Port Kembla The Australian 1 June 2007

JUNE 1

John Stapleton

Wharf Six at Port Kembla South of Wollongong has become an unexpected flashpoint for Howard's industrial relations revolution.

President of the ACTU addressed demonstrators addressed hundreds of unionists gathered at the wharf yesterday to support a permanent picket by the Maritme Union of Australia aimed at blocking the use of foreign workers to unload cargo.

The Federal government has slammed the incident as an example of the nightmare Australia can expect if Kevin Rudd is elected Prime Minister.

The argument over the use of flags of convenience ships to bypass local labor laws, which has created conflict on docks around the world, well and truly came to Australian shores on Tuesday evening when an Italian-owned, Maltese-registered, Filipino-crewed, Canadian-chartered ship the Capo Noli transporting Australian cargo arrived at wharf to face a wall of Maritime Union protesters.

The ship, carrying 18,000 tonnes of gypsum from Ceduna in South Australia is destined for a local cement manufacturer.

Charter company, Canadian Shipping Line Australia, was awaiting a decision from the Federal Court last night after seeking injunctive relief banning unionists from the dock and forcing them to move a hopper closer to the ship's side to allow unloading to begin. Justice Tamberlin said yesterday he would make his decision ``as soon as I can get to it''.

Ms Burrow said the Howard Government had already allowed cheap foreign labour to ply the cargo routes in Australian coastal waters but allowing them to operate on land, without any of the normal protections given to Australian workers and without paying Australian taxes, was beyond the pale in the march to deregulate the labour market.

She said gypsum could also be transported by truck or rail, and using poorly paid Filipino and Ukrainian crews was not just wrecking the livelihoods of Australian stevedores but doing other transport workers out of a job.

``The Howard Government has allowed Australia's coastal shipping industry to be decimated in recent years and this is another example of local workers losing their jobs to cheaper overseas workers,'' she said. ``The people of Port Kembla are standing up for Australian jobs, standing up for dignity, respect, for the hopes of Australian families that if their kids want to work on the docks they should have the opportunity to do so. If we see these jobs on the docks obliterated, future generations lose the chance to work.''

CSL managing director Chris Sorenson said ``all they have to do is move that hopper, the trucks drive in to load and that's the end of the story.'' He said the sad thing was that CSL was a good corporate citizen who had invested heavily in Australia and were building a $50 million vessel in China specially built to ply the route between Ceduna and Port Kembla. He said they had neither expected or intended to provoke controversy.

Boral, owners of the gypsum, declined to comment.

Transport Minister Mark Vaile said the shipping  company was operating within the law and Port Kembla exemplified the nation's fate if Kevin Rudd won the next election. ``The unions will be in control of Australia - costs will rise, jobs will be lost and our standard of living will fall.''