The Maritime Union says the confirmed death of three Indonesian crew members missing after sinking of a fishing vessel Oyang 70 is a tragedy.

The Korean-owned Oyang 70 sank early this morning approximately 400 nautical miles off the Otago coast.

In addition to the three deaths, three crew members are still missing and 45 crew members were picked up by another fishing vessel the Amaltal Atlantis. Rescue operations are underway to find the missing men.

The Oyang 70 departed from Dunedin on the morning of 14 August.

Maritime Union General Secretary Joe Fleetwood says the sinking is a maritime disaster and initial reports that the vessel had capsized in good weather conditions were extremely disturbing.

The Maritime Union would be working with the International Transport Workers Federation to provide any assistance it could to crew members, and also to find out why the sinking occurred.

At 38 years of age the Oyang 70 was one of the oldest fishing vessels in New Zealand waters.

The sinking comes just a few months after two overseas crew members died from asphyxiation aboard the bulk carrier TPC Wellington in the Port of Whangarei in May 2010.

Mr Fleetwood says the Union has encountered ongoing problems experienced by overseas crew on merchant and fishing vessels, including health and safety problems.

Oyang 70 is owned by Sajo Oyang Corporation, a company incorporated in Korea, and is registered on the Korean Shipping Registry and flies the Korean flag.

Oyang 70 has operated in New Zealand waters since the 1980s. It was convicted of spilling oil in Nelson harbour last year.

It is chartered by Southern Storm (2007) Ltd who have offices in Christchurch.

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The Maritime Union of New Zealand says National’s announcement of attacks on workers rights will be fought hard.

Maritime Union General Secretary Joe Fleetwood says the restrictions on union access to workplaces was a serious attack on the right of New Zealand workers to organize.

“National have now dropped any pretense of moderation in their policies – the phoney war is over and National’s agenda of tax cuts for the rich, privatization and now tearing up the basic rights of working people is out there for all to see.”

He says that National is embarking on a repeat of extremist 1990s policies but doing it in a more cunning way.

“The fact they have a smiley face fronting it this time around does not change the sinister intention.”

He says the attack on workers and their organizations is not surprising as the Government had failed to deal with unemployment, which was now rising again, and were looking to go on the offensive.

Mr Fleetwood says any attacks on workers would be met with fierce resistance.

He says unionized workers are one of the few obstacles to National creating a New Zealand where a majority of people would face an increasingly grim situation of high unemployment, poor wages, casualization and unaffordable housing and food.

“Unionized workers have better wages, better conditions, and safer workplaces – all reasons why National wants to bag unions and drag us back to the nineteenth century when workers had no rights.”

Mr Fleetwood says there is one way that New Zealand workers will “catch up with Australia.”

“That is to unionize and negotiate better pay.”

“The problem is that workers are getting less and less of a share of the wealth they produce which is being sucked up as corporate profits that accumulate to the already wealthy.”

Mr Fleetwood says the Maritime Union would campaign hard against any Government that threatened the hard won rights of the working class to organize.

He says all working New Zealanders must realize that the divide and rule approach of National was hurting their interests.

ENDS

For more information, contact Maritime Union of New Zealand General Secretary Joe Fleetwood on 021364649

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A public meeting in South Dunedin on Monday 12 July to support the campaign to build new trains for Auckland in New Zealand workshops attracted around 50 people.

The message they heard was that Dunedin people will have to stand up and fight to make this goal a reality, with this years local body elections and next years national elections providing an opportunity to apply political pressure.

Rail and Maritime Transport Union (RMTU) Hillside Branch Secretary Les Ingram, who works at Hillside, said an estimated 500 to 1200 extra jobs and nearly $500 million dollars in income were at stake.

“Dunedin cannot afford to let opportunities like this pass it by if we want to provide jobs for local people in the future.”

The RMTU were continuing their campaign and wanted to get across to the public how building rail units locally would provide a massive boost in jobs and income.

The Maritime Union of New Zealand (MUNZ) is supporting the RMTU campaign and MUNZ General Secretary Joe Fleetwood, visiting from Wellington, addressed the meeting on free trade issues.

He told the audience that they needed to get behind the Hillside workers campaign and demand that politicians listen.

He said the push for free trade policies was largely responsible for the situation where jobs were threatened due to unbalanced economic policies.

Both speakers agreed that the notion that New Zealand did not have the expertise to do the rail work was discredited nonsense.

Mr Ingram detailed previous work done at Hillside and his view was backed up by a retired engineer in the audience who recounted the many large scale projects other Dunedin firms have undertaken in the past.

The meeting was chaired by Victor Billot of the Alliance Party who said that highly skilled, high value jobs that would be created through building trains locally were exactly what was needed in New Zealand at the current time.

The approach of the National Government was reprehensible, he said.

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Representatives of the Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union (EPMU), the Maritime Union of New Zealand (MUNZ) and the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions (CTU) delivered a letter to the acting Mexican Ambassador on Wednesday 30 June 2010 expressing deep concern at the Mexican government’s use of force against striking workers in the National Miners’ and Metalworkers Union of Mexico (Los Mineros).

The letter condemns the assault by heavily armed riot police on striking members of Los Mineros at the Cananea copper mine in Mexico earlier this month.

On 6 June hundreds of Mexican riot police surrounded the mine and used tear gas to dislodge workers who were occupying the entrances and to assault the union office. More than 1000 members of Los Mineros were on strike over a long-running dispute with the company, Grupo Mexico, over health and safety and other contract violations.

Los Mineros reported that three workers received gunshot or projectile wounds, and others had been beaten or were suffering from the effects of the tear gas.

The letter urges the Mexican government to allow the elected leader of the union, Napoleón Gómez, to return to Mexico from exile in Canada and resume his position.

The acting Mexican Ambassador Luis Enrique Franco gave an assurance he would convey to his government the deep concerns of the New Zealand trade union movement over the Mexican government’s treatment of the workers involved.

“We urge the Mexican government to allow the safe return of Napoleón Gómez, the elected leader of the National Miners’ and Metalworkers Union of Mexico, so he can resume his duties without fear of reprisal,” says the EPMU’s senior national industrial officer Paul Tolich.

“The Mexican government needs to honour its commitments as a member of the United Nations’ International Labour Organization (ILO) and guarantee freedom of association for all Mexican workers,” says MUNZ general secretary Joe Fleetwood.

The ILO has backed Los Mineros in the dispute saying that the Mexican government has acted in a way that is incompatible with ILO Convention No. 87 on Freedom of Association.

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The Maritime Union of New Zealand says today’s budget is an attack on working class New Zealanders.

Maritime Union General Secretary Joe Fleetwood says the increase in GST to 15% was taking money from the pockets of workers to pay for tax cuts for people like John Key, who had so much money they would have trouble knowing what to do with it.

He says rather than increasing GST it would be easier for workers just to hand over a $5 note every time they saw someone walk past in an expensive suit, because this was the actual effect of the GST increase.

“It is a wealth transfer from low to middle income earners to the wealthy.”

GST was a regressive tax that would hit struggling New Zealand families hard.

Mr Fleetwood says that a major problem for New Zealand is growing inequality of wealth.

Inequality leads to social breakdown and long term economic and social problems, as international research has shown, and National’s budget was making inequality worse.

He says the idea promoted by John Key that only high income earners contributed to New Zealand’s economy and society was both offensive and wrong.

“If we are at the stage where New Zealand is being held hostage by a tiny minority of the super rich, maybe it is time to question whether we still live in a democracy?”

Mr Fleetwood says that the international evidence shows that excessive wealth was being accumulated by a few at the top end of the wealth scale, while the majority of workers were squeezed by rising costs and static incomes.

“John Key is rewarding the big business, finance sector CEO types who are the backers of the National Government, whose greed knows no limits.”

He says the obsession with tax cuts was leading New Zealand down a dead end road as tax was essential to pay for hospitals, schools, infrastructure and other vital public goods.

However the tax burden was increasingly falling on low to middle income earners rather than the wealthy, which was the wrong way around.

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The Maritime Union of New Zealand (MUNZ) is backing calls by the Rail and Maritime Transport Union (RMTU) for the Government to step in to ensure new rail rolling stock for Auckland is made in New Zealand.

Maritime Union General Secretary Joe Fleetwood says the news of the failure of public owned KiwiRail to bid for the contract to build the electric units reflects badly on the Government.

“The decision by Kiwirail not to bid for the job shows a failure of leadership, at both the corporate level and at the Government level.”

Mr Fleetwood says the National Prime Minister John Key has recently claimed that unemployed workers need a “kick in the pants.”

“But since National came to office, tens of thousands of New Zealanders have lost their jobs, and now it appears National have sabotaged hundreds more high quality jobs for workers in a recession by failing to provide leadership and giving away work that can be done in New Zealand.”

Mr Fleetwood says that New Zealanders must continue to put pressure on the Government to deliver jobs and industry to New Zealand.

He says a study by economics consultancy BERL estimated last week that local construction of the electric units would add between 770 to 1270 additional jobs and $232 to $250 million to GDP.

The Maritime Union of New Zealand (MUNZ) and Rail and Maritime Transport Union (RMTU) recently formed a Strategic Union Alliance in the transport industry.

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The Maritime Union of New Zealand says it has cleared the TPC Wellington to leave Marsden Point after working with crew members to arrange their repatriation.

Two crew members died on the log ship on Monday from what is thought to be asphyxiation, but investigations into the accident are ongoing.

Maritime Union General Secretary Joe Fleetwood says the priority has been to ensure the welfare of remaining crew members.

He says an agreement has been reached between the company and the crew with the assistance of the ITF and Maritime Union.

The Burmese crew members would return with the vessel to Korea where the company would release them from their contract.

The crew members would be paid wages owing, repatriation costs and a bonus.

Under the agreement they would be able to refuse to carry out work they felt was unsafe.

The Maritime Union is affiliated to the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF), which represents seafarers and maritime workers around the world.

ITF New Zealand Inspector Grahame McLaren arrived at the vessel on Tuesday afternoon and had been working with crew since that time.

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The Maritime Union says that it will be looking into health and safety aboard the bulk carrier TPC Wellington after a serious accident.

Two sailors, one Korean and one Burmese, died after suffocating in the ship’s timber hold at Marsden Point wharf near Whangarei yesterday afternoon.

Maritime Union of New Zealand General Secretary Joe Fleetwood says it is likely this was an unnecessary tragedy.

“Last week we commemorated International Workers Memorial Day, to remember all those workers killed and harmed on the job, and now sadly we already have more workplace fatalities.”

Mr Fleetwood says the Union is not making any assumptions about the incident.

A full investigation was required to identify what happened.

“What we will be asking about is the safety of the vessel, were all safety precautions taken, was there any use of toxic chemicals aboard the vessel, and what were the onboard conditions for the crew.”

Mr Fleetwood says that fatalities and serious injuries occurred far too often in the maritime industry, often due to corner cutting and time pressures in a deregulated industry.

He says the event was the most serious in a New Zealand port for some time.

“Firstly, before assigning responsibility to anyone, let alone the victims, we need to know the events leading up to the deaths, and whether these workers were aware of any dangers.”

Mr Fleetwood says it is common to find safety issues aboard “flag of convenience” ships and fishing vessels.

This was complicated by communication issues as many crews were comprised of different nationalities.

The Maritime Union of New Zealand is an affiliate of the International Transport Workers Federation, which is the global organization representing transport workers including seafarers, fisheries workers, waterfront workers and other maritime workers.

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The Maritime Union has dismissed comments by global shipping line Maersk about the merger of Port of Lyttelton and Port of Otago.

The two ports announced a planned merger of operations yesterday, subject to approval by the Chamber of Commerce.

Maersk New Zealand managing director Julian Bevis was reported today as saying he had concerns about the “dominance” of the new port structure and how this would affect prices, services and market competition.

Mr Fleetwood says it is hard to take such concerns with a straight face.

“Maersk is a massive operation, the world’s largest shipping and container terminal conglomerate, and they must really be short of things to worry about if this is all they can come up with.”

He says that Maersk’s ongoing global growth through mergers and acquisitions indicated that they had no concerns with any effect on competition by their own operations.

Mr Fleetwood says the goal of any capitalist corporate like Maersk was to dominate the market and reduce their risk and exposure to competition.

“Let’s face it, the reality is that they are the ones dominating the market and threatening competition, not two ports in the South Island of New Zealand.”

Mr Fleetwood says the problem with New Zealand ports was the exact opposite of Mr Bevis’ claims.

“New Zealand ports have long been played off against each other by powerful shipping companies, and even large local corporates such as Fonterra.”

This has resulted in serious disruption to regional ports, which had many negative implications for New Zealand’s economy and social stability.

Mr Fleetwood says the Maritime Union was cautiously optimistic about the merger between Port of Lyttelton and Port of Otago.

“Obviously it is early days, but ports working together like this could have benefits, as long as it does not lead to any regional ports being undermined.”

He says the Union would like to see ports remain under public ownership, but also come under some form of national co-ordination, a concept which the Union calls “Kiwiport.”

“Ports are not just another business, they are key infrastructure, and the gateway for New Zealand exports and imports. They need to be operated in the national interest.”

The Maritime Union had been active in the Keep Our Port Public campaign in 2006 during an unsuccessful attempt to part-privatize Port of Lyttelton through a deal with global terminal operator Hutchison.

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International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) New Zealand inspector Grahame McLaren says the case of 10 Sri Lankan crew members aboard the MV Charelle docked at the Ports of Auckland are an example of the hardships experienced by seafarers around the world.

The vessel and its crew were held by Somali pirates for six months last year, only being released after a ransom was paid on 3 December 2009.

Now a new crew are waiting for tens of thousands of dollars of back pay in Auckland.

The MV Charelle was inspected by ITF New Zealand inspector Grahame MacLaren and local Maritime Union of New Zealand representatives in Auckland in March 2010.

Mr McLaren says crew members were being paid well below ITF rates and even less than International Labour Organization (ILO) minimums.

Crew are awaiting a total of $75,000 in back pay, and have not been paid for 3 1/2 months, apart from a payment of $4,000 made earlier this week.

The managers have given assurances to Maritime Union of New Zealand Auckland Local 13 President Garry Parsloe that the balance owing will be paid within a week.

Mr McLaren says crew are due to be repatriated in the next few days and replaced with a new crew, but the ITF have advised them not to leave the ship until all outstanding amounts have been paid.

The MV Charelle is a general cargo ship operating under the Antigua and Barbados flag of convenience.

The vessel is German owned and managed by New Zealand company Tradex Marine.

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