In this age of economic globalization, maritime unions must follow suit by working together at every opportunity to promote and protect good jobs for their respective memberships.That message was driven home last month by three prominent labor officials at the SIUNA convention in Piney Point, Md. on Sept. 13-14. Delivering the sentiments were Paddy Crumlin, national secretary of the Maritime Union of Australia (a position equivalent to that of a president in the U.S.); Stephen Cotton, secretary of the International Transport Workers’ Federation’s Special Seafarers’ Department and also the ITF maritime coordinator; and Norwegian Seafarers’ Union President Jacqueline Smith.
Cotton provided an overview of the ITF, pointing out that the organization consists of 680 transport unions representing more than 4.5 million workers from 148 countries. He noted that the federation was formed more than a century ago “from solidarity action and industrial action. Those principles of standing up for your rights and defending workers are just as true today as they were over 100 years ago. We have to fight for each other.”
He updated the convention on the ITF’s battle against so-called flag-of-convenience shipping, also called runaway-flag shipping. Cotton reported that the federation now has more than 8,000 ships under contract and noted that during the past three years, ITF inspectors have collected $60 million in back pay for crew members. “Our objective is to see all of the world’s seafarers in strong unions fighting for their future,” he said.
Cotton credited the SIUNA with providing a good example for other ITF affiliates, describing it as “a democratic, strong, powerful union that knows how to fight and knows how to deliver. Good trade unions don’t moan about changing times. They find ways to take on the challenges. Here again, the SIU has led the way.”
Cotton brought two letters conveying fraternal greetings from, respectively, the Seafarers Union of Russia and the Philippine Seafarers Union—and pointed out that both of those organizations use the SIUNA as a model.
Additionally, he voiced the ITF’s commitment “that if there is anything we can do to support the employment of American seafarers on LNG vessels, we will do that, whatever it takes.”
Finally, Cotton pointed to the need to develop new methods of organizing and building alliances with government, employers “and whoever else we need to help achieve our objectives. We have to look at our history and understand that everything you have today comes from the leadership and the membership fighting for what they’ve achieved. Our future—the future of your families and workers tomorrow—depends on our ability to mobilize our power. We must be effective, and solidarity is the key.”
Smith mentioned that the convention marked her first visit to the Seafarers-affiliated Paul Hall Center for Maritime Training and Education. She described the school as “truly an inspiration to seafarers globally.”
She noted the long tradition of SIUNA and NSU solidarity. “It’s through international liaison that SIU and NSU along with other ITF affiliates are able to secure higher living and working conditions for seafarers on a global basis,” Smith stated.
On a somber note, she explained how runaway flags—particularly flagging out from traditional maritime nations—harms mariners and “has had an extremely harsh effect on our members. Just in the last 20 years, over 100,000 jobs have been lost in the European shipping industry. Around 30,000 Norwegian seafarers lost their jobs practically overnight when they introduced a second registry in the [Norwegian International Ship Register].”
She concluded by noting that Norwegian trade unions are “still battling to establish something similar to the Jones Act” to help reverse the “nightmarish” loss of jobs. “U.S. seafarers must never let the government weaken the Jones Act. Never. This won’t happen as long as you have strong leadership.”
Crumlin emphasized political action as an indispensable means of advancing mariners’ interests. He called SIUNA President Michael Sacco and the entire union “an inspiration for seafarers around the world, showing that we don’t have to just stand back and let other people take our jobs. If we stand up for our jobs there’s a future for us and our families and the generations to come.”
He noted that the SIUNA has a long history of working with pro-maritime candidates regardless of political party. Such activity “reflects union leadership. It’s a great tribute to the SIU and it’s a great tribute to Mike’s leadership and other leaders that you’ve been able to maintain because it is a vision for all of us that we can secure our future.
“If we’re prepared to work together; if we’re prepared to make hard decisions; if we’re prepared to protect our own interests, we can make things happen.”
Crumlin recalled that during an earlier visit to the U.S., he observed how the union lobbied Congress and appreciated the fact that union headquarters is based just outside of D.C. “The reason the SIU is in Washington is that’s where the decisions get made. That’s where the Jones Act lives and dies. The heart and the mind of the union is in Washington because if you’re unable to persuade the politicians, then we’re in the hands of big business and global business—and they don’t care about our interests.”
Wrapping up, Crumlin described merchant mariners as “blue-collar workers seeking to get a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work, and to have decency at work ... to have a pension and medical benefits. Those things aren’t just American values. They’re Australian values, Canadian values, UK values. We’ve got to maintain strong leadership and belief in each other—and understand the fact that we’re part of an international family. If we don’t stick together, someone will come up the gangway and take our jobs.”
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