MUA poised for recruitment drive in diving industry

By Maritime Union of Australia

Pearl and recreational divers are largely non-unionised in northern Australia with workers signalling they are interested in joining up.

The pearling industry in our northwest is totally non union with divers resisting employer pressure to stay away from the MUA. Likewise the tourist industry in North Queensland harbours an estimated 4000 unorganised divers.

National Council in therefore planning a major recruitment drive in both regions.

Offshore deep sea diving is well organised with MUA having coverage and enterprise agreements with all employers. But onshore diving still operates under a federal award with hundreds of respondents, many of which are no longer in business. Similarly many new operators are yet to sign up.

The MUA was considering a common rule award registered in NSW. This would have create a level playing field for unionised diving contractors against rogue operators. But employers have resisted this move and branches are now investigating common rule awards in individual states for both onshore and where possible recreational diving.

For further information

 This page: http://mua.org.au/news/diving/1.html
 Last Modified: Tuesday, 15-Nov-2005 19:32:04 EST

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