ACCC Court Action
By Maritime Union of Australia
THE trial against the Maritime Union and three officers over alleged
breaches to the Trades Practices Act is scheduled to commence
in the Federal Court of Australia in mid October.
The action is over the right of shore based labour to clean ships
holds. Three union officials - Deputy National Secretary Mick
O'Leary, Northern NSW Branch Secretary Jim Boyle and SA Branch
Secretary Ric Newyln are respondents to the action along with
the union. The fines could run into millions.
National Secretary Paddy Crumlin has attended mediation conferences
with Julian Burnside QC. The ACCC is proposing a settlement including
voluntary undertakings, while the union still maintains that the
issue of tank cleaning is an industrial one and a legitimate right
of Australian workers.
The ACCC, however, maintained that how the union had gone about
this was in breach of the act.
The National Secretary said the ACCC action highlights the changed
nature of industrial relations in Australia under a Howard Government
and the enormous financial impact this has on the trade union
movement. While the 45d action may be settled between the parties,
repeated action under section 60s is likely to proceed to court.
This section provides for fines of up to $10 million per incident.
Unions must now adopt policies that politicise and expose the
inequitable and unjust laws.
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