Published: 2 Jul 2013
Chris Cain, MUA's WA Branch Secretary, continued the union's strong commitment to international solidarity by advancing the MUA's relationship with a key ally, the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT).
Cain just returned from the RMT's national conference which was held in Brighton, England. The RMT is Britain's fastest growing trade union, representing more than 80,000 members in almost every sector of the transport industry, from mainline and underground rail to shipping and offshore, buses and road-freight. Cain was invited as an international speaker to lay out the challenges facing the respective unions.
"The same issues and same companies that we face in Australia are the same issues facing the members of the RMT," Cain told delegates.
Cain announced, to a standing ovation, that the MUA and RMT would forge a sister port relationship between Fremantle in WA and Aberdeen in the UK to further the close cooperation between the two unions. The finalisation of that relationship will be cemented in May 2014 at a meeting in Glasgow, UK. The MUA recently forged similar ties with ports in New Zealand and the United States.
Cain also presented Crow with a token of friendship and solidarity: a ship's clock (see picture)
