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).