THE MARITIME WORKERS’ JOURNAL SPRING / SUMMER 2014 WANDILLA LAUNCH USHERS IN A NEW ERA Glen Doyle performs smoking ceremony at Wandilla Launch. RESOURCES INDUSTRY EXPOSED p00_Cover.indd 1 19/11/13 9:07 AM CONTENTS 6 - 13 National Council: A meeting of minds 14 & 15 Chevron Campaign: BIS Shrapnel report shows resource industry loose with the truth 22 & 23 Vale Jimmy Tannock: Remembering retired National Deputy Secretary 35 Wandilla Launch: Tugboat signals beginning of new training initiative 41 Credit Union: MMPCU relocates as part of expansion 42 Financial Reports: MUA Concise Financial Report 2013 44 Dispute: Egyptian seafarers have a win in Kembla EDITOR IN CHIEF Paddy Crumlin COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR Jonathan Tasini EDITORIAL TEAM Ashleigh Telford Greig Kelbie DESIGN Magnesium Media PRINTER Printcraft Maritime Workers’ Journal 365-375 Sussex Street Sydney NSW 2000 Contact: 9267 - 9134 Fax: 9261 - 3481 Email: [email protected] Website: http://www.mua.org.au MWJ reserves the right at all times to edit and/or reduce any articles or letters to be published. Publication No: 1235 MUA members out in force to celebrate World Maritime Day at the For all story ideas, letters, obituaries please email Australian National Maritime Museum on Darling Harbour. [email protected] LOGGING ON LOGGING ON world economy down the toilet. The company negotiated an EBA without and Port of Convenience campaigns are Who knows really, because the Libs never telling its workforce what it was up to. illustrative of the capacity of international LOGGING had to say anything in opposition? The little Patrick, then, compounded this moral lapse maritime workers to effectively network in time Abbott has been in office doesn’t look by using a type of guerrilla management pursuing justice and accountability in the promising, though. tactics to bludgeon the downsizing through the shipping and stevedoring industries. ON But, you don’t have to be the oracle to workforce. It has led maritime unions in our region Newly-elected Federal Opposition work out that it’s not just shipping which the Workers have a right to genuinely to reach out to each other to build a stronger By National Secretary Leader of the Australian Labor Party Paddy Crumlin Bill Shorten at National Council government has no interest in supporting. It consider whether they want to go or stay. The structure of campaigning, based on more with Paddy Crumlin looks like General Motors is for the tip. Our redundancy package has to reflect the radical effective and accountable joint action. agriculture and farming are the most efficient in circumstances of the change in the industry and The National Conference of members and Intelligently Accumulating opportunities while maintaining existing this abandonment. the world ... So let’s flog them off! economy. subsequent National Council decisions to Sovereign Wealth standards. Labor partnered with maritime workers Public servants? Who needs them? The process of who is going to take the formulate a relationship with regional maritime The Federal Liberal-National Coalition has Many countries that have sustained steady as we strived to build a shipping industry to Someone can make a buck there, can’t package and leave needs to be fair and unions seeks to build on the effectiveness of won government without a real political ground in achieving this political priority have secure domestic certainty for delivery, by they? So, sack them and contract it out! Small transparent, and not a process of picking heads international campaigning. mandate at all. Its political strategy was relied on intelligently accumulating sovereign encouraging a better-trained workforce and government, that’s the key, says Abbott. that the company thinks don’t fit. In mid-November, the Executives of the largely opportunistic in exploiting leadership wealth into funds that target and encourage an orderly investment environment. It was a Roll out the radical new policies on refugees: The workforce operating the restructured Maritime Union of Australia, the Maritime Union weaknesses in the former Labor Government. employment to build on the health skills and national conversation that sought to interpolate say nothing and the problem doesn’t exist! And terminal needs to have surety that it is operating of New Zealand (MUNZ) and the Maritime and The Coalition was reluctant to counter existing productivity of their entire national workforce. three factors: we are in a nation of enormous in a breakthrough in world diplomacy with our safely and that workers are part of a process Transport Union of Papua New Guinea met in and well-articulated policies by Labor in the Labor got it exactly right on infrastructure, distance between natural resources and significant neighbor, Indonesia: tell them to get reaching that surety. Port Moresby to put meat on that bone. election period in a range of social, political, pouring a large piece of the budget into the the end users of those resources; industries stuffed. Jobs created by the restructuring need to Trust, focus, national identity and national economic and industrial national objectives. building of roads, rail, and ports, in addition to are seeking to thrive by adding value to the And, by the way, the climate change is a be offered to the workforce as a natural and structures of our unions can join together to Instead, the Coalition’s campaign only preparing the economy for the 21st century by resources through manufacturing; and Australia conspiracy of greenies, commos and scientists functional part of transition. both build maritime workers’ rights in each needed to latch on to a well-resourced and funding a National Broadband Network. is the fourth largest user of shipping for our who should get real jobs, regardless of what To proceed further without taking proper of our countries, and maintain strong and directed media commitment, particularly by Investors from all over the world wanted to exports and imports in the world. most other governments think and do in stock of these axioms of best practice in the democratic ownership of each of those national the Murdoch press, to promote the theme of put their money into an Australian economy Labor engineered a dialogue that could, for recognition of this environmental catastrophe. change mechanism would be fraught with organisations, while joining together formally Labor ‘dysfunction’. Negativism and naysaying, that gave surety of return through stable and the first time in our history, gain advantage from There’s only one true source of truth on these risk, both reputational to the company and to learn from each other and consolidate a familiar posture they took while in opposition, predictable national governance and focus. this situation, by developing an international things and that’s Rupert Murdoch, whose functionally in its relationship with a workforce resources in ensuring that relationships with proved effective — and any media scrutiny That was what the mining tax was about. shipping flag that brought that industry idea of energy conservation is to not answer that has served Patrick well for many years and employers in our international industries are melted away, refusing to push the Coalition to Australians getting the rent on their natural on to our turf through maritime clusters in questions into the inquiry into the disgraceful will be around for many years to come. driven by respect and engagement and not even reveal its budget costings before Election assets — a once-in-a-lifetime bounty that logistics and technical support, with the spying of his UK papers. contempt and avoidance. Day. would be redirected into better skills, more higher regulatory authority lowering the risk We know what this looks like, tastes like, Maritime Federation This type of networking and organisational Besides an orchestrated and, at times, efficient industry and decent pay and working of catastrophic shipping failure to both our and smells like: the slippery slope is being Workers face the same threats and have the commitment is essential. In a precarious hysterical critique of Labor in office, Tony conditions, which, in turn, would encourage environment and economy. In addition, through lubricated for working men and women again, same pressures on them in maritime and other environment for workers, it will continue to Abbott gave little indication on how he home ownership, family building and ongoing both our domestic and international shipping a slope that will send us plunging from a industries worldwide. be essential in ensuring accountability by intended to maintain a policy direction opportunities to younger working men and policies, we could secure the maritime skills decent, fair society into the familiar economic The challenge is to marshal the resources to employers and governments is based on capitalising further on the Labor government’s women, while existing workers secured a long, which the rest of the world is searching to find, struggle and injustice in a constant battle to prosecute effective well-considered campaigns acceptance and not denial of our rights. In extraordinarily successful administration of the well-funded and decent retirement. to meet the new higher regulatory standards of justify our rights. When the business elites, against multi-national and national corporate a world fragmented by the raw exercise of Australian economy which effectively insulated It was a sound and orderly political the International Maritime Organisation and the propped up by the Murdoch press, have