Author: admin

Maritime Union backs Progressive workers battle

The Mar­itime Union is sup­port­ing locked out mem­bers of the Nation­al Dis­tri­b­u­tion Union at Pro­gres­sive Enter­pris­es sites in Auck­land, Palmer­ston North and Christchurch.

Mar­itime Union Gen­er­al Sec­re­tary Trevor Han­son says the Union has com­mit­ted itself to finan­cial, prac­ti­cal and moral sup­port for the work­ers and their pick­ets.

He says the sit­u­a­tion is a seri­ous one because it showed how multi­na­tion­al cor­po­rates in New Zealand are deter­mined to cre­ate a low-wage econ­o­my.

Push for cheap labour trafficking in Oz shows where free trade deals are leading

The Mar­itime Union of New Zealand says that grow­ing pres­sure to bring unskilled labour into Aus­tralia under a free trade agree­ment has con­firmed its worst fears.

Mar­itime Union Gen­er­al Sec­re­tary Trevor Han­son says that pro­pos­als to allow com­pa­nies to import unskilled Chi­nese work­ers into Aus­tralian ports and con­struc­tion sites gave a clear mes­sage to New Zealand work­ers.

“This is the equiv­a­lent of a huge neon sign flash­ing out the warn­ing that free trade deals will inevitably lead to a col­lapse in wages, con­di­tions and work­ers rights. It is time we have a nation­al debate on free trade, and get the issue away from the con­trol of bureau­crats and pri­vate inter­est groups.”

Plea for help from fishing vessel “named and shamed” in global abuse report

Burmese crew mem­bers aboard the fish­ing ves­sel “Sky 75” in the Port of Timaru have approached unions with a plea for help, a day after their ves­sel was “named and shamed” in an inter­na­tion­al report.

The fish­ing ves­sel “Sky 75” was fea­tured as a spe­cif­ic exam­ple of crew abuse in an inter­na­tion­al report from the Inter­na­tion­al Trans­port Work­ers’ Fed­er­a­tion (ITF) that was pre­sent­ed to a Unit­ed Nations meet­ing on mar­itime law that opened in New York yes­ter­day.

New Zealand ITF co-ordi­na­tor Kathy Whe­lan says the “Sky 75” is a repeat offend­er, and the ves­sel had already come to the atten­tion of the ITF when 10 Indone­sian crew left the Kore­an reg­is­tered fish­ing ves­sel ‘Sky 75’ in the Port of Nel­son in Sep­tem­ber 2005.

International report on crew abuse highlights abuse in New Zealand waters

As the Mar­itime Union fights for the rights of sea­far­ers in New Zealand waters, a new report from the Inter­na­tion­al Trans­port Work­ers’ Fed­er­a­tion (ITF) to the Unit­ed Nations paints a dis­turb­ing pic­ture of abus­es of human rights at sea.
The report names the case of the ‘Sky 75’ in New Zealand waters as one of “ruth­less exploita­tion of fish­ing crews.”
The New Zealand ITF and Mar­itime Union took action when 10 Indone­sian crew left the Kore­an reg­is­tered fish­ing ves­sel ‘Sky 75’ in the Port of Nel­son in Sep­tem­ber 2005.

Maritime Union supports hunger strike by Ukrainian crew

The Mar­itime Union says a hunger strike by strik­ing Ukrain­ian crew mem­bers in Lyt­tel­ton is a “symp­tom of the dis­ease of exploita­tion in the fish­ing indus­try.”

Four crew mem­bers of the eight crew remain­ing aboard the fish­ing ves­sel “Malakhov Kur­gan” are lock­ing them­selves in a cab­in and are going on an indef­i­nite hunger strike.

They are protest­ing about not being paid the wages that are owed to them under New Zealand law.

Treatment of Ukrainian Crew a national disgrace

The Mar­itime Union says that the treat­ment of a Ukrain­ian fish­ing crew in Lyt­tel­ton is a nation­al dis­grace and a prime exam­ple of the prob­lems plagu­ing the fish­ing indus­try.

The crew have been on strike for unpaid wages aboard the fish­ing ves­sel Malakhov Kur­gan which is laid up in the Port of Lyt­tel­ton.

Eight crew mem­bers remain on strike aboard after refus­ing a deal that 19 of their fel­low crew mem­bers accept­ed.

Ukrainian crew’s onboard protest in Lyttelton backed by Maritime Union

The Mar­itime Union says that a group of Ukrain­ian fish­er­men in Lyt­tel­ton are vic­tims of the lack of reg­u­la­tion of the fish­ing indus­try. The 27 crew mem­bers are cur­rent­ly onboard the FV Malakhov Kur­gan in the port of Lyt­tel­ton where they are refus­ing to leave until they are paid back­pay owing to them, and held […]

You try living on youth rates or the minimum wage

The upris­ing amongst New Zealand youth against low pay and inse­cure jobs is being backed by the Mar­itime Union.

Mar­itime Union Gen­er­al Sec­re­tary Trevor Han­son says all work­ers should sup­port young peo­ple who are tak­ing part in cam­paign activ­i­ties, includ­ing indus­tri­al action at fast food out­lets and the recent street ral­lies and con­certs.

“What we are see­ing is the inevitable reac­tion from work­ing class young peo­ple who have become a low-wage gen­er­a­tion.”

Unions get result for Indonesian crew

The Mar­itime Union of New Zealand and Inter­na­tion­al Trans­port Work­ers’ Fed­er­a­tion (ITF) have obtained back­pay for a group of Indone­sian fish­er­men who jumped ship last week.

The nine Indone­sian crew mem­bers left the fish­ing trawler Mar­inui in Dunedin on Fri­day 10 March.

The crew mem­bers were sent to Christchurch where they were inter­viewed by Mar­itime Union offi­cials, and then trav­elled to Auck­land Inter­na­tion­al Air­port today where they were met by union offi­cials rep­re­sent­ing the ITF.

Port Unions say Port of Lyttelton should be held in local ownership

The two Unions rep­re­sent­ing port work­ers in New Zealand have come out against a pro­posed deal that would see the Port of Lyt­tel­ton pass into effec­tive con­trol of multi­na­tion­al cor­po­rate Hutchi­son.

The Rail and Mar­itime Trans­port Union (RMTU) and the Mar­itime Union of New Zealand (MUNZ) are work­ing togeth­er to pro­mote local con­trol of the port.

Rail and Mar­itime Trans­port Union Gen­er­al Sec­re­tary Wayne But­son says the sell-off means a vital piece of New Zealand infra­struc­ture will be effec­tive­ly going into over­seas con­trol, with seri­ous reper­cus­sions for the New Zealand econ­o­my.