Maritime Union backs Global Sumud Flotilla and recognition of Palestine

Mari­time Uni­on of New Zea­l­and Nation­al Sec­ret­ary Carl Find­lay says the New Zea­l­and Government’s fail­ure to form­ally recog­nise the State of Palestine is a bad mis­take.

Mr Find­lay says New Zea­l­and is not even doing the bare min­im­um for justice and peace.

“The Government’s pos­i­tion that recog­ni­tion of Palestine is a mat­ter of ‘when, not if’, is a delay tac­tic at a time when every day of inac­tion means the death and maim­ing of more inno­cent civil­ians includ­ing chil­dren.”

Mr Find­lay says the MUNZ view is that “peace is uni­on busi­ness.”

He says MUNZ fully sup­ports MUA Queens­land sea­farer Ham­ish Pater­son who is crew­ing a ves­sel as part of the Glob­al Sumud Flo­tilla.

“Ham­ish, along­side the Aotearoa – New Zea­l­and del­eg­a­tion of Samuel Leason, Rana Ham­ida and Youssef Sam­mour, is sail­ing to chal­lenge the illeg­al block­ade of Gaza and deliv­er aid, embody­ing mari­time work­ers proud tra­di­tion of inter­na­tion­al solid­ar­ity.”

He says MUNZ has affirmed its com­mit­ment to the inter­na­tion­al pos­i­tion of organ­ized mari­time and trans­port work­ers on Gaza and Palestine.

MUNZ backs the policy of the Inter­na­tion­al Trans­port Work­ers’ Fed­er­a­tion (ITF), which sup­ports the form­al recog­ni­tion of the State of Palestine as a cru­cial step towards a just solu­tion.

MUNZ also stands with the Inter­na­tion­al Dock­work­ers Coun­cil (IDC), which has con­demned the actions of Israel in Gaza.

In New Zea­l­and, MUNZ sup­ports the pos­i­tion of the New Zea­l­and Coun­cil of Trade Uni­ons (NZCTU), which demands a solu­tion that recog­nises the Palestini­an people’s inali­en­able rights to self-determ­in­a­tion and sov­er­eignty.

Mr Find­lay says dock­work­ers inter­na­tion­ally have shown lead­er­ship where gov­ern­ments have failed.

“Gen­oa dock­ers have car­ried out strike actions in solid­ar­ity with Palestine, includ­ing block­ad­ing ports in protest against Israel’s actions, while uni­ons in Bel­gi­um, Italy, and the USA have car­ried out solid­ar­ity actions at their ports.”

MUNZ stands shoulder to shoulder with the Mari­time Uni­on of Aus­tralia (MUA), which has repeatedly called for sanc­tions, deman­ded an end to mil­it­ary exports to Israel, and joined protests aimed at dis­rupt­ing com­pli­cit ship­ping lines.

MUNZ and the MUA share a long his­tory of pro­gress­ive polit­ic­al action around issues such as apartheid, nuc­le­ar weapons, lib­er­a­tion struggles and sup­port­ing work­ing class solid­ar­ity.

MUNZ demands the New Zea­l­and Gov­ern­ment form­ally recog­nises the State of Palestine and uses its voice to pre­vent fur­ther blood­shed and oppres­sion.