BY WERNER COHRS
[Werner Cohrs was a candidate for SA branch secretary in the June elections for the Maritime Union of Australia. Although Cohrs was not elected, militants did well in the elections, gaining control of two of the three union branches.]
As a long-standing, dedicated and involved member of the MUA and the Seamen's Union of Australia, I have been unhappy for some years with the way some sections of the MUA membership had been left out of union processes.
In some instances, we have been treated in a very contemptuous way and used to simply rubber-stamp union policy. I attend stop-work meetings and see how we are presented with done deals, and I feel that the desire of members to become involved has been gradually eroded away. Working conditions have been traded away without consulting members.
Candidates who have stood in opposition to appointed incumbents have been labelled disloyal. When someone was appointed to the SA deputy's position recently, and was going to stand as branch secretary, I felt enough was enough. It was time the rank and file had a choice of candidates not just have one foisted upon us. I announced I would stand in the June union elections as well.
I was not standing as part of a ticket, however I do identify closely with those many candidates who felt the same frustrations with the incumbent leadership. I am pleased to see so many of those candidates elected sending a clear wake-up call to our leadership that they cannot afford to ignore.
I believe that our union's salvation lies in turning around losses, such as work force casualisation, and more union democracy.
This election has seen a big rebellion against the incumbent leadership, showing the unhappiness among the membership. I have never seen a rank-and-file revolt that was so large and widespread across the country.
Clearly, this is the result of MUA leaders not serving members properly, and, in some cases, shooting the messenger or labelling them "Trotskyites", "splitters" or "servants of the reactionary forces within this country".
The other result from the elections that is of enormous concern to me is the low voter participation. We must be failing members if they are not even interested in having their say.
We need to look closely at these election results and rebuild our union from the ground up as the saying goes, united we stand, divided we fall!