DECEMBER 2023 - ISSUE 007
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CONTENTS
WILL TRACEY 4 WA BRANCH SECRETARY REPORT DOUG HEATH 10 WE WON’T BE TAKING A BACKWARD STEP IN OUR INDUSTRIAL WAR WITH DPW JEFF CASSAR 16 REGIONAL RAP GEORGE GAKIS 18 NAVIGATING CHALLENGES AND SECURING WORKERS RIGHTS BRENDON BROLLY 20 BATTLES VICTORIES, AND INDUSTRY REALITIES PAUL BRETT 26 IS YOUR MANAGER A VINDICTIVE PRICK OR SIMPLY INCOMPETENT? JOEL OBRIEN 28 NORTHWEST MATTERS PHIL KENNEDY 30 SHIPBUILDING UPDATE JASON LIPSCOMBE 34 OFFSHORE DRILLING TRANSFORMING OFFSHORE WORK: MILESTONES IN INDUSTRY NEGOTIATIONS AND STANDARDS DANIEL PICCOLI 38 CBH INFLUX: TURMOIL,SAFETY CONCERNS, AND BATTLE FOR FAIRNESS FEATURE ARTICLE 40 REFLECTING ON THE MV BLYTHE STAR: HONOURING BRAVERY, RESILIENCE, AND LEGACY 46 A MESSAGE FROM CHRISTY CAIN POLITICAL ARTICLE 48 52 WOMEN’S REPORT 54 MUA YOUTH 62 NATIONAL VETERAN PRESIDENT’S REPORT IAN BRAY 66 ITF FEATURE ARTICLE 70 QUBE EA CAMPAIGN:SETTING STANDARDS FOR MARITIME WORKERS IN AUSTRALIA FEATURE ARTICLE 78 COASTAL SHIPPING STATE AND FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TASKFORCE UPDATE SPECIAL REPORT 82 MUA TRIUMPHS IN SECURING STEWARD JOBS ACROSS OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS SECTOR
COLLECTIVE STRUGGLE
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SPECIAL REPORT 84 WHARFIES GATHER FOR A DAY OF GOLF AND CAMARADERIE FEATURE ARTICLE 86 OVER 100 DELEGATES TRAINED IN UNDER 2 YEARS SPECIAL REPORT 88 THE DRAMATIC SAGA OF SVITZER’S ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT BATTLE FEATURE ARTICLE OFFSHORE ALLIANCE UPDATE 94 OFFSHORE ALLIANCE HAVE LOCKED UP EBA’S WITH ALL THE OIL & GAS MAJORS SPECIAL REPORT 100 GO OFFSHORE, SAIPEM AND WOODSIDE/A SHAMEFUL DISREGARD FOR AUSTRALIA 102 WA BRANCH SOCIAL MEDIA 107 JDK LEGAL SERVICES 112 ROLLING FUNDS 114 WELCOME NEW MEMBERS REGIONAL MEMBERS 119 CPPC TRANSHIPPER
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WA BRANCH SECRETARY REPORT
no outcome is achieved without the membership pulling together and taking the employer on with the only campaign that we know works – direct, militant, collective action in support of our members collective interests. Collective strength, collective struggle. The recent industry wide outcomes achieved in the highly successful offshore oil and gas EA campaign sees MUA members across the sector receive wage and condition outcomes that will cushion the blow from those factors beyond our control. And wages through Union agreements must play catchup to the inflation and cost increases that are being driven by employer profit gouging. More key research has come in that confirms that increasing wages are not responsible for the inflation problems we have and that the Reserve Banks blunt instrument of interest rate rises won’t fix the problem, instead just hurt working families. With all the major vessel operators and crewing agents closed out and just the smaller industry players left to finalise, we should have the entire offshore oil and gas industry on an MUA agreement before New Year. The MUA offshore oil and gas campaign has been an outstanding success built on the discipline, militancy, and collective organisation of our membership, who were headed up by the outstanding leadership of our delegates and committees with each of the various employers. In an industry that had just came out of a downturn and the debilitating effects of Covid lockdowns, the speed with which the delegates, activists and members repositioned the campaign was inspirational.
The collective position of the membership that decided our campaign strategy and tactics came through industry wide conferences, both in the Union rooms and by Zoom, as well as company specific meetings of members and delegates followed up with a heap of direct vessel visits in Dampier, Broome, Fremantle, Darwin, Melbourne, and Barry’s Beach. We cannot underestimate the destabilization and disruption caused by consolidation across the industry and the attempts by the employers to get around our industrial action through the use of split crews via labour hire companies and Go Offshore wherever possible. The attempts by AIMPE and AMOU to undermine the campaign, by siding with the employer representative AREEA and the key employers on their claims, made things difficult but the strategy we ran out overcame this. A strategy that was backed in by a collective determination to win and win together.
Leave provisions, increased casual loading, and severance benefits for casual employees, among many others. A key outcome was the industrial resolution to our Workers Comp coverage as the industry wide Seacare coverage falls over. It is a massive outcome for MUA members offshore and again all our membership, and especially the delegates of each particular company, need to be congratulated for their leadership, collective strength and discipline which delivered this outcome. This year saw the push for industry-wide terms and conditions of employment through the inshore diving and vessel sectors where many of our members work. These areas are extremely hard to organise and the ability to push for an industry wide standard long and complex. This campaign is predominantly run out of the Pilbara by our North-West Organizer, Joel O’Brien. The collective will of the membership to fix these sectors of the maritime industry is inspirational and we made some major strides this year to get in behind the collectively determined position of our membership to fight for agreements across the industry. We now have 6 agreements across the inshore diving companies with the major employers coming on board. We have landed 5 agreements across the inshore vessel employers and have covered off the key parts of the industry. Both campaigns across both sectors took varying degrees of industrial action but you don’t get anywhere without the membership coming together and being willing to take militant industrial action.
United We fight, United We Win!
Will Tracey| WA Branch Secretary Will.Tracey@mua.org.au 0423 895 575
Comrades
The campaign cut across around 20 employers all with different agreements, different finishing dates and different bargaining positions. AIMPE and the AMOU ran out different campaigns across different employers and each other, and the only thing they had in common was to oppose the MUA campaign. AREEA and the employers backed them in. The only consistent position across the entire industry was the collective determination of MUA members to come together and win across the entire industry and prosecute a single schedule agreement at 117%. The membership almost unanimously endorsed this landmark achievement agreement that delivered through the unified 117% schedule up to a substantial 45% increase in wages and improved conditions over the span of four years, with nearly half of these enhancements taking effect in the first year. In addition to these significant gains, we have secured a host of other key outcomes. These include the introduction of 4-week swings, improved trainee ratios, provisions for paid isolation/quarantine leave, strengthened job security measures, enhanced redundancy entitlements, expanded Long Service
This edition of Maritime Workers First highlights the many Enterprise Agreements (EA’s) your Union is involved in, as Unions use the only real tool they have to get workers through the cost of living crisis hurting so many Australian families. Especially when November saw the 13th rate rise in 15 months which did little more than gouge further profits for banks from the pockets of working people so they can inflate their already obscene bottom line. It’s clear that the big end of town and those that already have money aren’t suffering as increasing interest rates and prices for everyday necessities such as food, fuel, power, rent and mortgages cripple working Australia. The agreements we do at the MUA are the result of collective campaigns where the strategy and tactics are decided through the collective decision-making processes of our membership with the Delegates and Officials. Industry and sector conferences with rank-and-file involvement determine the position we take into each unique bargaining campaign. But
they are also seeking to rip apart members rosters and wanting reduced earnings for all employment categories. We are up against an employer that is trying to reduce wages and conditions by over 30%, remove key job security protections by allowing the replacement of DP World workers with contractors and refusing to lock in key work life balance provisions that protect rosters and hours of work. Our members are united and are having a red-hot crack at the protected action with all shift lengths reduced to 6 hours, vessels coming alongside not being discharged for 8 hours, upgrade bans on day shifts, and overtime and extension bans applying 24/7. This has been mixed up with various R&D bans and 48-hour work stoppages.
This year also saw the finalisation of the Svitzer agreement which came at the end of a long and drawn out 4-year battle against this global towage company to ensure our membership retained what they had fought for over many years. It was only the ability of our members to come together collectively and stand united in the face of one of the toughest anti-union campaigns in recent memory that got our guys to the finishing line on the agreement earlier this year. It should never be forgotten what Svitzer threw at our membership in their attempts to strip back hard-won terms and conditions of employment that had been fought for over many generations of seafarers. Standing together is not just about winning a good agreement but can also be the only defence of stopping the decimation of our wages and conditions. We campaigned through a lengthy legal battle, lengthy bouts of stop start industrial action under restrictive legislation and mounted an international campaign of support through their parent company Maersk. All of this was set against extreme provocation from Svitzer. This company had a shot at cancelling our EA to put us back on the Award, tried to lock the entire Australian workforce out prior to Christmas last year and then had a dip at trying to arbitrate the agreement to again strip away wages and conditions. We fought as one to oppose the current agreement getting up – however any of the hardline strategies Svitzer employed would have resulted in a far inferior outcome had they been successful. And although our members stood together to oppose the current agreement, the officers and engineers split and voted it up and time will be the judge of how much damage this will do us. Already we have seen Svitzer attack the IR classification in key ports, knock us out of the interview process and we wait to see what they do with the POP’s after the 12 months is up. The CEO who ran the hostile Svitzer campaign attacking his own workforce quit Svitzer after destroying that company’s brand with the clients, government and workforce and has taken up residence at DP World. He has started at DP World where he left off at Svitzer and we see them run from the same playbook in attacking the rosters, wages, and conditions of employment of our members there. And again, our members are up to the task to stand and fight collectively for their new agreement despite the attacks from this employer. At the time of writing this report, DPW members in Fremantle and in all national DPW terminals are into their 8th week of Protected Industrial Action, in response to DPW’s failure to agree to fundamental bargaining claims. DPW have not only refused to agree to industry standards on key claims such as remuneration, but
For many years there has been sporadic work across the dredging industry, and it is only this year that we have been able to work through our newly elected National Dredging Advisory Group to set new standards in the dredging industry and regain a heap of the conditions that were taken from us in recent years. The wage outcomes have been massive with nearly 18% in the first year and 24% over the life of the agreement. The National Dredging Advisory Group is made up of rank-and-file members who meet with our officials with responsibility for the dredging industry to determine the direction and strategy for the Union on the national Dredging industry agreement. They bring the collective position of our members and what they are willing to do to secure the best dredging industry wages and conditions again across this industry.
endorsement. The entire Qube workforce across the country has agreed on a collective campaign to produce an outcome for all Qube workers across all ports.
We are now in the process of organising to meet with Qube to commence discussions and the process toward the new agreement, although Qube are dragging their feet which should come as no surprise. While they do that, we continue to prosecute Qube in the courts for wilful breaches of the agreement with some 16 cases already in play and another 13 lined up behind them. The first conviction was recorded against Qube at the end of November with a penalty of $1,000 and the 2nd was recorded in the first week of December with a penalty of $11,300”…and there are plenty more. The Qube campaign has a strategy developed by Qube Delegates and Officials and fully endorsed by Qube Rank-and-File Members that will see Qube workers across the country finally get the dignity and respect they deserve. Collective strength and organisation at its best. This year saw the collective strength of our Broome Port membership deliver the best Port Authority agreement outcome we have seen in some time across the WA Port Authorities. Their willingness to come together, notify and commence a campaign of protected action came off the back of a 100% vote in the protected action ballot. There is no better outcome in an EA campaign than to have the membership vote 100% in favour of taking action. It sends the strongest possible message that the membership is united as one behind their claims and their campaign. To follow the 100% vote in the ballot with an immediate move to action got the results from a CEO who had been F**king about right up until that point. The result was landed within 3 days of action beginning because the ballot result and immediate move to action displayed a level of intent and commitment by our members to the outcome that the Broome Port could not ignore.
We have now been thrown into Fair Work for a week to see if any progress can be made in that forum but the company we are dealing with is being run by ideologues and it is unlikely we will find any solutions there.
Our members at Patrick’s are finally enjoying some of the benefits of their collective struggle last year with decent pay uplifts coming this year off the back of the insertion of the first CPI outcome with a major Australian stevedore. The Patrick’s members picked up 4% in January 2022, 7.3% in January this year and will get another 5.4% in January 2024. These wage increases are a major claim in the DP World negotiations as Patrick members will be 17% ahead of Patricks by January 2024. The outcomes through their collective struggle inform the DP World campaign and will help set a new industry standard for MUA members across the Australian container terminal industry. The fight at Qube for a new agreement is gaining momentum as we prepare for the expiry of the agreement next June 2024. This campaign was planned and strategised in May this year at the Qube National Delegates Conference held in Fremantle, with the ground campaign kicking off in July through a series of stop work meetings at all Qube sites around the country. Over 4 months the national negotiating team held meetings in 16 ports across the country with every meeting of Qube rank-and-file MUA members debating and endorsing the national strategy and plan, as well as the national log of claims for the new Qube agreement. This is a rank-and-file campaign driven by collective decision making and
Shipbuilding workers are finally realising that only by standing together can they fix the many problems that plague this industry. There are massive issues with the exploitation of contractors, labour hire workers and visa workers which is combined with a lethal mix of safety standards that are simply non-existent to the point that we see major contractors who don’t even realise the need for high-risk licenses for high-risk work. Really simple stuff but because workers haven’t been organised collectively, the employer gets away with it. Workers are coming together with the MUA to organise the industry, improve safety, remove the exploitation and fix the rates and conditions. All of this should be standard In an industry that attracts as much government funding as this one does. And finally, there is no better collective campaign across an industry than what we are seeing through the highly successful Offshore Alliance between the MUA and the AWU in Western Australia. The ability to bring workers together collectively across this massive yet remote industry represents the strongest and best of the what the trade union movement can be. Many of these workers had never been in a Union or worked under a collective agreement and yet 3,500 workers have come together collectively against the most aggressively anti-union employers with the deepest of pockets who have spent millions of dollars trying to prevent this happening. But no matter how much money they have spent on expensive lawyers and HR Managers, they can’t outspend collective strength and determination. The oil and gas companies and their contractors have thrown everything they have at the attempts to undermine effective collective industry campaigning and they have not won a battle yet. We have landed 65 collective agreements and counting in the last few years, with 25 more currently on the go. Oil and gas workers are now organised collectively and have taken ownership of their own industry on behalf of Australian workers rather than foreign multinational firms. Standing collectively also involves coming together in numbers whenever we celebrate our working-class solidarity, and our Union membership does it so well. We turned out for the global celebration for workers on May Day earlier this year in big numbers, as we did for our Annual General Meeting in Fremantle in support of our internal structures and governance. Our Retired Life Members still continue to rally for the annual Life Members Christmas Party as they celebrate
their retirement from the workforce but not the struggle with all of their Comrades of yesteryear. The turnout for the MUA WA Branch Family Fun Day was huge and gets bigger every year and is a celebration of our best values and collective principles, where the collective solidarity of the working class is strongest in family, friends and community. It certainly has been a year of standing together through collective militant struggle to land agreement after agreement, as we fight back against the current cost-of-living crisis in the only way we know how. We campaign for agreements at the company level and for industry standards across the maritime sector. We have ourselves and our united strength as our only weapon and we fight to win. We refuse to lose as we fight for ourselves, our families and our community, ensuring the legacy of those proud union members who came before us is collectively defended. We remain committed in our belief of our collective organisation and power and to our willingness to pursue direct collective action that see’s us continue to get results in the most difficult circumstances against the most well-resourced and aggressively anti worker companies in the world.
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United We Stand!
I want to take this opportunity to thank our Members and Delegates for their support as we continue to take the Union from strength to strength. I want to thank the staff who work tirelessly supporting our members in all sorts of ways and the officials and organisers who work so hard on behalf of the membership. I also want to wish everyone a safe, happy and merry Christmas, festive season and New Year as we look forward to another year where we continue to fight for the hopes and aspirations of our members. .
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Giving DPW A Decent Belt With Protected Industrial Action The DPW MUA membership can be commended for standing tall and taking the Protected Industrial Ac- tion which includes:
Shifts duration limited to 6 hours for each shift worked;
Ban on working vessels for 8 hours after being berthed in Fremantle;
Overtime and Extension Bans;
At the time this article was written, MUA members in Fremantle and in each of the DPW Ports around the country, are 7 weeks into Protected Industrial Action (PIA). The PIA is in support of our campaign to push back against DPW’s efforts to rip apart long-standing employment conditions. And there is zero chance of the Union voluntarily taking the foot off the throat of an outfit which have a global track record of human rights and labour abuse.
Ban on Upgrades Monday to Friday Day Shift; Nominated R&D Bans;
Nominated shipping line bans. EBA which has been manipulated by DPW to their advantage
DPW ’ s Industrial Bastardry DPW are seeking to rip apart the FSE roster, redu- ce salaries and force FSE’s to work additional night shifts and weekends. So much for the work-life ba- lance which DPW claim they support. To ensure that they are f***ing over everyone equa- lly, DPW are threatening to coerce VSE’s onto the proposed sub-standard FSE roster (whether they like it or not), reduce the earnings of VSE’s and im- plement scratching arrangements to suit operatio- nal requirements. This will be shambolic for VSE’s who already have zero certainty of work and already have enough challenges without the shit being sent down the line by DPW management. DPW are already giving their proposed shift can- cellation with SFA notice, a workout over the last 6 weeks by standing down members with limited or no notice whatsoever. This grub outfit has so little regard for its workforce that they stood members down after they arrived at work on the pretext that they had no available work. This is despite DPW having had 18 hours’ notice that there would be limited work scopes. This is a mat- ter which is now being dealt with in the Fair Work Commission.
There is plenty of other shit in the mix in DPW’s log of claims. After telling members that they should vi- sit the Emergency Department if they can’t get to see their GP, DPW are now demanding a sick note for more than 1 day of absence from work on ac- count of sickness, each year. It’s almost as though DPW are in some sort of pro- tection racket with the medical profession with this nonsense. Bargaining For Fair Industrial Outcomes The MUA bargaining claims are pretty clear… We want salary equity with Patrick, fixed rosters, agreed scratching arrangements locked in, the absence ma- nagement clause fixed up, fatigue management me- asures implemented and changes to clauses which address key anomalies and fix up wording in the EBA which has been manipulated by DPW to their advantage.
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DPW Declare War on Trucking Companies To ensure that DPW can’t be unfairly accused by the MUA about having a particular hatred of its own wor- kforce, DPW have gone out of their way to ensure they are hated equally by all stakeholders. There is no doubt that DPW are doing their very best to screw employees and have completely screwed the shipping agents and shipping companies which service their terminals. They have also decided that it’s important to share the DPW love by screwing the trucking companies- which take the boxes out of their yards around the country. DPW have announced their decision to hike land-si- de charges by a whopping 45%. DPW’s conduct is schizophrenic to say the least. They are demanding employees take a Real Wage cut to lower costs to their customers and at the same time are hiking up the costs to end users. This will completely trash the narrative they are spin- ning that DPW are seeking lower labour costs so they can help out Australia with lower freight char- ges, lower inflation, and lower interest rates. Not that anyone believes this trickle-down economic bullshit in any event. But surely, if DPW are reducing labour costs and in- creasing land-side costs, their profits will increase and their tax contributions into the coffers of the Australian Government would also increase? Appa- rently not. How naïve we are to draw this conclusion, as DPW don’t pay tax.
If Queen Elizabeth Was Still Alive, She Would Be Describing Dpw As Horrible Anuses Who Have Had Anus Horribiles Whilst we aren’t in the habit of quoting the Royal Family, Queen Elizabeth’s quote about having a pretty f***ed up year, this could be how DPW management are currently describing 2023. And what a f***ed up year it’s been. This mob has been convicted and found guilty by the Industrial Magistrates Court of ripping off its Fremant- le workforce. The Industrial Magistrates Court have now posed fines of $24,900 on DPW as a “first offence”. Whilst it’s the first time they’ve been prosecuted, DPW have a long history of breaching the EBA. DPW’s excuse was that they got themselves a little bit confused by everything and it was simply a payroll error. Which is clearly bullshit as the Union spent several mon- ths trying to get DPW to cough up before we decided that we may as well just go ahead with a prosecution. To top it off, DPW have also been found guilty of stoo- ging FSE’s by cancelling them whilst a VSE was working – and then failed to count the shift as a shift work. Once again, we are asking the Court to impose the maximum $90K penalty on DPW to act as a deterrent. And there is more coming DPW’s way. This includes the Federal Court prosecution we have kicked off in respon- se to DPW stealing a week’s wages from every FSE in the country..
DPW ’ s Self Inflicted Mess: The Thieves Are Being Robbed by Thieves Whilst it would be easy to think that DPW’s incompetent management of their opera- tions are limited to industrial relations, it is clear that they are a shambles at every end of their business. Whilst DPW have made an art of stealing from its workforce, we now have a case of the thieves being robbed by thieves. DPW’s inept data security protocols have in- vited hackers into their business. At one sta- ge we thought DPW management had gone rogue and taken Protected Industrial Action against itself, judging from their actions in shutting down stevedoring operations in ear- ly-mid November. Days and days of self-imposed R&D bans due to the data breaches has meant that DPW has not only been screwing their workfor- ce, but they’ve completely screwed over the end users taking boxes out of their terminals around the country. But DPW’s war on the trucking companies is just getting started.
DPW Koala Bears Don ’ t Pay Tax DPW must clearly be a protected species, judging from their ability to get away with not paying a cent of tax in the past 8 years. Not bad if you can get away with it and we now know there is no chance of our members being able to evade the clutches of the taxman. But DPW have clearly recruited Chris- topher Skase’s accountants to help them with their tax arrangements. Dubai Ports Australian container terminals have not paid any tax in Australia for the last 8 years despite record profits on income of over $45 Billion. Interestingly, one of DPW’s self-styled big swinging dicks told bargaining reps in one of our bargaining meetings that DPW’s subsidiary companies are all getting a decent bite out of their Australian opera- tions. It would appear that DPW subsidiaries based in countries which pay little, or no tax are lending DPW monies at inflated interest rates so they can siphon the money back overseas without paying tax. There is a stench of transfer pricing going on – the same shit Chevron were busted for in 2017 when they had to pay $400 million of tax back to the ATO because of understated profits. Then again, it could be that DPW’s management are simply incompetent and haven’t generated a single cent of profit in 8 years, despite reaping in $4.5 Bi- llion of income during this period. The mind bog- gles about how incompetent they must be to get this type of result.
The MUA has zero tolerance for wage theft and bosses which engage in this activity should be thrown in jail.
The bookies have DPW on as up to their neck in good old fashioned tax avoidance.
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protect.net.au
DPW Fremantle
DPW Being Belted Around the Country Due to their Industrial Intransigence
The ILA & ILWU Will Give the MUA Their Unbending Support Whilst DPW use the internationalism to the detri- ment of workers around the world and Australian taxpayers, the MUA use internationalism to impro- ve our capacity to push back against the power of global capital. The ILA and ILWU have stood side by side with the MUA through every major industrial dispute, and once again have committed to give the MUA their full support as our industrial campaign ramps up. Whilst DPW have the global financial resources to cope with the financial damage of Protected In- dustrial Action for a period of time, they will have zero capacity to deal with the international solida- rity of stevedores when acting in unity against an outfit which has zero regard for global humanity or international labour.
The leading industry income protection, redundancy and severance scheme. Preferred by over 50,000 workers across Australia and New Zealand
Doug Heath MUA WA Branch Deputy Secretary dheath@mua.org.au – 0428 222 092
For assistance contact your local Protect Field Officer: John Cain 0429 109 215
16 | With 2023 drawing to a close, here’s a site-by- site summary of what’s happened, what hasn’t happened, and what’s going on for Albany and Esperance members as we step into 2024… REGIONAL RAP!
can see an effectively unified group moving through 2024 for the benefit of all union members at the site. And just for a Christmas present, we should also finally see a new enterprise agreement including some pretty significant improvements to working conditions. We also have a commitment from LINX to begin picking up some ABS labour to work the fertilizer vessels before the year closes out as the start of the transition back to predominantly utilising ABS labour for this work. Assuming LINX actually deliv- ers on their promise this time, it will only have taken the best part of a decade for them to make good on their word. If they don ’ t renege again, it ’ ll just be one more present from Santa that will genuinely benefit all union members in Albany. Ho, ho, ho …. . SVITZER After an horrific start to the year courtesy of the col- lective pack of shameless arseholes that operates under the Svitzer logo, it seems to be relatively “all quiet on the western front” for our members on the tugs in Albany since the EA was implemented in the middle of the year. There’s been a couple of niggles (probably primarily driven from the east coast) in- volving the ludicrous misinterpretation of what con- stitutes “training” (just as an example), but other- wise it seems the focus has shifted back to providing a service to clients – something our members pride themselves on despite their employer’s apparent fascination with self-harm. You don’t just recover from the type of bastardry this company threw at their workforce though, with- out some lingering mistrust. And there’s definitely a sense of “Is this just the calm before the storm?” persisting at the back of all Svitzer employees’ minds around the country. When the dedication and loy- alty of workers is repaid with threats and thuggery by their employer, it can take long years to rebuild trust. You can’t blame Svitzer employees if they never trust their grubby employer again.
SOUTHERN PORTS ALBANY MAINTENANCE & OPERATIONS
It ’ s a shame we ’ re not negotiating with a brick wall, we ’ d get more reaction than we ’ re getting from SPA . LINX ALBANY BULK HANDLING 2023 has been the first year with Mark Jones in the driving seat at the ABH facility. By all accounts, things seem to have calmed down considerably. There’s another year left on the current EA but we’re already discussing what the priorities need to be when we get to the bargaining table. The strat- egy agreed with LINX to “gradually” close the gap between the wages of these employees compared with the rest of the business has plodded along at a pretty conservative pace over the course of the last couple of enterprise agreements. With LINX now up for sale, the members are keen to bring that all to a head, rip the band-aid off and just align the wages once and for all. Anywhere else within the business, these guys would qualify for Grade 6 stevedoring rates. The time has come to square that up… AUSTRALIAN BULK STEVEDORING (ABS) After a turbulent few months at this site earlier in the year, it seems that things are finally beginning to settle down at ABS in Albany. Hats off to the del- egates (Kevin Drage and Ryan Crowley) who have worked tirelessly at improving the workplace envi- ronment and ensuring everyone is treated fairly and equally. Still some way to go, but with the member- ship supporting them in their mission, it’s hoped we On a positive note, 2023 gave us the first full year with Paul McSweeney in the role of Albany Port Re- gional Manager. Unfortunately though, while his ap- proach has been a breath of fresh air in a workplace still dealing with PTSD from past experiences, he’s been hamstrung when it comes to translating that into anything tangible at the bargaining table dur- ing the process of negotiating a new Maintenance & Operations EA – just another victim of the SPA “medusa effect” (everything SPA looks at turns to stone). In the context of some of the other agreements cov- ering employees of SPA, I guess this group of mem- bers can’t complain – after all, their agreement only expired in August 2022! In an effort to buck the trend and hopefully initiate a pulse at SPA, these members tabled a settlement offer on October 19. Unfortunately though, we’re yet to receive a response to that offer.
Albany SOUTHERN PORTS ALBANY ADMINISTRATION Okay, this is probably not the best example of what “a big year” looks like. These SPA employees are living Ground Hog Day. This time last year, they were wait- ing for their employer to grace them with an enterprise agreement. I estimated we were one full, dedicated day of meeting away from this shit show being finalised. But here we are twelve months down the track and we’re still waiting. Not a single, solitary thing has changed in the past twelve months. This agreement was drafted and agreed by the parties almost five years ago, but things have stood still ever since. This is what progress looks like at Southern Ports. Layer over layer of bureaucracy to the point that nothing is able to happen!
Jeff Cassar - Assistant State Secretary Jeff.Cassar@mua.org.au 0417 568 115
SOUTHERN PORTS ALBANY PILOTS
If you thought I might have been exaggerating about SPA’s inability to do anything, maybe you should ask the Albany pilots… Their enterprise agree- ment expired on June 30 last year. Clause 4 of that agreement states, “The parties agree in good faith, to commence negotiations for the renewal of this Agreement at least three months prior to the nomi- nal expiry date” – but as we move into 2024, there hasn’t been a single bargaining meeting yet. If we had a meeting tomorrow, it would be nine months late. But let’s face it, we won’t be meeting tomor- row. My tip is we’ll have lost a full year before we even sit down to talk!
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18 | Esperance
SOUTHERN PORTS ESPERANCE ADMINISTRATION
In addition to the clunky organisation that SPA represents, the state government is determined to interfere in the operation of Government Trading Enterprises (GTEs) that by their very nature are supposed to operate independently of government. Despite repeated evidence that the state government’s wages policy (designed for the public sector) is an extremely poor fit for GTEs, there doesn’t seem to be any appetite to admit it doesn’t work. This is relevant to all port authorities, but our members in Esperance are experiencing the pain more acutely than some others due to the region’s isolated location. The enterprise agreement expires on New Years Eve. Easy to use To make it easy for mem- bers to find the product they want at the best pos- sible price, we have a dedi- cated Call Centre. Members are required to be ready to purchase (hence the en- quiry to begin with) and to provide the Model number, brand/make, current best price on the date of the re- quest, and the source of the price. (it is preferred that members provide prices from well-known retailers, as there is more success in obtaining you the stock and after-sales service). Why Use ShopRite? There are many ways that ShopRite can help you save money. Who doesn’t want to save money? As it is ba- sic culture to try to “bag a bargain” or not pay full pri- ce, ShopRite endeavour to make that happen as much as possible. Whilst all brands may not be heavily discoun- ted or not at all, please note that the service and nego- tiation offered to members are not open to the general public and all the hard work is done for you. So, let us find a solution. Ask our staff for options. The workforce is sick of watching the value of their wages spiral as living costs explode. The holes in the Swiss cheese are lining up …
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2023 would have been the year that our members working in administration roles at SPA in Esperance would have been bargaining for a replacement enterprise agreement. Due to a decision by SPA to negotiate a business-wide agreement for administration and specialist staff who aren’t already covered by MUA agreements though, a decision was reached to “roll over” the current agreement instead. This should prove a prudent strategy that ideally will enable our members to take the outcomes achieved in the business-wide process and use them as a platform to build on.
QUBE ESPERANCE
Local management at Qube in Esperance seem to be more interested in antagonizing their workforce than fostering a teamworking environment. If they made half the effort to work with our members, that they’re willing to make sowing disharmony – well, let’s just say they’d be kicking a few more goals than what they currently are. But every dog has his day, and what goes around will surely come around. Time after time we’ve attempted to extend an olive branch to Qube Bulk and come up with solutions that work for everyone, but all we get is lip service. But our members will soon have the opportunity to square up.
SOUTHERN PORTS ESPERANCE OPERATIONS & MAINTENANCE
On a more positive note, the past year has seen some genuine progress in the working environment at the port of Esperance! 2023 saw the Employee Representative Committee (ERC) really start to result in some “teamwork” between local management and the workforce. Sites that engage in genuine consultation tend to deliver the best results for everyone concerned, and the port authority in Esperance has been a great example of this. Our members have been seeing their issues taken seriously, their input valued, and their efforts recognised. If I’m going to throw rocks at the grubs, then I also need to acknowledge the good eggs – and the local management at SPA in Esperance deserve a rap (it’s a shame Qube at the same port doesn’t take a leaf out of their book and treat their employees with basic dignity and respect). Unfortunately though (again), Esperance is part of the SPA amalgamation, and there’s still that element of inanimation due to the endless layers of bureaucracy.
My horoscope prediction for members working at Qube in Esperance is that 2024 will be an interesting year – you have been shat on, but the time is coming for you to take a royal dump on those responsible! Choose wisely, and shit on the bastards like you ’ ve been holding it in for a week!
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Despite all these efforts, we are still projected to face shortages in the upcoming weeks, months and into the new year. The Union has been working with the rank and file and needs to consider all available op- tions before these operators resort to foreign labour instead of Australian seafarers, as has been done with the Aegir. Woodside put Aussie crew on the sidelines for Foreign Workers The Aeigir has been engaged by Woodside to work on a global first decommissioning project, focusing on the removal of a riser turret mooring from the En- field project.
The issue for OSM was that our members were pre- pared to step up and have crack, only OSM cracked first and folded to our claims as they understood PIA was going to disrupt their organisation like nothing we have seen in our space before. If we had gone down this route, everything would have been back on the negotiating table, and we would have gone the extra mile until they folded. A Heap of Work on the Coast and Not Enough Bodies Upcoming work with various companies has seen a surge in our sector, including Solstad, AOS, Atlas, Go Offshore, OSM, and MMA. Notable vessels include the Normand Australis, Casterone, several Bulk car- riers (for the Saipem job), x3 Subsea 7 vessels, Van Oord rock Dumper, plus a heap more. There is not only a shortage of seafarers, but a short- age of vessels globally, meaning that substandard vessels are entering our coast. As lower-quality ves- sels do enter the coast, the MUA is giving our mem- bers full support in stopping the job to address safe- ty concerns. The boom in activity on our coast has led to crew shortages, with MUNZ crew entering the coast to assist in filling IR and some catering positions. The Union is trying to get the Labour Agreement off the ground to allow for the UK seafarers from the RMT to enter our space as well, however, this is taking longer than expected. TIRs are being expedited through their 4-month training to become PIRs and help address labour shortages. The MUA has been getting as many IRs who have left the industry to undergo revalidation through METL and offshore employers. By the end of this year, we will be close to having 40 IRs revalidat- ed, and we are aware of another 40 prepared to be revalidated which should occur early in the new year.
The Offshore EA Campaign has gained momentum, with key players like DOF, AOS, and Atlas securing agreements which are registered by the FWC.The MMA members overwhelmingly voted YES, and their agreement is now registered with the FWC. Solstad’s EA has also been voted on and is sitting with the FWC. Rigforce (RFM) have also gone to vote, and this agreement should be before the FWC already. Sodexo’s entry into the Transocean catering contract adds a new dimension to our industry. As they step into the Offshore marine space for the first time, ne- gotiations are underway to align terms with our oth- er Offshore EBA provisions, ensuring fairness across the board. So far discussions have been promising and we are set to reach agreement with them. Most operators are gradually aligning with our new agreement. Compass (ESS), Entier, Tidewater is all on track, and we anticipate having these agree- ments voted on and hopefully lodged by Christmas. Bhagwan has been reviewing the document and should also integrate into the broader industry agreement. However, challenges arise with Go Offshore & Fo- cus. Although Go Offshore pays a higher rate, they haven’t committed to locking it into an EBA, leaving room for change. They could, and likely will at some stage, remove the higher rates from their contracts and pay members less. Focus, on the other hand, has suggested that they want to vary their agreement to include the higher rate but do not want to meet other provisions we have secured across the industry. Both are on notice as we gear up our campaign against them.
This vessel was crewed top to bottom with overseas workers, and not an Australian seafarer in sight.
OSM EA Update
When we were briefed on the job, we were told that the vessel would only be in Australian waters for no more than 24 hours and given the vessel was not be- ing imported, nor is it planned to come alongside a wharf, Woodside can legally get away with this. Our national office has been briefed and are explor- ing all legal and political avenues in seeking to pre- vent these scenarios form occurring again.
OSM’s journey through the EA campaign has been tumultuous. Despite resistance from the start to the end, they eventually conceded to our terms. At- tempts to undermine our members backfired, and our members stood strong, securing what we be- lieve is the best agreement in the Offshore Oil and Gas space. The OSM membership remained committed, ready for a prolonged battle. War on the Water seemed inevitable with OSM, given their handling of negotiations. Their attempt to steal the 1.5% wage increase we secured in our interim EA was met with resistance, and OSM eventually folded to our claims. OSM had been playing games from the outset, in- cluding dragging their feet in commencing negotia- tions, and forcing our members to undergo a major- ity support decision. They were also uncooperative through bargaining, challenging our protected ac- tion ballot. They were the only manning agency that produced a company log of claims, and they refused to address several of our claims. To add insult to in- jury they also sought to steal the 1.5% wage increase we secured in our interim EA. These b**tards even went as far as threatening our members employment, stating that they would move all perms to a single vessel and insinuating that the casuals would be left to find employment on the Siem boats with another employer.
The fact of the matter is that none of our members would be prepared to be used as scab labor.
George Gakis Assistant Branch Secretary george.gakis@mua.org.au 0412 310 686
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Teekay MUA officials’, organisers and delegates met with Teekay management on the 2nd of November for the second consultative committee meeting of 2023. Amongst a host of other items on the agenda, during the meeting, MUA representatives raised concerns of Teekay losing employees to the offshore in droves due to the difference in wages between the Teekay fleet and the offshore oil and gas sector. The position, as instructed by the membership, was to approach Teekay for an immediate uplift in wages to the sum of $20,000 on top of the current sala- ries. This is now being considered by the Australian Teekay management team who will approach the Commonwealth and revert with a decision by 1st De- cember 2023. Teekay know they are in deep shit and it’s becoming a real possibility that their vessels will not leave the wharf in the near future if this claim isn’t addressed with some urgency.
Tidewater Income protection and salary continuance We all know OSM are one of the grubbiest operators on the Australian coast, but they hit a new low when it came to the treatment of members who were at the lowest point in their lives through no fault of their own. These Tidewater permanent employees were left in limbo for months when it came to claim- ing salary continuance for non-work-related illness. In their wisdom, when OSM management took over the Tidewater manning business, and without any consultation with the MUA and rank and file, they decided to change the income protection provid- ers as well as the salary continuance provider that covers permanent Tidewater employees for the first 12-weeks after accident or illness. This decision led to a disastrous and extremely stressful few months for members that were un- der the impression that they were insured under the PROTECT insurance scheme. OSM manage- ment turned their backs, put their heads in the sand and completely ignored the calls for assistance from long-standing hard-working employees going through hell. SHAME ON OSM!!!! This is the type of behaviour members are dealing with when it comes to working for OSM and we have had a gut full. This was raised during the following Tidewater members meeting where endorsement was reached to resolve this through action. While we were in the later stages of EA negotiations and protected industrial action was about to kick off once again, we reminded OSM management that we don’t leave our members behind. We made our po- sition clear that until these matters were resolved, we would not be reaching any agreement with OSM.
BATTLES, VICTORIES, AND INDUSTRY REALITIES
Revalidations With the offshore absolutely booming towards the back end of 2023, the lack of training provided from all the short-sighted, slimy, greedy businesses in our industry is evident. These massive multinational companies take, take, and take some more without giving anything back in the way of training for the future. There is now a massive skills shortage across all departments which has instigated an incentive by the MUA for past members revalidating IR tickets through METL. In early September, I sent out an SOS email regard- ing METL funded revalidation training available to past members who had left the industry due to the downturn over the last 5 years. The immediate re- sponse was overwhelming. Since then, I have worked closely with METL, or- ganising IR revalidation training courses across the country for members that have an interest in return- ing to sea. To date there have been four full courses set which will all be finished by the end of Decem- ber 2023. This will see around 60 IR’s returning to an industry that is in dire need of their skills.
‘It’s now been almost 12 months since I started in the position of WA Branch Organiser. Firstly, I would like to thank the Rank and File for making me feel welcome in the position. To the officials and staff here in the WA Branch office, your guid- ance and support has been greatly appreciated. To be honest, I don’t think I could have started in this role at a better time. The offshore EA campaign was in full swing, negotiations with several man- ning agents and vessel operators were ramping up and there were PIA Ballots coming out of our ears, which led to the most protected industrial action taken by seafaring members in years. Employers such as DOF, MMA, Tidewater, OSM, Solstad and Atlas were all served with PABOs that lead to ac- tion being taken by the rank and file. Ultimately this action secured the wages and conditions that are now enjoyed by all members in the offshore oil and gas sector with 117% across the board.
Brendon Brolly | WA Branch Organiser M: 0431551817 |P: 08 9335 0500 E: brendon.brolly@mua.org.au
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