Maritime Union of New Zealand

The Maritime Union of New Zealand has congratulated the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) in its successful and ongoing campaign in improving wages and conditions in the offshore industry.

Maritime Union of New Zealand General Secretary Joe Fleetwood says offshore maritime workers are working in a tough and unforgiving environment and all workers benefit from strong unions like the MUA leading the way forward.

He says the recent media attack from the Australian Institute of Marine and Power Engineers (AIMPE) on the MUA’s offshore strategy has blown the credibility of the AIMPE.

The AIMPE is an affiliate of the International Transport Workers Federation, and the Maritime Union of New Zealand will be seeking an explanation of their leadership’s public statements attacking a fellow maritime union for doing their job.

The AIMPE leadership need to figure out whether they are representing workers or representing employers, says Mr Fleetwood.

Mr Fleetwood sayd the ongoing attacks on the MUA in the big business owned Australian media are to be expected and need to be countered by getting the real story out through working class communities.

“Any group of workers that is successfully organized and achieving good results are regarded as a threat to the vast profits corporate owners and managers are grabbing. So all the flak the MUA are getting is a sign you are making good progress.”

The Maritime Union of New Zealand is supporting strike action by Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) members in the West Australian offshore oil and gas industry.

Maritime Union of New Zealand General Secretary Joe Fleetwood says many New Zealanders work in the Australian maritime industry.

He says that the Maritime Union of New Zealand works closely with the MUA and other unions in international alliances such as the Trans Tasman Oil and Gas Alliance.

Mr Fleetwood says the Australian workers had the full support of maritime workers around the world.

“The employers are making vast fortunes in profits. You don’t notice all the CEOs and politicians refusing their huge pay increases but when workers stand up for their rights it becomes the end of the world.”

He says the wages of those workers get spent in working class communities rather than being hoarded by wealthy shareholders.

“This is about workers getting their share of the wealth they create. After all, they do the work out on the remote rigs and vessels, away from home for long periods and in a risky, heavy industrial environment.”

Mr Fleetwood says the issue has important implications for New Zealand.

“The offshore oil and gas industry is an important part of our economy and will become more important over the next decade.”

The Maritime Union supports moves away from an oil based economy in the long term but there would be a transition period where oil and gas were still required and New Zealand had to make the most of that.

“This is a limited resource and one that is not having a positive effect on the environment. The wealth from our oil and gas reserves must be used to benefit our people and to move to a post-oil economy.”

He noted how diverse nations such as Norway and Venezuela had used their oil and gas reserves for the benefit of their citizens.

Mr Fleetwood says that New Zealand should maintain close control of its oil and gas reserves and should not allow them to be exploited by private corporations.

Maritime workers are celebrating tonight after a successful resolution of the Port of Napier dispute in mediation this afternoon.

Maritime Union General Secretary Trevor Hanson says the week long dispute had been about secure local jobs being preserved at the port.

“We wanted shipping companies to be able to use stevedores where secure local jobs could be achieved. Shipping companies wanted a solution, we supplied one, and the port is back in action as of now.”

Mr Hanson says officials went down to the picket line this afternoon to break the good news shortly before 3pm.

“We’ve had our members out on the port gates for nearly a week, and today there was a great sense of relief that these workers will have work tomorrow and into the future.”

Mr Hanson says the picket will be taken off the gates immediately, and workers will be working around the clock over the weekend to clear the backlog of work before Christmas.

“The port was effectively shut down during this dispute and now it will be back to business as usual.”

Mr Hanson says the dispute had been unnecessary, and had caused damage to the reputation of the port, but the Union would seek to ensure a successful year in 2008 as long as secure jobs were available to local people.

He says the defining moments of the dispute were the tenacity of the local workers who manned 24 hour pickets on the port gates, the support of other unions and the CTU, and the massive global support from the international working class including the Maritime Union of Australia and the International Transport Workers Federation.

The Employment Court in Wellington today declined to put an injunction on possible pickets by workers at the Port of Napier as pickets loom over the summer.

Moves by the Port of Napier to contract out stevedoring work threaten 25 permanent and 60 casual jobs, with workers to be thrown on the scrap heap just before Christmas.

The case was heard yesterday under urgency, and the Employment Court today ordered parties back to mediation.

The two waterfront unions, the Maritime Union of New Zealand and the Rail and Maritime Transport Union, both appeared at the hearing, and were pleased by the result.

Maritime Union of New Zealand General Secretary Trevor Hanson says the issues at stake are far wider than one Port and the situation had already gone international.

“The issue here is whether employers can use contracting out to dismantle secure jobs, to attack wages and conditions, to casualize jobs – and workers are going to take it to the wire.”

The workers whose jobs are threatened are Maritime Union members.

Mr Hanson says Port of Napier CEO Garth Cowie was badly mistaken if he thought the issue was going to fizzle out.

“This situation is going international, and the damage to the reputation of his port is already being done. This is line in the sand stuff for workers and we won’t be backing down.”

The Union had high level support from the Council of Trade Unions, the Maritime Union of Australia, and the International Transport Workers’ Federation, which represents 4 500 000 affiliated transport workers globally.

Mr Hanson says the ITF are considering declaring the Port of Napier a “port of convenience” ? a first for New Zealand.

“This means the Port of Napier will come under a major international spotlight as part of an ongoing ITF global campaign to protect secure jobs, which will have a major impact on their ability to successfully function as an international port.”

The port company was already the target of an international email campaign based in London  (www.labourstart.org/munz) with messages pouring in from around the world.

Mr Hanson says that substantial solidarity delegations of workers will be arriving in Napier shortly to support their fellow workers, including a group from Australia.

RMTU Organiser Todd Valster says his members are standing strong on critical issues of health and safety.

“This is a Port with a very poor safety record, and contracting out to under trained workers puts everyone at risk”.

“We are not going to train up a underskilled workforce to take the jobs of people who already do a great job.”

The Maritime Union is gearing up for national and international action to protect secure local jobs at the Port of Napier.

Members of the Maritime Union employed at Hawkes Bay Stevedoring Services have been threatened with job losses after a container stevedoring contract was awarded to Mount Maunganui based stevedore ISO.

Maritime Union General Secretary Trevor Hanson says the decision by the port company has already generated a major backlash, with a national meeting of the Union today calling for solidarity action with the Napier workers.

Mr Hanson says the decision will affect around 25 permanent jobs and around 60 casual jobs in the Port of Napier from the start of next year.

“We are not going to allow a situation where local jobs are disrupted and destroyed.”

Mr Hanson says the port workers in Napier were gutted and angry by the decision by the Port of Napier Limited.

“Our members have worked 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for the Port Company and generated big profits for the Hawkes Bay Regional Council and the local people.”

Mr Hanson says it appears that ISO were going to try to use Napier maritime workers to train their own staff in the meantime.

“This is not going to happen.”

The Maritime Union was talking with the Council of Trade Unions and the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) about the situation, and would be approaching overseas unions including the Maritime Union of Australia and the ILWU on the USA west coast for assistance.

The Maritime Union was already in touch with shipping companies to register their concerns and all branches of the Union had offered support to the Napier workers.

Mr Hanson says the Union’s case had already received some high level support.

Napier MP Russell Fairbrother had said today that the Ports of Napier, owned by Hawkes Bay Regional Council, had a responsibility to being a good Hawkes’ Bay citizen and he had asked local people to contact the Port Company and Regional Council with their concerns.

The Union agreed with Mr Fairbrother’s comment that the port was there to serve us, not to exploit us.

The Maritime Union of New Zealand says it will stop work on the ship involved in the Port Kembla waterfront dispute in Australia if it comes to New Zealand.

Maritime Union General Secretary Trevor Hanson says if the MV Capo Noli enters any port in New Zealand, the dispute in Port Kembla will be immediately extended to New Zealand.

The Union has offered its full support to the Maritime Union of Australia, who are fighting an attempt by multinational shipping corporation CSL to make Third World crews do waterfront work in Port Kembla in New South Wales.

The Maltese flagged MV Capo Noli is calling at Port Kembla loaded with Gypsum. The vessel is owned by Coeclerici Armatori Spa in Genoa but managed and crewed by Elburg Shipmanagement Phils Inc. She is chartered to Britania Bulkers UK and sub chartered to CSL Shipping.

The crew has been told to discharge cargo using the ship’s cranes despite an international agreement that clearly states that dockers work, such as loading and unloading of ships, should not be done by seafarers.

Mr Hanson says a national meeting of the Union today offered its full support to the Maritime Union of Australia through the Trans Tasman Federation.

“We are in regular contact with the MUA and will work as one with them on this case, including blacklisting any ships involved in this dispute that come to New Zealand, and sending delegates to Australia to help with pickets.”

Mr Hanson says that the issue is about stopping global companies from exploiting local and Third World workers.

“Overseas crews are often paid very low wages, and if companies move them ashore their goal is to attack the wages and conditions and jobs of local workers. It is the sinister face of corporate globalization and we are going to fight it every step of the way.”

Mr Hanson says the Maritime Union is very concerned about the movement of casual short term labour across borders to undercut wages and conditions using free trade agreements.

He says the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) representing transport workers around the world is backing the Union stance against what it terms “self loading” by ships crews.