Dave Andrews, Fremantle
The Western Australian branch of the Maritime Union of Australia has now experienced 12 months of a new leadership.
Last June, Chris Cain and Ian Bray won two of three elected branch full-time positions as representatives of the MUA Rank and File team that promised a stronger leadership and a return of the union to the membership.
Although there was little official fanfare of the first anniversary, the new leadership team has had a substantial impact on the shipping and stevedoring industries, the MUA and the labour movement.
Since the Patrick's dispute in 1998, when the Coalition government conspired with Chris Corrigan, boss of Patrick Stevedores, to smash the MUA, conditions on Australian wharves have deteriorated. Successive enterprise bargaining agreements have seen a massive increase in casual labour and a consistent chipping away at nearly every area of workers' rights and entitlements. A similar erosion of conditions is taking place in the shipping industry, which is being decimated at the hands of the federal government.
Cain, who described the experience of the past 12 months in office as "an eye-opener", explained to Green Left Weekly that the WA branch is now prepared to have a blue over safety and conditions. Importantly, the WA leaders encourage delegates and members to be actively involved in these fights to defend their rights. There have been many such battles, over the sacking of delegates, enterprise bargaining negotiations, health and safety, crewing numbers on ships, and other issues.
One recent victory, reported in the latest issue of the branch newspaper, the Maritime Worker, was the winning of permanent jobs in Fremantle and Albany. This has, in effect, meant that Skilled Maritime in Albany, a casual employer, has been shown the door in favour of an agreement with another company guaranteeing union conditions. This, along with a similar agreement with the Fremantle Port Authority, has laid the groundwork for creating further permanent jobs throughout the industry.
The WA MUA leadership's approach of intelligently using industrial strength, rather than continually compromising on conditions, has won respect throughout the MUA nationally and in the broader union movement. Strong relations have developed with other unions in WA, particularly with the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union, on a range of industrial and political issues.
This militant section of the WA union movement has campaigned against the state Labor government's new workers' compensation laws, which will leave WA workers well behind the eastern states. A big majority of injured workers will find themselves unable to pursue common law claims if the state government has its way. Thousands have already rallied against the legislation, despite UnionsWA (the state's peak union body) backing the government.
A major plank of the Rank and File team's policies has been, as Cain puts it, to "return the union back to the members". The delivery of this is well underway. A very successful state conference of rank-and-file members was held in February, allowing members to have their say and vote on union governance and policy. The conference expressed a solid confidence of the membership in the branch leaders.
Considerable headway has been made in overcoming the membership decline. For example, union membership was just above 50% at Patrick prior to the union elections, and is now almost 100%.
The Maritime Worker, a 12-page bimonthly newsletter produced by and for union members since the conference, is now widely read and has earned considerable respect throughout Australia. Members are encouraged to write on and debate in the paper any issue that concerns the union.
Members' involvement in the union continues to increase. Many lively meetings have taken place to discuss the latest Patrick enterprise bargaining agreement and to decide what issues WA delegates should present in the national negotiations.
From Green Left Weekly, July 14, 2004.
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