By Michael Bramwell
FREMANTLE — July 26 marked the fifth anniversary of the Kirkis shipping disaster. The Kirkis, an unseaworthy ship not inspected by unions, broke up off the WA coast, spilling 20,000 tonnes of oil into the Indian Ocean.
To mark the occasion and to protest against federal government attacks on the maritime industry, around 150 people attended a rally on the Fremantle Esplanade organised by the Maritime Union of Australia.
WA branch secretary of the MUA Wally Pritchard told Green Left Weekly that the federal government's restructuring of the waterfront will increase the chances of more Kirkis-type disasters: "The government is considering legislation that makes it easier for foreign companies to operate foreign flag vessels on the Australian coast. More foreign flag vessels mean more opportunities for vessels like the Kirkis to come undone on our coast."
"The Liberals want the Australian waterfront opened up to all sorts of foreign competition", he said, "but the 'Ships of Shame' report that came out a couple a years ago showed what that would mean.
"If Australian shipping owners have to compete on a dollar for dollar basis with foreign ships, we'll be competing with people who don't pay their crews for a full year, who throw the crew over the side if they disagree with their officers and who don't worry about safety issues."
The consequences of these conditions, says Pritchard, were revealed in the disasters of the early 1990s when at least three ships which left the Port of Dampier sank with all hands on board.
Asked how the government's plans to deregulate the waterfront will affect the MUA and its members, Pritchard said, "This government sees the MUA as a formidable opponent in its plans for restructuring the Australian work force, which it wants less able to organise and defend itself.
"The MUA has a very high percentage of union coverage, up in the high 90s, if not 100%, in well-established sectors. As an area under attack, we have to be the first ones to stand up and defend ourselves. This is happening in the current MUA campaign, but we also have developed good relationships with the rest of the trade union movement, and I'm sure we'll see the rest of the movement defend this strategic arm of Australian industry."