AUT: LL: War on the Wharfies 10 May update

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>Date: Mon, 11 May 1998 01:04:29 +1000
>To: leftlink@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>From: takver@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>Subject: LL: War on the Wharfies 10 May update
>Sender: owner-leftlink@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>Precedence: bulk
>Status:
>
>News Summary - Sunday 10 May
>War on the Wharfies Homepage:
>http://www.users.bigpond.com/Takver/soapbox/index.htm
>
>CONTENTS
>(10/5/98) Los Angeles Longshore workers refuse to cross
>Community Picket
>
>Two Recommended Websites:
>Fremantle Community Picket
>         http://www.users.bigpond.com/picket/
>Find Peter's Heart! Web Game
>         http://www.houseoflove.com.au/ratbag/heartlessbastard/
>          -----------------------------------
>News Summary - Sunday 10 May
>----------------------------
>Los Angeles Longshore workers refuse to cross Community Picket
>The Columbus Canada, loaded by Patrick Stevedore scabs in Australia,
>arrived at Matson, Berth 208 Terminal Island in the Port of
>Los Angeles on Saturday, May 9. Before the 8 A.M. shift began,
>ILWU Locals 13 and 63 longshore workers, themselves angry at
>Patrick's firing last month of all its 2,000 wharfies, members of
>the Maritime Union of Australia, refused to cross a mass solidarity
>picket line of some 1,500 labor and harbor community activists.
>
>Demonstrators chanted "We support the MUA; No scab cargo in L.A."
>and "MUA here to stay; No scab cargo in L.A." have effectively shut
>dock operations down.
>
>Steve Stallone, a spokesman with the International Longshore &
>Warehouse Union (ILWU)- North America's second-largest dockworkers'
>union , said the Los Angeles dockworkers were not on strike but
>instead were honoring a picket line outside the Port of Los Angeles'
>Matson Terminal. Stallone said the picketers represented "not a
>union demonstration, but a community demonstration" in support of
>their Australian counterparts. "This community knows it lives on the
>good living that longshoremen make. They also know that if the union
>in Australia can be busted, then the ILWU can be busted."
>
>Last month, the ILWU asked its 60,000 members to boycott Australian
>beef and produce because of efforts by the National Farmers
>Federation to bust the dockworkers' union, the Maritime Union of
>Australia (MUA). Steve Stallone said that the ILWU was now
>considering the status of its boycott.
>
>Source: SOLIDARITY COMMITTEE FOR THE AUSTRALIAN WHARFIES (SCAW)
>BULLETIN #2 (http://www.ilwu.com/update.htm),
>South News May 9
>
>Farmers support Melbourne wharfies
>A group of Victorian farmers travelled to Melbourne on Sunday morning
>to show support for waterfront workers. About two hundred kilograms of
>meat was donated to the wharfies for a barbeque at the dock. The
>farmers are at odds with the National Farmers Federation, which they
>say is not looking after their best interests, and is too concerned
>with setting up a stevedoring business.
>(Source: ABC 10/5/98)
>
>Fremantle wharfies return to work
>A crowd of 400 maritime union members and their supporters gathered
>at the wharf on Sunday morning to celebrate the return to work, as
>police stood by and watched the crowd march on Patrick's front gate.
>Despite claims of victory in the dispute, the workers have not been
>paid for a month and have agreed to work without pay for another four
>weeks.
>(Source: ABC 10/5/98)
>
>Port Adelaide obstruction
>Patrick's on Friday deliberately defied the reinstatement orders by
>refusing MUA members to commence work on a scrap-metal ship this
>weekend. A peaceful assembly was maintained over the weekend at Port
>Adelaide. Negotiations between the MUA, the United Trades and Labour
>Council (UTLC) and P&O management have failed and the ship remains
>unloaded. UTLC president Stephen Spence says this dispute is not as
>straightforward as initially thought.
>(Source: Leftlink 8/5/98, ABC 10/5/98)
>
>Lismore - regional support meeting success
>About 80 people attended a public talk in support of the Maritime
>Union of Australia in Lismore, New South Wales (Australia) last
>Thursday night. A Brisbane crane driver, Mick Fulton, explained the
>truth about pay and productivity and gave us a bit of an insight into
>the unpleasant working conditions and long and anti-social hours they
>are compelled to work.
>
>Eight local speakers also addressed the meeting including local
>union organisers, local farmers, academics from Southern Cross
>University, and retired people. A collection at the end of the
>evening raised over $200, which was given to the Brisbane wharfies.
>(Source: Email to Takver)
>
>----------------------------
>War on the Wharfies is an independent web page which
>contains:
>* News reports on the Maritime Union of Australia fight against
>  the rightwing attack by the National Farmers Federation,
>  waterfront bosses, and federal and state governments.
>* News on other union actions and progressive campaigns, or the
>  general attack on workers rights or conditions
>
>Takver@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>         War on the Wharfies - essential links
> http://www.users.bigpond.com/Takver/soapbox/index.htm
>             http://www.yll.org.au/mua
> http://www.InsideTheWeb.com/messageboard/mbs.cgi/mb63212
>-------------------------------
>




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