Union History

The Water­front Work­ers Union and Sea­far­ers Unions formed the Mar­itime Union of New Zealand in 2002.

It was a log­i­cal move for two close­ly allied groups of work­ers — sea­far­ers and wharfies — have a long his­to­ry of look­ing out for each oth­er.

Both Unions had their ori­gins in the late nine­teenth cen­tu­ry when mar­itime work­ers car­ried out hard, man­u­al labour in often dan­ger­ous con­di­tions.

The his­to­ry of mar­itime indus­tries was one of casu­al labour, injury and death on the job, and ruth­less employ­ers.

Our mem­bers had to fight for and defend their right to secure per­ma­nent jobs, a decent wage and safe con­di­tions of work.

We have stood togeth­er to improve the lot of work­ing peo­ple and their com­mu­ni­ties since those ear­ly days.

It is this com­mit­ment to active, strug­gle based union­ism and rank and file involve­ment which defines what the Mar­itime Union of New Zealand is all about.

In the 21st cen­tu­ry, our work­force con­tin­ues its vital role in New Zealand’s econ­o­my and its inter­na­tion­al trade links.

The Mar­itime Union of New Zealand intends to con­tin­ue its proud tra­di­tion of democ­ra­cy, mil­i­tan­cy and inter­na­tion­al work­er sol­i­dar­i­ty.

We are the Union is an eight page pam­phlet that gives a back­ground on our his­to­ry and what we do (click to down­load).