Maritime Union of New Zealand

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

The Maritime Union says immediate action is needed to stop the unfolding jobs crisis in New Zealand.

Maritime Union General Secretary Trevor Hanson says he is concerned that the Government appears to be “sailing in circles” as New Zealand drifts further into recession.

Mr Hanson says the Prime Minister should be taking charge of employment, rather than leaving it to an inexperienced Minister like Paula Bennett.

“Mr Key’s jobs strategy appears to be based around avoiding being associated with any bad news. Since we are having a lot of bad news at the moment, this means the Prime Minister has become virtually invisible.”

Mr Hanson says the cause and the worsening effects of the global recession are due to the deregulated free market policies that National has promoted, and as a result they had a “passive approach” when an “active approach” was required.

Possible solutions the Union was promoting included a reduction in working hours with no loss in pay, extending protections for casual workers, requiring that the public sector purchased goods and services from local businesses, and public investment in productive enterprises that were experiencing problems due to the recession.

Mr Hanson says that talking about retraining was fine, but on its own such a policy was like a “three legged dog”, missing the essential requirement for viable industries that would employ the retrained workers.

“In recent weeks we have seen the devastation of areas of manufacturing as well as jobs evaporating due to technological advances and outsourcing to overseas. The guts is being ripped out of the New Zealand economy as we watch.”

He says mass layoffs from the public sector were compounding the problem and creating unnecessary disruption and insecurity simply because National were “anti public sector.”

Mr Hanson says the Maritime Union is concerned the political right-wing and private business interests will soon launch a major attack on workers wages and conditions to prop up profits.

“We already have a substantial number of people in New Zealand who are the ‘working poor’, they were struggling in the so-called good times, and these people simply have no personal reserves to deal with the financial pressures of unemployment.”

“Workers will be expected to pay for the recession caused by irrational economic policies that have led to inequality and a deeply troubled society.”

He says successive Governments have pushed free trade ideology as the solution to New Zealand’s problems, and now New Zealand was finding that relying on one or two commodities with volatile international markets was dangerously naive.

Mr Hanson says that well paid, secure jobs could be created in the maritime and fishing industry, rather than dead-end schemes like the plan to funnel unemployed young people towards unskilled jobs such as the infamous “McDonalds” scheme from WINZ.

ENDS

For more information contact Maritime Union General Secretary Trevor Hanson on 021390585

The Maritime Union says the National Government’s plan to act as a compulsory recruitment agency for McDonalds fast food chain is a travesty.

Social Development Minister Paula Bennett has described an agreement between WINZ and McDonalds that will provide up to 7000 unemployed workers for the fast-food chain’s growth plans over the next five years.

Maritime Union General Secretary Trevor Hanson says the scheme has two beneficiaries – a Government with a failing jobs policy, and a global corporation that will suck profits out of New Zealand.

He says the scheme is condemning working class young people to a dead end future.

“The fact is that for most people, working in these jobs is not a career path, it is a low-wage, casualized trap.”

He says he is interested how many children of National Party MP’s are being sent off to develop their careers as burger makers.

Mr Hanson says that claims that such “McJobs” will provide a career path are similar to the burgers.

“They always look good in the ads but when you eat them they never live up to the promises.”

Mr Hanson says that thousands of skilled jobs in manufacturing are being demolished, and freezes in funding for polytech places will keep young people out of training.

He says young New Zealanders should have the opportunity to work in areas like the maritime industry or the fishing industry for decent wages.

“Yet what we see is underpaid and often exploited overseas crews working in New Zealand waters while local people are shovelled towards the dole or the chip fryer.”

Mr Hanson says the current scenario is that New Zealand is going to have a massive low-wage sector that would breed enormous social divisions and problems.

He says secure, wellpaid jobs have long been under attack in New Zealand, as profits ballooned but workers saw their incomes shrink.

“Under the current Government we are only seeing two areas of employment growth, prison staff and fast food, if this is a success I’d like to see what a failure looks like.”

Mr Hanson says the toll of casual jobs, multiple jobs, irregular hours and shift work in a “24 hour society” was causing massive social inequality and disruption to family and community life, leading to stress, health issues, crime and family breakdown.

Members of the Maritime Union are staging a protest today on board a vessel at the Ports of Auckland.

Maritime Union Auckland Seafarers Branch Secretary Garry Parsloe says the crew members started their protest on the trans-Tasman freighter Rotoiti at the Ports of Auckland Bledisloe Terminal at 7am this morning Saturday 4 November 2006.

He says the crew are drawing attention to the fact that when the Rotoiti is withdrawn from service on 26 November, it will be the end of the last New Zealand crewed ship working on the trans-Tasman trade.

“The vessel is going yet the cargo remains, but the jobs are threatened, and these New Zealand seafarers want to have some work in their own trans-Tasman trade.”

Mr Parsloe says it was not a redundancy situation as the work was still there, but would be going to other vessels – none of which have any New Zealand crew members.

He says the crew want jobs for New Zealand seafarers on the trans-Tasman trade and were staging their action to get dialogue with the employer.

The vessel is currently owned by international shipping line Hapag Lloyd but since 1999, crew have been under Anglo-Eastern ship management.

Mr Parsloe says the situation is a shocking one, considering the importance of shipping to New Zealand as an economically and environmentally efficient transport mode.

“We are in a situation where New Zealand cargo is being carried, but there is no work for our own people.”

New Zealand seafarers had worked on the Rotoiti since 1975.

He says that the national conference of the Maritime Union in October had committed to action on the issue.

The Maritime Union had been in contact with overseas maritime unions for assistance with the matter.

The Maritime Union has challenged all shipping companies to recognize their social responsibility towards New Zealand crews, and has determined to maintain New Zealand seafarers on vessels that carry cargo on the trans-Tasman and international trade.