Maritime Union of New Zealand

The Maritime Union is calling for the abandonment of the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement, describing the free trade plan as a “sell out to global corporations.”

Maritime Union General Secretary Joe Fleetwood says the great majority of New Zealanders and even our political representatives have little understanding of the implications of free trade deals like the TPPA.

“Free trade agreements such as the TPPA are giving global corporations more power to do as they want regardless of what is good for the majority of people.”

“Decisions that affect all of us are being made behind closed doors in free trade stitch ups.”

The Maritime Union is actively supporting a number of campaigns including TPPWatch and New Zealand Not For Sale that are calling for a halt to the TPPA and public accountability.

Mr Fleetwood says the free trade agreements harm the democratic rights of workers who make up the majority.

“These agreements are eroding democracy, in favour of control of our economy and society by powerful global corporations.”

He says that maritime workers work in the first globalized industry, the maritime industry, and understand what unregulated “free trade” means.

One example he says is the so-called “open coast” policy, that allows overseas owned and crewed vessels to carry New Zealand cargo between New Zealand ports, and which had devastated New Zealand shipping.

“As a result New Zealand is now a remote island trading nation that has allowed its shipping capability to be placed in jeopardy.”

The fishing industry had also had countless problems over the years with the abuse of overseas crew on overseas vessels fishing New Zealand waters.

Mr Fleetwood says the use of Flag of Convenience vessels and the creation of Ports of Convenience were a warning of where free trade deals could lead a small nation like New Zealand.

“One of the issues the Maritime Union has raised include the use of short-term cross border labour being used, which is becoming increasingly common around the world.”

“This is used to drive down wages and conditions and create a casualized, insecure workforce, hurting both the local workers and the imported workers.”

Other concerns of the Maritime Union include the privatization of assets such as ports and transport.

“New Zealand should be purchasing goods from local and public enterprises, and ensuring we maintain a balanced economy, with secure, high paid jobs.”

Mr Fleetwood says that New Zealand’s economy will always be based on trade, so the Union supported a system of global fair trade that worked to ensure secure jobs and balanced economic development.

He says there is a growing global movement against the deregulated free market and free trade policies that had caused economic disasters such as the global financial meltdown of the last several years.

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

The Maritime Union of New Zealand has gained international and national support for its stand against management plans to outsource labour at the Ports of Auckland.

Maritime Union Auckland Branch Local 13 President Garry Parsloe says outsourcing and contracting out are regarded by maritime workers around the world as a tool for attacking wages, conditions and job security.

“That is why maritime workers at the Ports of Auckland now have global commitments of solidarity and support for our battle against outsourcing.”

He says last week’s meeting of the International Transport Workers’ Federation in Berlin, Germany, offered its backing to the Maritime Union of New Zealand and its members at Ports of Auckland and passed a resolution of support.

“This is basically the top level of organized labour representing global maritime workers who have lined up behind us, as they are not prepared to allow outsourcing and contracting out be used against workers in a major port such as Auckland.”

The ITF meeting was attended by Mr Parsloe and Maritime Union of New Zealand General Secretary Joe Fleetwood, along with global representatives of dock workers and seafarers including the Maritime Union of Australia and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (North America).

Mr Parsloe is convener of the New Zealand ITF affiliated unions who have also announced their support for the Maritime Union. These unions include MUNZ, the Rail and Maritime Transport Union (RMTU), EPMU, National Distribution Union, New Zealand Merchant Service Guild and Aviation and Marine Engineers Association.

In addition the ITF Offshore Taskforce Group representing global offshore oil and gas workers has offered their support.

“The Maritime Union has also secured the backing of the international Mining and Maritime Unions which met last month in the United States of America.”

Mr Parsloe says the national affiliates of the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions have pledged their support to the Maritime Union, meaning that the Maritime Union had massive international and nationwide backing.

He says in short the Ports of Auckland management must reconsider their position on outsourcing if they are to avoid major repercussions.

Mr Parsloe says that the current Collective Agreement between Ports of Auckland management and the Maritime Union already has provisions for labour flexibility to meet the peaks and troughs of shipping.

The ITF comprises 751 unions representing over 4,600,000 transport workers in 154 countries.

The Maritime Union of New Zealand has denounced attacks on unemployed New Zealand workers by the National Government.
John Key and Paula Bennett today announced plans to make life harder for the unemployed –at the same time that unemployment is at its highest since the dark days of the last National Government in the 1990s.
Maritime Union General Secretary Joe Fleetwood says many things are responsible for high unemployment in New Zealand, including the global recession, the instability of a deregulated economy, and a National Government with no ideas.
However, unemployed New Zealanders were not one of the major causes of unemployment.
“There may be a few people who want to stay unemployed, living on the poverty line. But there are tens of thousands more wanting work who can’t find it, shouldn’t we be helping them instead of blaming them?”
He says to put the boot into unemployed people when many had already suffered the effects of redundancy were the despicable actions of a heartless Government, attempting to whip up resentment between those in work against those without.
Mr Fleetwood says that with unemployment peaking recently at nearly 70 000, National was anxious to deflect the blame from their economic policies onto the victims of their policies.
“It’s not like we suddenly had thirty thousand people get lazy overnight and say, oh, I can’t be bothered working anymore, I’d prefer to be stuck on a benefit struggling to put food on the table.”
Mass unemployment means that tens of thousands of New Zealanders are unable to contribute to their society and are forced to accept miserable benefits to survive, which was an indictment on the free market economy.
“National don’t care about the human cost, but surely they must at least realize how inefficient it is.”
He says the Maritime Union has identified two areas where jobs could be created for New Zealanders immediately.
He says that New Zealand coastal shipping could provide jobs but was currently dominated by global shippers who paid no taxes in New Zealand but were permitted to move cargo on the New Zealand coast.
In addition, local workers had been forced out of the fishing industry by employers who chose to employ low wage overseas crews from poor countries.
Mr Fleetwood says the Maritime Union would defend all working class New Zealanders from attacks by the National Government.
“It is time to fight back against this Government’s anti-worker agenda.”

ENDS

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

A meeting of around 150 Auckland maritime workers held today had a simple message for Ports of Auckland management about plans to outsource labour to outside contractors: “not this century.”
Maritime Union of New Zealand Auckland Local 13 Garry Parsloe says the high turnout at the stopwork meeting reflected the major concerns of workers about contracting out in the port.
Workers were not prepared to see casualization and contracting out used to undermine wages and conditions, he says.
Mr Parsloe says workers felt management had pre-planned the contracting out approach prior to the signing of the Collective Employment Agreement (CEA) in 2009, and their recent comments indicated would hide behind legalities to force the issue.
“Obviously there would have been no agreement if there had been any indication the company were going to go down this path.”
He says any future negotiations will be extremely difficult for the company if they pursued a contracting out strategy.
“Ports of Auckland management seem to have the unhappy knack of finally getting a workable document, finally starting to rebuild a workable relationship, and then kicking the whole thing over and stirring up problems for themselves and the workforce.”
Mr Parsloe says that the current CEA between the Ports of Auckland and the Maritime Union of New Zealand is a flexible document that allows the company to meet the “Peaks and Troughs” of shipping.
He says the reason why the port is not operating at full capacity is because the Company not made proper use of three shift a week guaranteed stevedores, known as Axis Ancillary Employees in the CEA.
“The shortfall in trained stevedores is creating large delays in cargo exchanges and it is now a common sight to see trucks backed up waiting for boxes in the port.”
“Outsourcing has little to do with efficiency and everything to do with casualizing the workforce.”
Mr Parsloe says the financial return to Auckland ratepayers from the Ports of Auckland had been substantial over the past five years, due to the efforts of the workforce at the Ports of Auckland.
He says that “parochial and destructive” competition between ports had resulted in shipping companies being charged unrealistically low rates, and management were now trying to “bleed workers” to make up the shortfall.
“Maritime workers are not going to have their wages and conditions attacked to prop up the profits of global shipping companies.”