Sacked Australian Shipping Crew - When is it our turn?

[Vee Won Kutt]

Sacked ship crew stand firm despite fines threat
A group of seamen sacked by the owners of an Australian tanker docked in Hobart says they are prepared to risk big fines for taking industrial action over the issue.
Eighteen crew from the Stolt Australia were sacked last night, as part of a plan to reflag the tanker under a Cayman Islands flag, and hire cheaper, foreign labour.
The group are still refusing to reload the vessel or leave it, vowing to stay on the ship until they get their jobs back.
The crew members have ignored union advice that their protest could incur big industrial relations fines.
At a protest earlier today, spokesman Roy Muir said he and his colleagues hoped their actions would highlight the impact of Federal workplace changes on Australia's shipping industry:
"1996 there was 104 Australian-manned ships, now we're down to less than half of that - if this one goes it's just another one so - shame Johnny shame," he said.
Mr Muir says he and his colleagues feel they have to take a stand.
"Stolts have been the recipient of shipping reforms, crew reductions via multiskilling and training, including government funding, and still they're not prepared to commit to the employment of skilled, experienced and safe Australian seafarers," he said.
Meanwhile, the Australian Maritime Union (AMU) says the practice of allowing more foreign shipping crews into Australia is a chink in the nation's armour.
AMU spokesman Mike Wickham says the disappearance of Australian-crewed ships from Australian waters is a worry.
He says local crews have to go through rigorous security checks that many foreign crews do not, and that puts Australia at risk.



How long until this happens to honest Australian aircrew guys???
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200607/s1682140.htm

[U.K. SUBS.]

Just read it......similar issues on threads throughout here. What is the action that should be taken by us in aviation?........strikes?.......or does coward st. know what will happen anyway

[BundyBlack]

Why not reflag Virgin Blue as Pacific Blue, and hire cheaper labour to crew it? PB has an Australian A.O.C. now, albeit with some limitations. Those limitations can be removed or lessened. The bean counters have no notion of loyalty or honour, and I applaud anyone who has the balls to stand up for what they believe in. :D

[Vee Won Kutt]

Yeah I am sure there are similar threads. I havn't really been much into PPRUNE until lately - so much to get fired up about these days!

Anyway, it was something that I saw in the news and it got me thinking. I'm interested to hear what others think.

I understand that this ship will only operate in Australian waters. I'm not sure if that is anything significant - or could this same sort of thing have happened years ago (say under a Labour government?)

[jack red]

"1996 there was 104 Australian-manned ships, now we're down to less than half of that - if this one goes it's just another one so - shame Johnny shame," he said.
Yes, and the waterfront was the biggest rort of all times. Seamen feeding off lumpers and vice-versa. At least Patricks and Johnny cleaned it up. :D

As far as aviation goes, we already have foreign crews operating in Australian airlines today compliments of a labour government. The only difference is they earn good money !

[Woomera]

Without going into specific details, it did happen seventeen years ago under a Labour Government.

[Vee Won Kutt]

Careful I don't know for sure but I would have thought things were vastly different for Waterfront workers and [I][Seamen/I].

Besides thats not really the issue anyway. The Waterfront may well have needed a cleanup, but this is about replacing Australian labour with foreign labour (In Australia).

[jack red]

W I was going to specify the era but did not wish to incur the wrath of your goodself ! :p




Smart thinking, Jack. Very smart thinking!!! :E

Had to be careful lest I cause reason to ban myself!!! :{

Sunny Woomera

[Vee Won Kutt]

I guess I see your point guys. What I really am worried about is a foreign owned company, operating foreign owned equipment, with foreign labour, but entirely within Australia!

It obviously is possible now, but what about in years gone by? If it has always been the case then what are other's views on this?

[Howard Hughes]

Has been going on for years in the shipping industry...

[Vee Won Kutt]

Has been going on for years in the shipping industry...
Yeah, but from what I understand the above example is different from previous cases, in that this ship will operate entirley within Australian waters.

Has anyone heard if this is incorrect?

[Keep it straight]

from what i can see as a non ozzie, the goverment is all for it. get everything you own and have into foreing hands. well apart from the snowy's, for now at least. i have heard rumors that they will sell the kangaroo icon to the yankee's soon and get the next pm from somewere overseas.:ugh:

[PLovett]

Keep it straight

and get the next pm from somewere overseas

You mean he doesn't get told what to do from there now! :yuk:

[B A Lert]

Without going into specific details, it did happen seventeen years ago under a Labour Government.

Not 1989 again??:ok:

[Wiley]

I look forward, with some anticipation, to Kerry O'Whatisname from the 7.30 Report interviewing Kim Beasley, or even better, one of his predecessors - (you know, the his silver haired bodgie one) - on what his reaction is to this outrage.

I seem to remember some other bloke with an Irish sounding name warning Australia 17 years ago that they were condemning themselves to a future like this if they let the Silver Bodgie get away with bringing in foreign labour at the time.

True to form, the great Aussie unwashed - including far too many within the Aviation industry - because it didn't affect them directly at the time, (or for some, because there was a short term advantage to be had from the situation), ignored those warnings.

[Aussie]

Good on em i say! :8

At least they standing for what they believe in!

Aussie

[Dark Knight]

Spot on Wiley!

It is also my understanding legislation passed at the time by a Labor government allowing importation of foreign labour still stands.

This occurred at a time when a Labor government introduced individual awards forerunner of AWAs.

Matter of record actually.


United we stand; Divided you will fall!

DK

[7gcbc]

Totally concur with DK and Wiley :D

except the industrial legislative framework then introduced by Labour was not as specific in individual terms as the current AWA's and therefore was not as practical to apply. It's easy nowadays, get the sucker to sign away all his/her rights before commencement and give all control to the employer - very much open to abuse.

Besides , its not a labour -liberal thing, its an employer-employee thing.

I see no indication that Australian Management (including middle mans and those aspirinational yes-men) will not abuse these AWA's to serve their own interests.

Slippery slope, if you give in easily, they'll just take more.

[Casper]

These brave sailors should be aware of the fact that a previous Labor government also employed (illegally) the services of the armed forces in a similar situation.

[Andu]

Kim Beasley has just congratulated the crew for standing up for themselves and defending Australian jobs.

Sadly, you can be almost certain there won't be a single Australian journalist who'll take him to task over this - and precious few people who'll recall Bob Hawke's illegal actions in 89.

[pug munter]

All this shipping/aviation stuff might be very important to you lot but really, mates, isn't getting the World Cup in Australia in 2018 the real issue?

Some one has to wake up, surely? All the signals are there about the rocks we are heading toward but nobody seems to care. Once everyone other than company directors are on the equivalent to Spotlight contracts then who will have the spare cash to drive the economy let alone afford to fly anywhere?

So what if the ship is crewed by non English speaking, non Australian crew? Exxon Valdez ring a bell?

Anybody read the threads about the European low cost carriers and their crewing issues might see a connection here but, hey, who cares.......

[Wiley]

I'm afraid you've hit the nail squarely on the head inyour first paragraph, pug munter. If it aint on the sporting pages, the average Ozmate ignores it.

Have any of these high flyers not studied history? Surely the high powered MBA courses they all seem to require to reach the upper echelons of big business still cover the fact that when Henry Ford came up with the novel idea of paying is workers a half way decent wage, he created a very large new market for his products. His own workers, with money to spend, started buying the very goods they were producing.

Australia's business and political leaders (is there any difference?) all seem hell bent on destroying that market and putting as many local people out of work as possible - at least until they are willing to work for coolie wages and under coolie conditions.

Most younger people in Australia (and many outside Australia) know about the much maligned "White Australia Policy" of the late 19th and first half of the last century. I'd be willing to bet that very few who "know" about the WAP don't realise that, (while its racial aspect can never be denied), the main reason it enjoyed so much support among ordinary people of the time was becuse it protected their working conditions and prevented employers bringing in coolie labour.

I don't need an MBA to tell me that Australian workers living what I would like to think of as an average Australian lifestyle will never be able to compete with Bangla Deshi workers "enjoying" the lifestyle of surburban Dhaka - or Chinese producing products from a Chinese prison workshop.

Forget the 'lifestyle' argument - take a look at the lack of rules (or at least the failure to adhere to rules) in Chinese factories in the area of pollution control and worker safety. (The appaling safety record of Chinese coal mines come immediately to mind.)

I'm sorry if the use of the word 'coolie' upsets readers who are more PC that I am, but, perhaps because of the very un-PC overtones of that word, it is exactly the right word to use to describe where we're heading.

[max autobrakes]

What, not third world wages under a first world taxation system.
WorkChoices 101.
Come the Crunch the only option will be take it or piss off. :mad: