BY VANNESSA HEARMAN
MELBOURNE — Some 150 people spent the evening of November 3 rocking the Maritime Union of Australia's hall in North Melbourne. This fundraiser was just one part of the MUA's solidarity work with East Timor's Transport and Maritime Union. The Timorese union is under the umbrella of the Confederation of Timorese Unions (KSTL).
MUA Victorian branch secretary Kevin Bracken told Green Left Weekly that a volunteer with the International Transport Federation (ITF), Mick Killick, working with the Timorese union for over a year told the MUA of the lack of resources there. "Mick told us they had nothing over there, everything is just getting set up, so here in Victoria we thought we could do something to help them out."
Killick and KSTL President Zitu da Costa visited Australia earlier this year to participate in the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) congress.
Bands Die Scab Die and On the Knuckle and Drought, both consisting of dockside workers and seamen from P&O and Patricks, performed. "Many people would be surprised by how much talent there is on the waterfront", Bracken commented.
The fledgling Timorese union, set up in February this year, organises port workers, as well as those involved in aviation services.
The challenges facing unions were illustrated last October when Killick was arrested by United Nations Police for being involved in a demonstration against Timor Aviation Services. TAS is a contractor to Air North, sole air-service provider between Darwin and Dili. According to an October 7 MUA National Office press release, TAS had refused to negotiate a collective agreement with its workers and sacked union members involved in negotiations.
Killick was subsequently released after protests from the ITF and the International Labor Organisation (ILO). He was charged with "blocking public access" to the airport terminal. The United Nations mission in East Timor (UNMISET) announced on October 10 that it would launch an investigation into the police operations and use of "inappropriate force" in his arrest.
The MUA in Victoria has collected overalls and safety boots for the 90 maritime union members in East Timor. The $2000 raised on the night will also be sent to East Timor.
"There are so many issues members are concerned about, workers are often getting the sack on their workplaces. But we talk about how workers need to stick together and support each other in various parts of the world. We might look a bit different from one another, but we've got lots of things in common", Bracken commented.
From Green Left Weekly, November 12, 2003.
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