War on the Wharfies News Summary

Union Victory!

This is my last general bulletin being circulated on this dispute. I thank all of you who lent your support to this campaign. The Maritime Union of Australia has won an important pragmatic victory. The great loss in the peace deal is that many people would have liked to see the conspiracy case continue against Patrick, the NFF and the Government. If the situation was reversed, you can bet your bottom dollar the union would be prosecuted for all its worth!

Takver

CONTENTS
(29Jun98) Peace Deal ratified by MUA members
(29Jun98) Waterfront Peace Deal Summary
News Summary - Monday 29 June

Peace Deal Ratified by MUA Members
The members of the Maritime Union in Sydney and Melbourne have ratified the agreement worked out between their officials and Patrick Stevedores. Discussions are continuing on the last, but significant obstacle to ratification of the deal - a withdrawal of legal action by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

Last Friday the Government passed its Stevedoring Levy Bill to pay the expected redundancies (about $80 million), after the opposition by the Democrats in the senate collapsed. The legislation will impose a levy on all containers loaded by all stevedores, and works to the advantage of the large stevedoring companies and to the disadvantage of the smaller ones.

The Federal Opposition used the levy debate to attack the Government's record on waterfront reform, calling on both the Prime Minister, John Howard, and the Minister for Workplace Relations, Peter Reith, to resign for misleading the Parliament.

Meanwhile, documents tabled in parliament last Wednesday further implicate and embarrass the Government. The documents show that:

* On April 21 last year the Prime Minister, John Howard, personally endorsed an "interventionist" government role in smashing the Maritime union and authorized federal funding of the strategy.

* Mr. Howard had been closely briefed on developments on the waterfront strategy and Patrick's plans.

* Patrick was considering a corporate restructuring to separate the labour force of its stevedoring operations from its "infrastructure and hardware component", which was noted by Peter Reith on April 19th 1997.

* Patrick wanted the Government to take "the initiating step" by triggering a dispute with the Maritime Union of Australia to justify the wholesale sackings.

ACTU assistant secretary, Greg Combet, said: "They provide further extremely damaging evidence of the Government's complete involvement in an unlawful conspiracy to terminate the entire unionized workforce of Patrick.... It's the first documented evidence that the corporate restructuring undertaken by the Patrick group was part of a plan discussed with Government in elaborate detail as far back as 14 months ago."

In other news, Defence Minister, Ian McLachlan, admitted that Military premises were used to recruit the Dubai mercenaries. South News reported last Thursday 25 June that: The Australian Defense Force (ADF) allowed a premises to recruit serving soldiers to train as industrial mercenaries in Dubai, the federal government admitted today.

Defense Minister Ian McLachlan said the ADF let Fynwest Pty Ltd use its Oakleigh Barracks in Victoria for the recruitment meeting on November 14 last year. In a written answer to a question from opposition transport spokesman Lindsay Tanner, the minister said authority was given by the barracks commander for the meeting.

The Liberal/National Party government is eager to bury the fight against the Maritime Union as it faces rightwing populist Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party challenging for the conservative vote, and a tough battle trying to introduce the regressive Goods and Services Tax to a very cynical populace in a lead up to a very messy election campaign.

Financial Review
25 Jun, 26 Jun 1998 , South News 25 Jun

Waterfront Peace Deal Summary

* Patrick to pay union legal cost and wages lost since April.

* All Legal action dropped

* No non-union labour

* Twelve per cent pay rise over three years. Annual salary based on a 35-hour week with five-hour overtime component

* Federal Government to provide $80 million to fund redundancies. 628 MUA members to take voluntary redundancies. Core workforce in terminal and general stevedoring of 687 employees.

* Up to 100 supervisory employees to take redundancies

* 200 jobs in maintenance, security cleaning and line marking to be contracted out. Redundant unionists able to re-apply for these jobs

War on the Wharfies is produced independently of any organization.
It contains:

* News reports on the Maritime Union of Australia fight against the rightwing attack by the National Farmers Federation waterfront bosses, and federal and state governments.

* News on other union actions and progressive campaigns, or the general attack on workers rights or conditions.