.

The Auckland and WellingtonRegions have committed to approachingyoung people in unions we represent,other unions, in schools and all youngpeople deprived of the basic knowledgeof what a trade union is.

The Youth Union Movement inWellington region have committed tomeetings every second Tuesday night.

We plan on introducing campaignsto abolish youth rates and a solidaritycampaign to end workplace freeloadingby workers who won’t join the Unionbut enjoy the benefits of our collectiveagreements.

We are planning follow up sessionsfor young members to learn about unionorganizing, with an introduction daysession and a leadership course.

This will lead to more education onworkplace rights and trade unioneducation developing in schools.

YUM recognizes that in order tobuild solidarity with young unionmembers, it is important to have a socialfocus as well.

YUM has a voice in the CTU throughthe Youth Council.

I would like to thank the WellingtonSeafarers Branch stopwork meeting forendorsing me to attend the camp onbehalf of the Maritime Union of NewZealand.

The last two decades have seenmany changes in New Zealand’sworkforce.

The effects of these changes has beendramatic – people are focussed on thehere and now at the expense of loyaltyand long-term commitment.

Today’s workforce is more individu-alistic, as there is less security forworkers than in previous times.

However younger workers acceptthis as being usual.

After all, they have nothing tocompare it with, because their workinglife started in the time of the Employ-ment Contracts Act of 1991.

I believe the growth of the YouthUnion Movement is a key elementrequired for the future of trade unions inthis country.

Touch One Touch AllPa Tahi Pa Katoa

Thumbs up fromyouth delegatesby Glen Matthews(Santa Regina)

On 26 September I was lucky enoughto go on a youth union course orga-nized by YUM.

This was no easy task what with thecompany being difficult, but with thehelp of the crew I was able to go.(Cheers guys!)

The course started with a run downof where we were from and what Unionwe belonged to.

There were six of us attending, withRachael Goddard and myself from theMaritime Union, and all the rest fromdifferent unions.

The basic run down of the coursewas what rights we had as youngworkers, and what procedures were inplace for us to use.

It was all informal and very educa-tional, so I’d like to thank the Union forgiving me the opportunity to participateand I look forward to more courses.

Union activists Miranda Gray, Rachael Goddard and Mike Beckon at the YUM camp, July 2003

19

New Zealand currently has a LabourGovernment working with parties onthe left (Greens) and right (UnitedFuture).

Although it originated in the tradeunion movement, the Labour Party haspositioned itself in the centre sincebecoming the main partner in a coalitionGovernment after the 1999 election.

New laws good for workers

Since that time we have seen the newEmployment Relations Act replace theEmployment Contracts Act of theprevious National Government whichhad devastated workers.

One other good achievement forfamilies is Paid Parental Leave, pushedforward by former Alliance MP LailaHarre.

Paid parental leave has four types ofleave including Special leave, Maternityleave, Partners/Paternity leave andExtended leave of up to 52 weeks.

2003 has seen the introduction of anew Health and Safety Act, whichallows workers to elect Health andSafety representatives.

These Health and Safety reps havethe authority to issue a hazard noticewhen required.

A women’s task force is planned tohelp address legal rights and employ-ment equity in the workplace.

Maritime Union and women’s issues

The amalgamation of the Seafarer’sUnion and the Waterfront WorkersUnion was officially completed onOctober 1.

The Maritime Union has made goodefforts for women members.

Two women members, RachaelGoddard (representing seafarers) andCarleen Parker (representing waterfrontworkers) travelled to Australia to theITF-FNV Pacific Women’s Seminar heldin Sydney in March 2003.

This conference gave those attendinga good grasp of women’s issues.

It also helped to build networks andsolidarity amongst those present.

On returning to New Zealand,delegates informed members about theseminar through reports and photos inthe Maritimes magazine.

CTU Womens Conference

The Maritime Union recently electednine women delegates to attend theCouncil of Trade Union’s (CTU)Womens Conference.

Our delegates joined with our sistersfrom the Rail and Maritime TransportUnion (RMTU) to identify hot topics forwomen in our industry.

These were lack of Union educationin the workplace and unions, absence ofa women’s structure within Unions, andthe Cabotage campaign.

I spoke on Cabotage, and later onhad the opportunity to question PrimeMinister Helen Clark and Minister ofLabour Margaret Wilson about theirsupport.

The majority of our delegates tookpart in the “Get a life” workshops withmembers discussing work/life issues,casualization and job security.

The Maritime Union put forwardtwo remits to the conference:1. Supporting education of Women,Maori and Youth2. For the CTU and affiliates to supportthe Maritime Union in the struggle forCabotage.

Both remits were carried.It was the first year the Women’s

Conference has been able to put remitsto the full CTU conference.

Following the Women’s Conference,remits were also put forward to theMaritime Union and our first TriennialConference.

Women members are calling for anofficial Maritime Union women’srepresentative to the women’s council ofthe CTU, and for women’s committeesbe set up in Maritime Union branches.

Male unionists who are new todealing with women’s’ issues should notbe concerned!

At the CTU Women’s Conference,our delegates put forward MaritimeUnion policy for all maritime workers.

Women’s issues are union issues, andwe need to encourage womens involve-ment in the Union.

We have strong support for aMaritime Union national conference forwomen, and some planning has beguntowards this goal.

Inter Union Solidarity

The Union has maintained thecontacts with women members in theRMTU and AMEA that we built duringthe Pacific women’s Seminar.

Since then we have held a teleconfer-ence, and we are hoping to hold anotherPacific Women’s Seminar in NewZealand in 2004.

The RMTU has made positivechanges in the way that women areinvolved in that organization.

There is an increased participationof women, which is actively encouragedby the Union leadership.

Three women delegates from theRMTU attended both the Seminar andthe prior celebrations for InternationalWomen’s Day.

The RMTU also provide ongoingsupport networks to women in a maledominated transport industry.

Women make up about 6% of theRMTU membership.

Womens representation in theMaritime Union

The Maritime Union have committedto reserving one seat as of right on theUnion’s management committee for awoman.

The current issues facing women inNew Zealand include Casualization,Health and Safety, Globalization, PayEquity, Harassment and Discrimination,Job ‘Flexibility’ and Security, access tochild care and organizing and educatingwomen workers in the Maritimeindustry.

Women and New Zealand Transport Unions

20

Port News

Port Roundup:Auckland Local 13

By Terry Ryan

Election results forLocal 13

The biggest fieldsfor many years sawthis year’s Local 13

elections keenly fought out.Denis Carlisle was the only unop-

posed candidate and was returned asPresident.

Four candidates contested the Vice-President’s position, and four candi-dates contested the Health and SafetyOfficer’s position.

Two stood for the position of Secre-tary/Treasurer.

Seventeen candidates stood for theeight Executive positions, and twelve forthe three Conference Delegate positions.Final results:President: Denis CarlisleVice-President: Dave PhillipsSecretary/Treasurer: Russell MaynHealth and Safety Officer: Bob RiwaiExecutive:Frankie St BrunoDanny BelshamWaine WolfGraham McKeanGordon KopuRob PoweleyFred FaleleaCraig HarrisonConference Delegates:Denis Carlisle, Russell Mayn

ILWU Visit

ILWU Local 13 President Joe Donatoand ILWU Local 13 immediate pastSecretary Armando Porras were in NewZealand for the Triennial Conferencerepresenting the ILWU (InternationalLongshore and Warehouse Union.)

They visited Auckland Branch Local13 to establish a sister port relationship.

This is very timely given the Port ofLos Angeles has now opened a NewZealand office.

Trans Tasman Events

The first rank and file initiativeunder the Tasman Maritime Federationtook place the day before the grand finalin Sydney.

A group of thirty four players fromLocal 13 visited and played a game oftouch football with the MUA Sydneybranch.

The final result at fulltime was 5–5,with both teams deciding to continueplay.

The result after extra time was MUASydney (6), MUNZ Local 13 (5).

International solidarity: Gordon Kopu (Auckland Branch Local 13), Graham McKean (Auckland

Branch Local 13), Phil Spanswick (Mt Maunganui Tauranga Branch), and Armando Porras (ILWU

Local 13) at the Inaugural Triennial Conference of the Maritime Union of New Zealand, 22

October 2003

Port Roundup:Wellington Waterfront

by John Whiting

The Wellington PortCompany has woundup its subsidiaryCentral Stevedoringand handed the

business to new operation “TheLoading Company” – owned 75% byTasman Orient Line and 25% by HansAxt (Independent Stevedoring.)

The Loading Company is managedby Axt and is employing ex-CentralStevedoring renegade labour and someex-”Labour Hire Company” labour –Quin’s Workforce.

The latter group are apparently on$23.50 per hour but with a bank of hoursextending on beyond the end of themonth.

The branch have settled the PortCompany Collective EmploymentAgreement in conjunction with theRMTU, with a one year agreementincluding a 3% pay rise backdated fivemonths.

The branch have maintained allexisting work arrangements with thePort Company on the landside.

There will strong moves in the nextmonths from the company on us tochange smokos, ordering times, man-ning etc. to fall into line with Hans Axt’soperating practices in (a) receiving anddelivery to and from the ship side and(b) crosshire of our labour.

Capital City Stevedores have beengaining more work including the JNLveneer ships from Centreport and KiwiCar Company from the Loading Com-pany.

Capital City Stevedores havepurchased two straddle carriers fromPorts of Auckland.

They have been having problemswith the axle loadings on their heavyforklifts.

A bright spot for the Port is thecommencement of a fortnightly call byMaersk on their North Americanservice.

This is the first reversal of the trendin recent times for container services tobypass the Port of Wellington.

21

Port News

Port Roundup:Auckland Seafarers

By Garry Parsloe

Maritime Union ofAustralia Conference

On the 23–24 Septem-ber 2003 Dave

Morgan and I attended day two andday three of the Maritime Union ofAustralia Conference in Sydney.

We arrived at the Conference mid-morning in time to hear an address fromTony Mahr, President (Mining Sector)CFMEU.

Tony spoke on the current politicalsituation in Australia which he stated isin an absolute mess.

He went on to address how impor-tant it is to get rid of the current Govern-ment before they do any more damageto the union movement.

Tony went on to talk about Global-ization, Enterprise Bargaining, Indus-trial Disputes, Union Solidarity, UnionOrganizing and Union Recruitment.

He concluded by stating that hisunion membership numbers are grow-ing.

Secretary (Construction Sector) of theCFMEU John Sutton gave a report onthe Howard Government’s attack on hisUnion.

He stated that the Governmentwanted to introduce new laws for theAustralian construction industry.

He went on to say that these lawswere the most serious attack on therights of building workers that haveever been seen in Australia.

Jon stated that teams of “Inspectors”will roam around building sites gather-ing evidence about what they regard asbreaches of the law.

Inspectors will have greater rights toenter worksites than unions.

They will be on-call for any em-ployer who needs them and they will bebacked up by teams of lawyers andsupport staff.

John went on to say that worst of all,this anti-union outfit is to be given widepowers over everyone working in theindustry.

They can force you to attend theiroffice to answer questions and handover documents.

If you don’t, you can be sent to jailfor up to 6 months.

You can’t even refuse to answerquestions on the grounds that answersmight incriminate you.

John further stated that they will alsobe able to intervene in cases before theCommission and Courts.

Employers will have their ownGovernment funded lawyers to runtheir cases for them.

John concluded by stating that theabove was the most serious challenge tohis union in decades.

The afternoon session opened withthe National Secretary Paddy Crumlincongratulating all those officials electedin the recent MUA elections.

MUA Returning Officer Phil Burngave a report on the procedure he usedfor the MUA elections.

Phil Burn then conducted a ballot forNational Presiding Officer and NationalDeputy Presiding Officers etc.

Sydney Secretary Robert Coombeswas elected unopposed as NationalPresiding Officer.

Stevedoring

Paddy Crumlin then opened up thethird agenda item, stevedoring.

Paddy gave an overview of thePatrick dispute making special referenceto the importance of getting the Enter-prise Bargaining Agreement (EBA) inplace.

Paddy spoke on how important itwas to have Collective Agreements andpermanent employment in the stevedor-ing industry.

Paddy spoke further on how theUnion grows in strength if it can controlthe supply of labour.

Paddy concluded by addressingsuperannuation, redundancy and salaryissues.

Deputy National Secretary JimmyTannock supplemented Paddy’s addressby addressing Guarantee Wage Earners,Double Headers, permanent jobs andEnterprise Bargaining Agreements.

Jimmy went on to talk aboutStopwork Meeting decisions.

Jimmy then concluded by speakingon voting procedures at StopworkMeetings and industrial disputes.

Rick Newlyn from the NationalOffice gave a report on some currentEnterprise Bargaining Agreements withP&O, Toll and other awkward employ-ers.

Mick Doleman from the NationalOffice gave the next report on somecurrent Enterprise Bargaining Agree-ments.

He spoke on Straddle Issues, Perma-nent Employment, Casual Workers,Redundancy Payments and the supplyof Labour.

Mick stated that getting the Enter-prise Agreements settled around theabove issues has been most difficult.

After an open discussion period,Paddy Crumlin summed up the issuesof the day before the Chairman closedthe meeting for day one.

Tasman Maritime Federation

Our second day at the MUA Confer-ence opened under the heading ofTasman Maritime Federation.

Paddy Crumlin was the first speaker.He spoke on Organized Labour,

Globalization and the Trade UnionMovement in both Australia and NewZealand.

Dave Morgan, Terry Ryan andmyself all gave New Zealand reports.

We spoke on the amalgamation ofthe New Zealand Seafarers Union andthe New Zealand Waterfront WorkersUnion into the Maritime Union of NewZealand and other issues that the MUAand Maritime Union of New Zealandcan work together on.

Mick Doleman gave a report on theOffshore Oil and Gas Industry.

Mick thanked the New ZealandSeafarers for their involvement in thejoint Offshore Venture.

He stated that the joint venture hadgone well and he looked forward to thesame arrangements being put in placeagain in the near future.

Paddy Crumlin, Mick Doleman,Jimmy Tannock, Trevor Munday andother speakers all thanked Dave Morganfor his contribution to the maritimeindustry.

All speakers stated that Dave’scontribution could only be described asa excellent contribution full of principlesand commitment.

Paddy Crumlin spoke on the need toput finance, energy and commitmentinto the Tasman Maritime Federation.

Fred Ross from the AustralianMaritime Officers Guild addressed theconference.

Fred reported on the recent courtdecision over the CSL Pacific and otherCabotage Issues.

Bill Bodenham of the NationalVeterans Association gave a report onthe establishment of the Association andthen went on to talk about the up-coming National Conference that is to beheld in NSW.

At this point Paddy Crumlinsummed up the conference to date, thenclosed the meeting so conferencedelegates could join World MaritimeDay celebrations.

22

Port News

Port Roundup:Napier

By Bill Connelly

Around and about:

The port isreasonably quiet atthe moment.

Ohope Beach Accommodation in NewZealand:

Members should be aware that theholiday accommodation at Ohope Beachis now at a premium, because of the saleof the front two units.

We still own unit number 3 andbookings can be made through theNapier Branch, by contacting theSecretary either at the Union Office, hishome or on his mobile telephonenumber (see page 31).

With summer approaching, vacan-cies from mid December 2003 through tomid April 2004 are filling fast.

Any member wishing to bookthrough this period is asked to contactthe Secretary on an urgent basis or riskthe disappointment of missing out.

Gold Coast Accommodation

This is proving to be a most populardestination for all members throughoutthe country.

Please note that the confirmationperiod for bookings is now six months,which put quite simply means thatmembers nationally can now book sixmonths in advance.

Due to our recent inclement weatherbookings have been heavy.

Everyone it seems to want to escapeto the warmer climate of the Gold Coast.

Vacancies within the next six-monthperiod are as follows:21 February to 6 March 200420 March to 3 April 200417 April to 1 May 20041 May to 15 May 200412 June to 26 June 2004

Election of Officers

The Napier Branch recently held itselection for officers and Executive.

It was pleasing to see a member, whoworks on a casual basis, standing for theVice-President of the Branch andalthough missing out on the position hestill polled 40% of the vote.

With this amount of interest in theaffairs of the Union, it bodes well for thefuture.

Results of the elections are asfollows:President: Barry CrawfordVice-President: Alan BurkeExecutive Members:Hawkes Bay Stevedoring Services Ltd:Alf Boyle, Laurie McRae, GarryRichards, Roy Smith and Rod WilliamsOmniport Napier Ltd:Gary Frater, Paul Freeman, Blair Rossiterand Tuk UriarauToll Logistics New Zealand Ltd:Allan McDougall, Dave McKenna, DougOwen and Jim Strickland

Kelcold Limited

Over recent months the Union hasbeen in negotiations with KelcoldLimited, which employs staff in a largecoolstore in Hastings.

The Collective Agreement for theformer members of The New ZealandStore and Warehouse Employees’ Union,which is now part of the MaritimeUnion of New Zealand, expired in Juneof this year.

After protracted negotiations,including two days in mediation,agreement has been reached on a newCollective Employment Agreement for aperiod of three years.

The Napier Branch would like totake this opportunity of welcoming theten new members of the Kelcold staffinto the Union.

As Secretary of the Union I wish tomake a special mention, and a vote ofsincere thanks to, the Team Leader, BlairWakely and the Assistant Team LeaderWilliam Ryan for their invaluableassistance during negotiations.

Also a vote of thanks should go toPhil Mansor for keeping these membersin the fold over the past years, whichhas been by no means an easy task.

Code of Practice for Health and Safety inPort Operations

The General Secretary and myselfmet with the Team Leader of the OSHManakau Office, Wray Mealings andafter a fruitful discussion it appears the“Code of Practice” could get the greenlight by all concerned in the not toodistant future.

If it does eventuate (and hopefully itwill), it could mean that we would havelegislation in place governing our healthand safety on the waterfront, which willbe enforceable by law.

Arahura delegate Kiri Pita and Wellington

Seafarers Branch delegate Mike Shakespeare

at the Triennial Conference

Lyttelton branch observers Shane Rowe and

Kevin Moore at the Triennial Conference in

October

Port Roundup:Mt. Maunganui

By Phil Spanswick

The downturn in theexport of logs has hitthe branch hard withredundancies beingdiscussed with

Owens Cargo Company and QualityMarshalling.

As a consequence of the log down-turn, a number of our experiencedcasual members have moved on to otherjobs as they cannot survive on the smallamount of hours on offer at the moment.

How long it will take to get animprovement in log exports isanybody’s guess.

Dave Morgan and Trevor Hansonattended this years AGM and theirviews of the national and internal scenewas well received by the members.

Collective Agreements up fornegotiations are Tolls, Owens andQuality Marshalling.

The Branch welcomes new membersto the Union from Container RepairServices and we are negotiating aCollective Agreement for them.

The anticipated purchase of TranzRail by Tolls should make for interestingtimes in the Port.

The Branch has served an injunctionon Quality Marshalling over theirapproach to redundancy and the partiesare in mediation on October 15.

The claim by Tolls at negotiations toput the permanents on 160 hours overfour weeks has been unanimouslyrejected by the permanents and weexpect a scrap over Tolls claim in theweeks to come.

23

Port News

Port Roundup:Wellington Seafarers

By Mike Williams

I attended the ITF/ICEM OffshoreGlobal SolidarityConference inAberdeen, Scotlandon 23–25 Septem-

ber, 2003, and gave the following reporton the New Zealand industry.

In the last 10 years the offshore oil/gas industry in NZ has had little activity.

The port for oil and gas is NewPlymouth, located on the Taranaki Coastof the North Island.

There is the Maui A Platform and theMaui B Platform run by Shell NewZealand.

Maui A has 20 personnel aboard andMaui B is not manned.

There is also a FPSO storage tanker,which is also operated by Shell NewZealand, with a crew of 20.

There is only one supply vessel TheChieftain that is a Swires charteredvessel (there is no standby vessel.)

This vessel is chartered under acompany called Offshore Solutions, andits manager Andy Neville is also amanager for Swires.

Since 1994 the company has beenanti-union, and there is only one crewworking equal time on and off.

The only other vessel in NewZealand is a cable ship The Sea Rangerand is owned by Seaworks, a NewZealand company and another anti-union employer.

The ship is presently laid up inWellington New Zealand looking forwork after recently completing a job inthe Bass Strait.

Early this year the semi-sub OceanBounty came to a 50/50 crew arrange-ment between MUNZ and the MUA.

The Ocean Bounty is owned byDiamond and manned by Total Marine ofWestern Australia, and is supplied by twoSwires supply vessels.

This crewing arrangement has beensuccessful for the members of the twounions and has helped the TasmanMaritime Federation along.

Other seismic vessels working inNew Zealand and Australia with the50/50 crew arrangement have been theNorwegian owned Polar Duke, the GegoResolution and Pacific Sword.

MUNZ have a collective contractwhich is currently up for renewal.

The other active offshore unions arethe Merchant Service Guild, the Aviation

and Marine Engineers Union, and theEngineers Union (EPMU).

The main fight for the MaritimeUnion is that the employers are anti-union.

The industry is casualized and theoffshore unions need to come togetherto identify the problems – as next yearthere are plans for drilling on the EastCoast of the North Island.

Decisions of the Offshore GlobalSolidarity Conference

This successful event was the firstworldwide conference on the oil and gasindustry to identify the tasks we faceglobally.

Chaired by Norrie McVicar, theconference came about from the MUAOffshore conference that took place inPerth in October 2000, where a globalconference was discussed.

Aberdeen was selected for the venueas it is the main oil port for the NorthSea.

The conference was hosted by ITFand International Federation of Chemi-cal, Energy and Mine General WorkersUnions (ICEM).

Delegates came from 17 oil-produc-ing nations and took part in workshopsto encourage global solidarity amongstoffshore workers.

ITF General Secretary DavidCockroft told the conference it was thefirst of its kind.

It aimed to internationally uniteoffshore oil and gas workers, includingworkers on the platforms and those whosupply them (supply tenders).

Workers in the developing world aresubject to wage exploitation and poorconditions.

The Deputy General Secretary ofICEM added the oil and gas industryhad been a global industry run by globalcompanies since it began.

There were major new companiescoming forward which we have to findways of dealing with.

He emphasized the need to ensurestrong union organization throughout aglobal industry, the most rabidly anti-union of them all.

Copies of the reports and resolutionswill be sent to Maritime Union branchesfor members information.

The main issues were in countriessuch as the USA where the OffshoreMariners United ran campaigns to try tounionize the offshore industry and fightfor a union contract (such as the TricoMarine campaign).

This progressed significantly withcross-union assistance from UK, Danishand Australian Unions.

Dean Summers of the Australian ITFspoke on East Timor where unions havebeen trying to organize the workers.

East Timor is another growth areawith enormous potential.

The Joint Petroleum DevelopmentArea in the Northern Territory/TimorSea is jointly owned by East Timor andAustralia.

The Treaty, revenue sharing andappropriate terms and conditions ofemployment are an issue of greatconcern for this area.

Mick Killick of the MUA has beenhelping to organize the East Timorese.

He is dealing with an Offshorecompany called Phillips who haveexploited the Timorese and other guestworkers.

During the conference discussionstook place with the Norwegian unionswho deal with Phillips in order to getsome support for the East Timorese.

Another issue was the Ivory Coast inAfrica in regards to low wages in theoffshore sector.

This is also the situation in Nigeria,where there is slow progress following alimited cabotage that will provide somelocal labour.

The European offshore unionsdiscussed the prospect of a singlecontract covering all workers in theNorth Sea.

This is because they are concernedabout “social dumping” which also wasdiscussed widely at the conference.

Social dumping is the exploitation ofthird world workers by offshore compa-nies at the expense of local labour terms,wages and conditions

In the words of Joe Deakin of theMUA, the conference was the mostinformative yet in regards to globalsolidarity.

It is the start of a process of bringingus all together as workers in the oil andgas offshore industry.

Workers of the world unite.

Employment opportunities

Work opportunities in the TransRail fast ferry for AB/IRs andoffshore Industry AB/IR Cookand messman.

Members interested please contactMike Williams (WellingtonSeafarers Branch)

24

Port News

Port Roundup:Gisborne

By Dein Ferris

There is not a greatdeal happeninglocally at the moment.

Gisborne has justexperienced its wettest

couple of months since 1973 whichmeans the horticultural season has beendelayed.

The squash season will be anythingup to a month or more late.

There has been a downturn in the logtrade as at other ports, so we have beensurviving on the regular trade from theJukon Nissho mill.

On the brighter side organization forthe 2004 Interport sports is well in hand.

Arti Pitcher from Auckland has justhas just been to town and confirmed thesports venues and accommodation.

I have attended the local portsecurity meetings (for those of you whohave done likewise – need I say more.)

The weather appears to be improv-ing, and soon it will be Christmas –hopefully trade will improve and wewill all be on the up.

Craig Harrison (Auckland Local 13), Ian

Quarrell (Port Chalmers) and Billy Lewis

(Nelson) display their historical lineup of

Union polo shirts

Australian guests: Maritime Union of Australia

legal officer Joanne White and Sydney rank

and file delegate Barry McGrath at our

Triennial Conference, Wellington, 21 October

2003

Port Roundup:New Plymouth

By Shane Parker

The port is justbeginning to pick upwith the start of thedairy season, in-creased fertilizer

imports and dairy exports.Monthly heavy lift modules to

Australia are also taking place.We recently had our AGM where

Graham Roberts agreed to stay on asPresident of the New Plymouth branch.

One of our trainees Tere Takie hasjust started as a permanent.

It’s always good to see young peoplejoining the industry.

The Ocean Bounty off the coast of Taranaki - thanks to Bob Thorpe for this excellent photo

By Bill Lewis

Following thecombined waterfrontworkers and seafarersmeeting held inSeptember 2003 to

embrace the amalgamation of the twoorganizations some new officials werevoted into office.

President B. Lewis, Vice President D.Murray, and executive B. Callaghan, T.Thomas, T .Hicks and T. Isles.

This will spread representationbetween the wharfies and seafarers inthe Nelson branch.

This augers well for the future andwill help us to take on the issues facingus today as they arise.

Stevedoring services have engagedsix new workers on a guaranteed wagewhich is to be encouraged, as it is a stepalong the way to permanent employ-ment, which is a goal that we all want tosee achieved.

Cargo has quietened down at themoment and most shipping seems to bearriving at the weekends, which is notso good for family life.

Our branch is involved in assisting along standing member who had themisfortune to be exposed to methylbromide some time ago and is stillfeeling the long-term effects.

Future meetings will no doubt berequired to settle this matter with thecompany and ACC.

Another health and safety matteroccurred in this port at a fishing berthlast year.

Three workers in the refrigeratedhold of a fishing vessel were nearlyasphyxiated when a petrol poweredforklift was used to assist in the dis-charge of frozen fish.

A build-up of carbon monoxide gaswas the cause, we would like to remindall members about the hazards andadequate ventilation required at alltimes for any motorized vehicles in aships hold.

We look forward to the melding ofour amalgamation and benefiting fromunity on the waterfront and speakingwith a strong voice from a solid unionstructure.

Port Roundup:Nelson

25

Port News

Port Roundup:Bluff

By Ray Fife

Biosecurity

The Branch hashad ongoing spiderincidents.

Members workingon the ‘Tasman Endeavour’ on 7 Augustfound a number of spiders along with anest of eggs.

MAF were called in, and as theycould not identify the spiders, the safestoption was to spray the ship’s hold.

Work was stopped until sprayingwas completed.

This particular vessel had visited 3other ports before arriving in Bluff.

The Maritime Union has adopted anational biosecurity policy of “see,contain and report.”

The spiders and nest were found inareas that were reasonably easy to spot.

It is disappointing that not allmembers in other ports are keeping tounion policy.

Biosecurity issues are a real threat tothe environment and economy andtherefore members must be vigilant.

Mainland Dispute

Bluff Branch has continued its battleagainst Mainland Stevedoring.

We have committed ourselves to aongoing campaign to defend local jobsagainst a company set up to destroypermanent jobs, break down wages andconditions and create a scared anddivided workforce.

The latest picket in September sawMainland Stevedoring boss GregDickson branding our members as“thug like” and accusing us of damag-

ing panels and spiking the tyre of a vantransporting his workers.

He also made the strange remarkthat you don’t have to look overseas tosee terrorism, it is right here in Bluff.

If he likes to refer to the termterrorism in such a foolish and disre-spectful way, so be it.

To our members the issue is all aboutjob protection, stopping casualizationand the effects it has on the economyand social structure of small communi-ties like Bluff.

CTU RegionalDevelopment Seminar

Wayne Finnerty, Ross Tangney andmyself, along with a number of TradeUnionist’s from throughout Southlandattended the CTU regional developmentseminar in Invercargill recently.

This was the first in a series ofseminars the CTU are organizingthroughout New Zealand to informunionist’s of the economic initiativesthat are taking place in their region.

A group called Venture Southlandhas formed to assess, and where appro-priate back, regional projects and createinitiatives aimed at developing the skillsand talents of Southlanders.

The CTU see regional developmentas a key issue for workers and tradeunions, and we believe that there is arole for unions to ensure there is strongand sustainable regional developmentand that the jobs created are well paid,high skilled and safe.

The seminar discussed issues thatwill enable us to work with companiesand enterprises, establish collectiveagreements and skills training, and putin place strong health and safetyprogrammes.

Strategies were adopted so that wecan in conjunction with organizationssuch as Venture Southland work

Port Roundup:Timaru

by Kevin Forde

Members have beenon out of port trans-fers to Bluff, PortChalmers andLyttelton.

There has been some crosshiring tothe Port Company.

P&O Nedlloyd have also beencoming into port as part of their Austra-lian run, also visiting a couple of otherNZ ports.

The port company have big ship-ments of MDF coming through from theRangiora Mill.

The port hasn’t seen Mainlandworking here since June, possibly aresult of the downturn in the log trade.

The Timaru branch held our elec-tions in September.

The new Secretary is TonyTownsend, President Kevin Forde andExecutive members Graham Wallace,Greg Murphy, Peter O’Driscoll andWayne Hanson.

towards full employment and improvesocial and environmental conditions.

Round and about

The Bluff Branch AGM was heldrecently.

The Branch executive consists ofWayne Finnerty (President), Ray Fife(Secretary), with Executive membersRoss Tangney, Ian Holland and PeterWaddel.

With an upsurge in containers goingthrough the port, the ship P&O Taranakimade its first call into Bluff on 1 October.

It is intended that the ship will makeregular fortnightly visits to the port.

The Port Company has purchased ashore crane from Timaru to service thegearless ship.

In August, one of our more colourfulmembers Dave McIntyre (known as “BigMac”) decided to call it a day due tohealth reasons.

The boys gave “Big Mac” a deserv-ing send off and we wish him well forthe future.

As this is the last Maritimes issueuntil next year, I would like to onbehalf of the membership to wisheveryone a Merry Christmas andProsperous New Year.

Raymond, Archie and Boo Boo at the smoko room, Tiwai Point (photo by Harry Holland)

26

Port News

Port Roundup:Port Chalmers

by Phil Adams

Greetings from theSouth.

As the days arestarting to stretch out,the Port is continuingto become busier,

particularly in the Terminal and ware-housing side of Port Otago.

It is hoped to see an influx of newpermanent staff in both areas.

The terminal has been extremelybusy, especially in weekends with the4100’s, which is causing some consterna-tion among those turning up to workthem.

As noted in an earlier issue, it ishoped a roster will be developed to caterfor all and give weekends some predict-ability.

Those not wishing to join the rostercan stay as they are at present, as there issome resistance to a roster.

Port Otago

As for Port Otago’s performance lastyear, there was a record cargo tonnageof 2.5 million tonnes, an increase of 11%.

Container volumes are up 30%, with35 new staff employed by Port Otago,increasing the permanent workforce to205.

The profit for the year was $15.9million compared to $14.6 million theprevious year.

Staff are looking forward to anincreased profit share for 2003.

With the growth in work, the PortCompany are purchasing two new M/Tcontainer handlers from Kalmar and arelooking at purchasing a new cranewhich augers well for the future.

On a sadder note, our new tug Otagowas involved in an unfortunate accidentrecently while letting a vessel go.

Fortunately there were no injuriesapart from pride, with several windowsand the funnel damaged.

Port Chalmers Cargo Services

The lads at Port Chalmers ContainerServices have been relatively quiet withfish, logs, fertilizer and container workkeeping them busy over the last fewmonths.

The new manager Ross Burkettseems to be fitting in well although thelegacy left by the last manager RossGibb means some catching up is re-quired in some wages and conditions.

The warehousing lads are undergo-ing some changes to accommodate moremilkpowder this year, and with PeterDungey representing them we areworking through the changes so as tosatisfy the workers requirements.

The lads are very keen new membersof our branch and it is heartening to seethe interest they show in the Union.

Early retirement scheme

The early retirement scheme contin-ues to be utilized with some changes toshorter weeks, and others intending toleave the industry going down to ashorter week.

We can ill afford to lose some ofthese people, but as noted before it is ofcourse their choice.

Overseas

Two of our members have justcompleted overseas trips.

John Holden has been in the UKvisiting his daughter, and John Davishas been on an extensive seven weektour of Europe.

Both enjoyed the lovely weather andwere able to catch up with the All Blackgames while over there.

Retired members

The branch has put all retiredmembers on the Maritimes mailing list.

They have thanked us for sendingout such a magnificent magazine thatkeeps them in touch with the Union.

Local news

On a lighter note, an old mate ofmany throughout the South IslandRobin Forgie (alias Sam Cash) will turn60 shortly.

Sam as he is known to many hasbattled illness for many years, but stillkeeps his sense of humour.

Whenever there is a rumour goingaround, you can guarantee Sam Cashhas something to do with it.

One such rumour suggested aformer National President of theWaterfront Union was being made ChiefExecutive of the Otago Rugby Union toreplace John Hornbrook!

We wish Sam all the best for manyyears to come.

Port Chalmers Branch AGM

The annual general meeting washeld in August with a very encouragingattendance of over 60 members.

The debate was good as was the mixof members from Port Otago, PortChalmers Cargo Services and thewarehouse.

We hear of some ports only holdingan annual meeting as opposed to ourtwo-monthly meetings which are alwayswell attended.

We hope other ports will resurrectregular meetings as they are an impor-tant forum to put members points ofview.

Most agreements include time off formeetings – it could be a case of use it orlose it.

Holiday Unit

The Queenstown Unit continues tobe well patronized.

The Maintenance Team headed byAlan Middleditch and Ian Quarrell arespending a week in September tidyingup the place.

They are erecting a fence, paintingand carrying out general maintainance.

Any inquiries about the unit to IanQuarrell (telephone 03 4727 216) or PhilAdams (telephone 03 4728 052).

SeaLord Casuals

Southern Cross delegate Noel Currieand I have been heavily involved intrying to improve the wages andconditions of the Sealord casuals whowork the fish boats in Dunedin.

What these people endure is themain reason for the fight for permanentjobs especially against the likes ofMainland.

The casuals are treated like secondclass citizens.

A country like New Zealand pre-tends that workers are looked after, butthat isn’t the case with the hours andconditions for these casuals.

What has struck Noel and I is theircollective approach to improve theirconditions, and we have given them ourfull support as no New Zealandershould have to put up with what they do.

The local managers answer to ourclaims is that he has to make a profit.

We will continue working on thisissue until we are satisfied they arelooked after like all New Zealandworkers should be.

It is a sad comment on our industrythat companies like Southern Cross treattheir casual workers this way.

Now we are fully aware of theirsituation we do not intend to let itcontinue.

Casual workers stood side by side onthe picket line resisting Mainland in ourPort.

Retirements

Now he has left the industry, thebranch wishes to thank Les Wells for hiscontribution during the Mainlanddispute.

27

Port News

Les played a significant part ingetting them out of our port.

Now that he has decided to call itquits we wish him the best, and hope hewill still keep an active eye on the Unionand contribute when he can.

Thanks Les. (They tell me the springgrowth will make the grass grow foryou.)

This year also sees two of our mostinfluential officials Dave Morgan andTerry Ryan retire.

The Port Chalmers branch extendsall the best to them in their retirementfrom fulltime work, although both arestaying on in part-time roles.

Both have been through the changesour industry has had to endure, and theconditions now enjoyed by our mem-bers is in no small way testament totheir work in our industry.

From our branch, thank you.

Racing with Nautilus Franco

Our horse Nautilus Franco continuesto frustrate us.

We were about to give up on him buta tour through Clover Export at Goreseemed to do the trick and he ran aslashing third.

So maybe that has helped.

Sport

Member Corey Kara from ourwarehousing side has made the OtagoNPC B side.

Corey travelled to Wellington to play,and the Port Company has been good inallowing Corey to play and travel withthe team.

Union Conference and Elections

The Maritime Union conference inlate October was attended by three PortChalmers delegates (Phil Adams, DaveyDick and Clive Giles) and an observer(Ian Quarrell.)

We are all excited at the prospect ofseeing our new Union become the mainMaritime Union for New Zealand forthose who follow.

This can only be achieved through acollective stance, and failure to do thiswill see us stagnate and not provide aplatform for future members.

It is with this in mind the nationalUnion elections should reflect this.

We are moving into new and excitingtimes, so those standing must becommitted to representing our membersto the best of their ability.

Good luck to all those standing.

Port Roundup:Local 21

by Phil Mansor

One of the mostuseful things inhaving a magazine isthe opportunity itgives to us to do a lot

of things for the common good of ourmembers.

It enables us to come into contactwith a large number of our people withdifferent interests and opinions.

Many of the problems of industrialrelations are problems of communica-tion, and communications are to a largeextent the name of the game.

We all know how news mediainterest in what is news often distortsthe public view of our own fields.

So it is that losses from strikes aremuch more widely publicized than thecosts of sickness arising from workingconditions in the industry.

Also, accidents happening in manycases by reductions in the numbers ofskilled permanent staff in favour of lessskilled casual workers.

Modernization and the streamliningof our industry since the late 1980s hascreated substantial savings for employ-ers and a great proportion of thosesavings are in the hours worked and thenumbers of jobs available to our mem-bers.

Our members will benefit from morestabilization of permanent positions andless of the casual work patterns whichcurrently exist.

Commencing during the late 1960s,most of our overseas trade becamecontainerized resulting in considerablechange to work systems and practices.

Such latter conditions occurring as aresult of the positive attitude and co-operation of our permanently employedunion members.

Many losing their jobs and joiningthe growing list of workers joiningredundancy queues.

During this period, we didn’t havethe problem of company unions beingformed in order to split and divide thewaterfront workforce.

Shame upon those workers andemployers who have allowed them-selves to be used in such a manner.

I come back to the point that goodand improved communications arenecessary to achieve changes in aneffective manner and to highlight theskulduggery of those people acting insuch an odious manner.

Far too often we hear that ourmembers must tighten their belts for thegood of the country, by not seekingbetter wages and conditions.

Yet, we have never really received anequitable or just share of the profits andwealth we have helped to create overthe years.

Let’s face it, it is big business inconjunction with whatever governmentof the day is in power who own andcontrol the means of production fromsewing needles and toys to whisky andtanks, weapons of mass destruction,nuclear and biological.

It is they who own the means ofdistribution, whether trucks, trains,ships at sea or planes in the air.

It is they who own and control thenewspapers, radio and television.

It is they who write the tax laws.It is they who own the banks and the

lackeys who finesse the rates of interest.It is they who strangle benefits and

aid in health, education and welfare.It is they who made and continue to

make countless millions of dollarsthrough the system as lower paidworkers take only the sweepings.

Even dogs are given bones, some-times without much meat, and itappears to us that big business andgovernment believe that almost barebones and sweepings are good enoughfor workers.

As union officials we may be classedas workforce generals, and the workerswho are our troops must not allowthemselves to become members of anycompany unions in order to split anddivide the workers in this industry.

In our opinion, such workers whoallow themselves to become activepartners in splitting the ranks of theworkforce are indulging in activitieswhich can only be described by a wellknown odious term generally used inindustrial circles.

Auckland Branch Local 13 Vice President

Russell Mayn addresses the conference

(wearing the famous Local 13 league team

colours)

28

Mt Maunganui Branch President Terrence Tai

and Gisborne Branch Secretary Dein Ferris at

the Triennial Conference.

Letters Ted Thompson

A number of retired wharfies in PortChalmers have asked their condolencesand thoughts be recorded at the deathof Ted Thompson, past GeneralSecretary of our Union.

I have an audio tape of Ted’s funeralservice which I had transcribed intobook form, and recently with my wifepresented personally to Ted’s daughtersBeverley and Ida at Upper Hutt.

I kept in touch with Ted over thepassing years calling quite regularly andin February this year travelled with himand his daughter Ida to visit a sickrelative in Waikanae.

My last long talk with Ted was eightdays before he passed away.

Not many people are aware Tedworked very hard over a ten year periodafter he retired, helping the PortChalmers branch in an unofficialcapacity.

His efforts amongst others assistedour legal advisors at the TaxationReview Authority, the High Court andthe Court of Appeal.

The local port unions believed that‘equity money’ received by the localunion from shipping companies was taxfree – despite vociferous oppositionfrom some ‘experts.’

We won the case – a great victory.Ted was very disappointed along

with myself that support was notforthcoming to fight for the other $80million that wharfies generally had beenrobbed of between 1989 and 1995.

There were smiles on some peoplesfaces when we did not proceed withaction.

However that is now history, anotherpot hole on the highway of life.

Good on you mate – well done.Bruce Malcolm(Port Chalmers 166)Life Member, New Zealand WaterfrontWorkers’ Union

Always been a Union man

Kia Ora, I was reading in the latestMerchant Navy Association(Wellington branch) newsletter aboutthe cabotage campaign, being a retiredseaman, also a loyal member of theUnion in the 1951 lockout, a coalburner fireman then.

We walked ashore off the Kiwiteawhen the Airforce came onboard tounload her, and stuck it out right to theend with the watersiders, so I’ve alwaysbeen a Union man and still take aninterest.

Please send a few leaflets as I have acouple of mates (retired seamen) and wewill write to our Wairarapa MP andback you up.

All the bestEric ShipgoodMasterton(We received Eric’s letter after the cutoff for

the last edition of Maritimes, so apologies for

the delay – Editor)

Inland ports threat

I read in Maritimes issue 3 about theinland ports threat to waterfront inAuckland.

I wonder what our union is doingabout this threat to our wages andconditions and jobs.

This threat is not confined toAuckland and will grow around thecountry.

May I suggest that our Union recruitthe workers in these yards and try andequalize their wages and conditions tothat of waterside ports.

These workers may belong to otherUnions but it is still possible to recruitthem using the correct processesthrough the CTU.

We must do something in this area orlarge amounts of our work will disap-pear.

Alan MiddleditchPort Chalmers

Australian comrade writes

It gives pleasure to members on boardthe Ocean Bounty to report to theMaritimes that the Trans Tasmanalliance is alive and well.

As of last November the OceanBounty was contracted to drill a threemonth campaign off the west coast ofthe north island of New Zealand.

A 50/50 crewing agreement wasmade between the MUA and theMUNZ, four New Zealand I.R’s werepicked up per swing and remained onboard for an equal amount of time whenthe rig returned to Australia in January.

The MUA members on board wouldlike to thank them for their outstandingperformance whilst on board, greatwork ethics and even better unionprinciples, solidarity, and camaraderie.

It has been an absolute pleasure towork with such a great bunch of guys.

Through the pages of the journal wewould like to wish them the best in thefuture, and if the rig returns to NewZealand we look forward to workingwith them again.Yours in UnityMUA Members on the Ocean Bounty

Better late than never

Your magazine the Maritimes is quitegood reading, and it’s good to seewaterfront workers and seafarersgetting together – about ten years toolate, but better late than never.

As the question of New Zealandcabotage comes up again, I haveenclosed a clipping from the UK aboutthe collision of a Flag of Convenienceship on the Cornish coast, which may beof interest.

Before I go, I read in the NewZealand Herald about non-union labourgoing through the gates inside a con-tainer.

What happened to the new healthand safety laws?

I thought union officials would havepounced right away.

Maybe the new guard will after theOctober elections.

Best of luck for the future.Jimmy Neill(Former seaman and retired watersider)Point Chevalier, Auckland

29

LettersStrength in numbers

During a recent visit to New Zealand Iwas given two copies of the Maritimes.

As a retired wharfie it is with somesatisfaction to see the amalgamation ofwatersiders and seafarers.

This of course was under discussionpre-1989, for this to come to fruition canonly benefit all concerned.

With strength in numbers you will, Iam sure, gain more political clout asnumbers increase.

With the widespread casualization ofthe waterfront industry it is clear thatscab labour has gained a foothold in thename of rationalization.

History tells us that the same tookplace post-1951 lockout, howeverwharfies climbed out of political andeconomic bastardry to become a stron-ger more cohesive Union.

The education of today’s MaritimeUnion members must continue andpressure put on casuals to becomemembers is perhaps a step in the rightdirection.

This of course will only happen if thecurrent union officials at a local levelhave the will to thumb their noses atemployers and push to have all wharfworkers unionized, no doubt this is farfrom the position at this point in time.

With more push from NationalOffice, I am sure the current trend couldbe reversed.

However there has to be a will forchange to occur nationally.

I wish you well in your endeavours.Dennis ParkerEx-250, New Plymouth(Bongaree, Bribie Island, Queensland,Australia)

The fight against casualization

(This letter was originally sent to the Bluff

Beacon in late August.)

I am writing to you not only in mycapacity of National Vice-President ofThe Maritime Union of New Zealandbut also as a resident of a port townlike yourselves in Port Chalmersregarding the ongoing attempts by ourunion to rid your port of the stevedor-ing company Mainland and its abhor-rent work practices.

For people who do not know thehistory of these mercenaries and theirparent company International Stevedor-ing Operations based out of Mount

Maunganui, they have left a legacy in allports they have gained work.

They arrive in South Island ports likeyourselves with their North Islandbased workers supplemented by localsin casual positions who are promisedpermanent work once they are firmlyestablished in the South Island.

Unfortunately this has not happenedin the North Island, where one exampleof their promises took place in Napier inthe early 90s where they took work offthe local bonafide Stevedore whoemployed permanent staff.

They promised permanency to thepeople who chose to work for them butafter a year they had created 1 perma-nent job and seen 35 local permanentmen made redundant as a result of themtaking work off the local bonafidestevedore.

This is just one story of what notonly our union but the likes of a townlike yourselves has had to battle.

Bluff like my town of Port Chalm-ers prior to 1989 saw hundreds of peopleemployed in permanent positions on thewharf and the our towns were thriving,but since 1989 we have had our numbersdecimated to the extent that the towns ofBluff and Port Chalmers have sufferedalso and that is why it is so important torid our towns of the likes of Mainland orwe will see further downturn.

In our town of Port Chalmers we donot have Mainland working here now aswe with the help of the business com-munities, our pickets and the localsknowing the ramifications and notworking for them we believe we haveseen the last of them.

As a result of this the numbers ofpermanents working in our port hasdoubled and the town is flourishing.

I have been told that some of thecasuals picked up by Mainland in Bluffare locals and this saddens me given theproud history of the town and the partthe waterfront workers have played inthrough living and spending in thetown.

I hope these locals who work forMainland through their conscience theywill rethink their position as the futureof permanent employment on the Bluffwaterfront so much depends on drivingthese pariahs of our industry out of ourports.

Finally can I ask you to look at ourport of Port Chalmers, we drove themout and now our permanent workforcehas doubled all being young locals,which augers well for our future.

A future that a town like Bluff couldhave, once you see Mainland out of yourport and this can only start by the localsnot working for them and sticking byyour own local men whose jobs arethreatened and in turn the youngmembers of your community who seekpermanent work in your town theirchance to gain permanent work will alsodisappear.

Thank you for allowing me tocontribute to your excellent paper andwhat I have stated comes not only frommy position as National Vice-President,but more importantly as an individualwho has a great deal of respect andfondness for the town of Bluff and inparticular its people, which comes frommyself coming from a town so much likeBluff in Port Chalmers and that is why Ihave written to your paper.

I CARE!Phil AdamsPort Chalmers

Maritime workers from around the Pacific attended a three day ITF seminar in Auckland in

October, learning about ITF campaigns against Flags of Convenience

30

Interport 2004 will be held on the 9–12February 2004 at Gisborne.

Sunday 8 February will feature awelcome function at the Poverty BayGolf Club.

Indoor Sports will be held at theCosmopolitan Club – details for theindoor sports are as follows:Monday 9 FebruaryDarts11am, drawn mixed pairs, two life playoff.2 pm, singles, two life play off.Tuesday 10 FebruaryPool11am, drawn mixed pairs, one life playoff -best of 3 frames. Final best of 5frames.

Interport Sports2004

2pm. Singles 1 life play off. Best of 3frames. Final best of 5 frames.Wednesday 11 FebruarySnooker11am, drawn mixed pairs. 1 life playoff,best of 3 frames. Final best of 5 frames.Wednesday evening attend Fishermensfunction.Thursday 12 FebruaryIndoor Bowls11am, drawn mixed pairs, 7 ends.Followed by Singles best of 7 ends.4pm Prizegiving for all categories.7pm Final function at Poverty Bay GolfClub.

Further information from Terry Ryanat Auckland Branch Local 13 (see contactlist on opposite page.)

Union Clothing available now!Maritime Union of New Zealand

Clothing Order Form

T-Shirt Polo ShirtQuantity: Quantity:Size: Size:

Colour:

DO NOT SEND CASH – CHEQUES ONLY!Cheques made out to Maritime Union of New ZealandCut out or copy this form and mail to:Clothing OrdersMaritime Union of New Zealand

PO Box 27004, Wellington, New Zealand

Details

T-ShirtsNavy blue cotton withlarge screenprinted colour logoNew Zealand union madeSizes available:MediumLargeExtra Large2XL

$30 including post & packaging

Polo shirtsNavy blue cotton (with white trim)ORWhite cotton (with navy blue trim)both with embroidered colour logoNew Zealand union madeSizes available:MediumLargeExtra Large2XL

$40 including post & packaging

Name:Address:

Phone:Email (if applicable):Amount enclosed:

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Dave Morgan and Terry Ryan check out the

Maritime Union of Australia colours while in

Sydney recently on ITF business.

31

Regional ContactsWhangareiAddress: PO Box 397, WhangareiMobile: 021 855 121��Auckland (Seafarers)Phone: 09 3032 562 Fax: 09 3790 766Mobile: 021 326 261Address: PO Box 1840, AucklandEmail: garry.parsloe@munz.org.nz

Auckland (Local 13)Phone: 09 3034 652 Fax: 09 3096 851Mobile: 021 760 887Address: PO Box 2645, AucklandEmail: shona@munz.org.nz

Mount MaunganuiPhone:� 07 5755 668 Fax: 07 5759 043Mobile: 025 782 308Address: PO Box 5121, Mt. MaunganuiEmail: phil.spanswick@munz.org.nz

GisbornePhone: 06 8676 438�����Mobile: 025 6499 697Address: 23 Bloomfield Rd, RD1, GisborneEmail: dein.ferris@munz.org.nz

New PlymouthPhone: 06 7589 728 Fax: 06 7513 646Mobile: 0274 127 854Address: PO Box 659, New PlymouthEmail: shane.parker@munz.org.nz

NapierPhone/Fax: 06 8358 622Mobile: 025 2174 289Address: PO Box 70, NapierEmail: bill.connelly@munz.org.nz

Wellington (Seafarers)Phone: 04 3859 288 Fax: 04 3848 766Mobile: 021 481 242Address: PO Box 27004, WellingtonEmail: mike.williams@munz.org.nz

Wellington (Waterfront)Phone: 04 801 7619 Fax: 04 3848 766Address: PO Box 2773, WellingtonMobile: 021 606 379Email: john.whiting@munz.org.nz

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

NelsonPhone/Fax: 03 5487 778Address: PO Box 5016, NelsonEmail: bill.lewis@paradise.net.nz �

LytteltonPhone: 03 3288 306 Fax: 03 3288 798Mobile: 0274 329 620Address: PO Box 29, LytteltonEmail: les.wells@munz.org.nz�TimaruPhone/Fax: 03 6843 364Mobile: 021 2991 091Address: PO Box 813, Timaru�Port Chalmers (Dunedin)Phone: 03 4728 052 Fax: 03 4727 492Mobile:� 027 437 7601Address: PO Box 44, Port Chalmers

Email: phil.adams@munz.org.nz

BluffPhone/Fax: 03 2128 189Mobile: 0274 475 317Address: PO Box 5, BluffEmail: ray.fife@munz.org.nz

Union EducationMike Shakespeare22847

On the 7–10 August 2003 MUSAA(Maritime Unionist Socialist ActivitiesAssociation) and WISE (WorkersInstitute for Scientific Socialist Educa-tion) held a school for Trade Unionistsat the Willowhaven Motor Camp inRotorua.

Joe Fleetwood, Rachel Goddard,Mike Williams and myself attendedfrom the Maritime Union and we metwith other unionists from the NDU(National Distribution Union), WWU(Woodworkers Union), FinSec (FinanceSector Union) and members from theMaritime Union of Australia.

I had never been to one of theseschools before so was unsure what toexpect.

But we discovered these forums are avery valuable tool in our arsenal as tradeunionists.

They cover a broad spectrum ofideals and practical advice from Cam-paigning, Bargaining, Strategy andTactics to Philosophy and Social Respon-sibility.

These are not only our responsibilityas trade unionists but also those of theemployer as a good corporate citizen ofour country or world.

It was also good to be able to meetwith rank and file members from othersectors of the workforce and discusstheir experiences and problems that inthe main are similar to our own – lack ofstaff, cutbacks to conditions and “reduc-ing costs” (the worker at the coalface.)

It is not only the lessons learnt in theclassroom like atmosphere but also theafter hours socializing where we hear ofother peoples disputes and how theywent about solving them and some ofthe funny stories that invariably occuron pickets and the such – it all helps tokeep us in good humour.

All Maritime Union members playeda good role in the discussions and inparticular Joe Fleetwood and RachelGoddard gave a very good report on ourCabotage Campaign.

This went down well with theAustralians as they had recently hadgreat news of a legal victory that shipsthat ply the Aussie coast must payAustralian wages and conditions.

There is a need for more youngerunion members to take part in schoolslike this as well as delegate training soall members have the tools and the skillsto combat the co-ordinated attacks onthe union movement as a whole.

Thank you to Mike Williams forinviting me to attend as I definitelycame home with a better understandingof the issues facing all of us and alsomore convinced of the need for a UnitedTrade Union movement in New Zealandand across the Tasman with our Austra-lian brother and sisters.

Last but not least my thanks go toBill Andersen who gives unstinting ofhis time and knowledge gained overmany years of struggle for the workingclass.

(PS and many thanks to the cookwho kept the bellies full, cheers.)

Delegates at the First Triennial Conference of the Maritime Union, October 2003, Wellington