Candidate statement — Joe Fleetwood

To the Mem­bers of the Mar­itime Union of New Zealand,

My name is Joe Fleet­wood, and I am seek­ing your sup­port for my nom­i­na­tion to the posi­tion of Nation­al Assis­tant Sec­re­tary of our great union.

I am deeply grate­ful to the Lyt­tle­ton and Welling­ton Branch mem­bers for their trust in nom­i­nat­ing me for this impor­tant role. Their sup­port inspires my con­tin­ued com­mit­ment to advanc­ing our union dur­ing these chal­leng­ing times.

For those who have been part of our union over the years, you may know of my exten­sive his­to­ry of ser­vice. I have held var­i­ous roles, includ­ing Nation­al Vice Pres­i­dent, Welling­ton Branch Sec­re­tary, the last offi­cial­ly elect­ed Gen­er­al Sec­re­tary of MUNZ, and the first elect­ed Nation­al Sec­re­tary for MUNZ.

In each of these roles, I ded­i­cat­ed myself to stand­ing up for our mem­bers and was nev­er hes­i­tant to make our union’s posi­tion clear to employ­ers on crit­i­cal indus­tri­al mat­ters. My time as Nation­al Sec­re­tary pro­vid­ed me with a deep under­stand­ing of the respon­si­bil­i­ties required of those in senior lead­er­ship roles, both local­ly and inter­na­tion­al­ly. If elect­ed as Nation­al Assis­tant Sec­re­tary, I will remain stead­fast in my com­mit­ment to serv­ing our union and its mem­bers.

Dur­ing my tenure as Nation­al Sec­re­tary, MUNZ earned sig­nif­i­cant respect from like-mind­ed trade unions in New Zealand and around the world, a lega­cy of sol­i­dar­i­ty that con­tin­ues today and remains a source of great pride for me.

Look­ing to the Future — In the years ahead, we face inevitable bat­tles with prof­it-dri­ven employ­ers who pri­ori­tise share­hold­ers over work­ers’ well-being. Many of these employ­ers show lit­tle respect for health and safe­ty, focus­ing sole­ly on their bot­tom line.

The mar­itime sec­tor, in par­tic­u­lar, is con­stant­ly evolv­ing as com­pa­nies seek to stream­line oper­a­tions to stay com­pet­i­tive. These changes often come at a cost to work­ers, as we have seen time and again. For­eign invest­ment in once local­ly owned busi­ness­es has exac­er­bat­ed these chal­lenges. Com­pa­nies like StraitNZ, now for­eign owned, and oth­ers have pri­ori­tised prof­its over New Zealand work­ers. Our ethos must remain unequiv­o­cal, it is not a crime for New Zealand work­ers to receive fair wages and to be pri­ori­tised for employ­ment oppor­tu­ni­ties in Aotearoa. There should be no excus­es or excep­tions to this fun­da­men­tal prin­ci­ple.

My Com­mit­ment to You — I seek your vote to ensure your voice is heard. If elect­ed, I will serve with dig­ni­ty and respect, address­ing your con­cerns, big or small, with unwa­ver­ing com­mit­ment. I firm­ly believe that nation­al office­hold­ers must remain con­nect­ed to the rank and file. Our union’s strength lies in uni­ty, and every mem­ber deserves to be heard.

Through­out my tenure with MUNZ, I have been unafraid to speak truth to pow­er, whether address­ing employ­ers or rep­re­sent­ing our mem­bers at the high­est lev­els of our union. Account­abil­i­ty and sol­i­dar­i­ty are at the heart of our work, and we must con­tin­ue to hold both lead­er­ship and employ­ers to the high­est stan­dards.

Once the Nation­al Sec­re­tary finalis­es the elec­tion tour dates, I look for­ward to engag­ing in con­struc­tive debates with fel­low can­di­dates for the Nation­al Assis­tant Sec­re­tary posi­tion. Addi­tion­al­ly, I am com­mit­ted to address­ing any issues our mem­bers con­sid­er impor­tant dur­ing our meet­ings.

Your vote is vital. Let’s ensure our union remains strong, unit­ed, and focused on pro­tect­ing work­ers’ rights.

Vote for me, Joe Fleet­wood, as your Nation­al Assis­tant Sec­re­tary. Thank you for your time and sup­port.

In uni­ty, Joe Fleet­wood 0296
Rank & File Sea­far­er

PDF copy of can­di­date state­ment Joe Fleet­wood (Click to down­load)