ShipShape

Australia shipping and workplace democracy is undergoing a renaissance with the election of a Rudd/Gillard Labor Government. And the winds of change will also send ripples through international waters.

Two weeks after being sworn The Australian reported the PM would clamp down on overuse of foreign-owned ships to transport freight around the nation's coastline in a bid to bolster the shipping industry.

The Prime Minister is also set to begin the legislative process that will require foreign vessels in Australian waters to observe the International Labour Organisation consolidated maritime convention guaranteeing decent pay and working conditions for all seafarers, The Australian reported ("Rudd to stem tide of foreign shipping", 8/1/08).

The National Secretary was one of the key negotiators of the convention over the seven years it took to finalise agreement between the worlds governments, shipowners and seafarers representatives.

Transport Minister Anthony Albanese told The Australian he was instigating a parliamentary review focussed on boosting Australia's international competitiveness and finding ways to increase coastal shipping's share of the domestic freight market.

"The Howard government was too busy picking fights with unions to fix the major infrastructure and skill shortages on Australian ports and ships," he said.

On March 12, a week after addressing the union's national council in Sydney, the minister announced the House of Representative Standing Committee inquiry, noting that between 1996 and mid-2006 the number of Australian registered trading vessels fell from 75 to just 46.

"Our ambition is for a viable coastal shipping industry in a competitive domestic transport sector - an outcome critical to Australia's economic future and long term national security," the minister said. "Between 2007 and 2020 the volume of freight needing to be transported around the country is predicted to grow by 40 per cent - that's an average of 14.9 billion tonne kilometres of additional domestic freight each year."

The committee will also assess measures to overcome the skills shortage in the shipping industry, an ageing workforce and policies to encourage investment in new vessels to replace an ageing fleet.

Under the terms of reference the standing committee will make recommendations on ways to enhance the competitiveness and sustainability of the Australian coastal shipping sector, overcome the skills shortage and develop shipping as freight transport and defence support. It will also inquire into maritime safety and security, environmental sustainability and tourism.

The committee is to report by October 2008, ensuring the shipping industry is given priority.

MUA National Secretary Paddy Crumlin said the union looked forward to participating fully in the inquiry. The union submission will again highlight the ongoing abuse of the shipping permit system for Australian coastal freight which has seen a quarter of Australian vessels being decommissioned or re-flagged in 'Flag of Convenience' tax havens during the Howard years, carriage of hazardous materials on the Australian coast by foreign vessels without strict security, and the skills crisis.

"Under the Howard Government the Australian shipping fleet declined by around one third At a time of national and international security crisis, a worldwide chronic shortage of trained seafaring officers and spiralling international freight rates," said Paddy Crumlin. "He conspired to sabotage an industry that is essential to the national public interest and economic future and he and his government did it for no other reasons than to deunionise the industry - a damaging shabby piece of political work that the Review must urgently remedy."

Submissions close in April 2008, with public hearings around the country during May-June.

Polling

In the lead up to the federal election last year the union commissioned focus polling on shipping which showed the majority of Australians wanted Australian crew working Australian coastal cargo.

A poll of 800 voters in marginal seats across Australia found that 74 per cent of the general public support banning ships serving our coast from employing foreign crews.

MUA National Secretary Paddy Crumlin said the poll, conducted for the MUA by Essential Research, showed the Australian public was aware of the economic, environmental and national security dangers of Flag of Convenience shipping.

Polling revealed that a majority of Coalition voters were also opposed to the employment of foreign crew with 71 per cent of those who voted for the Coalition in the last three elections joining the 77 per cent of Labor voters opposed to guest workers on our coast.

Women especially were opposed to foreign labour with opposition strongest among the younger under 39 year olds and the older over 60 year old Australians. However those on higher incomes - over $80,000 a year - were divided almost 50/50. Those earning less than $20,000 or working part time opposed foreign crew on the coast the most. Both union and non-union members were among the majority of those opposed.

The MUA is pushing both sides of politics to embrace cabotage laws modelled on the system that operates in the USA with the full bipartisan government support.

"The USA recognises that local shipping needs a combination government support, integration into the national security and defence, strong local investment and, of course, local crews who have the requisite security checks and training," Paddy Crumlin said.

"Instead we have a system where the Australian coast is being served by ships flagged in tax havens crewed by workers some of whom have been found to have been paid less than $1 per hour.

"The Australian public is sending a strong message that they want strong protections for the Australian coast."

Green ships

Following the polling the union commissioned an Australia Institute report on the impact of shipping on climate change.

The Australia Institute study found that a shift from roads to sea freight would deliver cleaner environmental outcomes and assist Australia meet greenhouse reduction targets.

Road transport accounts for less than 40 per cent of the domestic freight task, but is responsible for over 80 per cent of freight emissions. In comparison, shipping accounts for 22 per cent of the freight task and only four per cent of emissions.

Maritime Union of Australia National Secretary Paddy Crumlin said the report shows that Australian shipping should be part of the solution to meeting the challenges of climate change.

"The environmental advantages of moving away from solely relying on road and rail for the carriage of freight and getting it back onto ships are clear," he said. "As Australian total freight requirements increase all three transport modes are essential."

The MUA is working closely with the Transport Workers' Union and Rail Tram and Bus Union in supporting a comprehensive freight forwarding plan for Australia under the Rudd Government.

US meeting

The MUA is keen that the upcoming shipping review looks at the US model. MUA National Secretary and ITF executive board member Paddy Crumlin joined Seafarers International Union President and Chair Mike Sacco, Richard Trumka, the head of the US peak trade union organisation AFL-CIO, and a large number of other US unions involved in the domestic maritime and shipbuilding industry at the US Maritime Trades Department, AFL-CIO executive board meeting in California on February 28.

Delegates at the two-day meeting set a legislative agenda for the upcoming year with shipping, cabotage and maritime security top of the agenda.

The unions worked alongside government, military and industry speakers including Thomas Barrett, Deputy Secretary of Transportation; Admiral Thad Allen, Commandant, U.S. Coast Guard; US Military Admiral Ann Rondeau; and General Kenneth Wykle (U.S. Army retired) from the National Defence Transportation Association.

"The US takes maritime security and national flag shipping seriously," said Paddy Crumlin. "Cabotage and the protection of coastal shipping are essential to both countries."

"The US government has a bipartisan policy, which strongly supports the domestic shipping industry. That the MUA was invited to attend and speak at this top level meeting is indicative of the importance of the Australian US maritime relationship, particularly in the Asia Pacific."

A key theme of the MUA address was the change in direction on shipping policy under the Rudd Government so it is more closely aligned with US policy.

Paddy Crumlin also stressed the importance of the union's alliance with its US counterpart the Seafarers' International Union, including an agreement reached last year that LNG exports shipped to the US should include Australian crew.

The Maritime Trades Department (MTD) is a constitutionally mandated department of the peak US union body, giving workers employed in the maritime industry and its allied trades a voice in shaping national policy.