Maritime Union commemorates Merchant Navy Day 2024

The Union rep­re­sent­ing New Zealand sea­far­ers is com­mem­o­rat­ing Mer­chant Navy Day, held inter­na­tion­al­ly each year on 3 Sep­tem­ber.

Mar­itime Union of New Zealand Nation­al Sec­re­tary Carl Find­lay says Mer­chant Navy Day holds pro­found sig­nif­i­cance for the Mar­itime Union “as we remem­ber our sea­far­ing mem­bers past and present.”

“In the great con­flicts of the 20^th Cen­tu­ry, sea­far­ers showed courage and resilience. Their work ensured the safe pas­sage of essen­tial sup­plies, troops, and equip­ment.”

Mr Find­lay says glob­al con­flict con­tin­ues to impact on the safe­ty and well­be­ing of sea­far­ers in inter­na­tion­al waters.

He says as we reflect on the past, we must con­sid­er the chal­lenges faced by mod­ern-day sea­far­ers. 

“As an island nation, Aotearoa New Zealand relies heav­i­ly on sea­far­ers, and the vast major­i­ty of New Zealand’s goods con­tin­ues to be car­ried by sea.”

Mr Find­lay says the mar­itime indus­try has evolved, but the life of a sea­far­er remains demand­ing and fraught with dif­fi­cul­ties. 

Long peri­ods away from home, iso­la­tion, and the phys­i­cal and men­tal toll of the job are just a few of the issues sea­far­ers con­tend with. 

The COVID-19 pan­dem­ic had a major impact, with many inter­na­tion­al sea­far­ers strand­ed at sea for extend­ed peri­ods, unable to return to their fam­i­lies. 

Mr Find­lay says the Mar­itime Union of New Zealand is com­mit­ted to advo­cat­ing for sea­far­ers’ rights, ensur­ing fair work­ing con­di­tions, and pro­vid­ing the sup­port they need. 

The Mar­itime Union of New Zealand is affil­i­at­ed to the Inter­na­tion­al Trans­port Work­ers’ Fed­er­a­tion, which rep­re­sents over 1 mil­lion sea­far­ers in over 200 sea­far­ers’ unions across 106 coun­tries.

MUNZ is also work­ing for the future of New Zealand coastal ship­ping.

Mr Find­lay says New Zealand faces a cri­sis in our sea­far­ing work­force due to a shrink­ing num­ber of New Zealand flagged and crewed ves­sels, an age­ing work­force and lack of train­ing oppor­tu­ni­ties.

“Today, as we pay trib­ute to our sea­far­ers of the past and present, let us also advo­cate for a new gen­er­a­tion of New Zealand sea­far­ers.”

He says we must con­tin­ue to work for a mar­itime indus­try that val­ues and respects its work­force. 

“This means invest­ing in train­ing, ensur­ing safe work­ing con­di­tions, and rebuild­ing our New Zealand mer­chant fleet.”

Mr Find­lay says the task today is to con­tin­ue to rep­re­sent New Zealand sea­far­ers and cam­paign for a strong New Zealand mer­chant fleet, and to play our role in defend­ing the rights of all sea­far­ers who work in our waters.

The Mer­chant Navy in his­to­ry: back­ground

Dur­ing the Sec­ond World War, thou­sands of New Zealand sea­far­ers vol­un­teered to serve in the Mer­chant Navy.

They sailed ship­ments of fuel, food and oth­er essen­tial sup­plies across the world, and deliv­ered troops and mil­i­tary equip­ment where they were need­ed.

The work was impor­tant and extreme­ly dan­ger­ous. 4,700 Allied mer­chant ships were sunk dur­ing the con­flict, and 30,000 Allied mer­chant sea­men lost their lives.

This includ­ed New Zealand ships like the Turak­i­na and the Lim­er­ick, and at least 140 Kiwi mer­chant sea­far­ers were killed with a sim­i­lar num­ber tak­en pris­on­er.

The Mer­chant Navy faced greater dan­ger than any oth­er group of New Zealand civil­ians. Their sac­ri­fice and hero­ism will be remem­bered.

Mar­itime Union in his­to­ry

The Mar­itime Union and its pre­de­ces­sors have the longest his­to­ry of any union in New Zealand.

MUNZ was formed when the Water­front Work­ers’ Union and New Zealand Sea­far­ers’ Union joined togeth­er in 2002.

The first Seamen’s Union was formed in 1879 and it was a trans-Tas­man Union with mem­bers in Aus­tralia and New Zealand.