Cairns wharfies win `for all unions'

By Bill Mason

BRISBANE -- The victory of the waterside workers in Cairns in the week ending September 19 was a win “for the Maritime Union of Australia and for all unions”, MUA spokesperson Col Davies told a forum at the Paddington Workers Club here on September 25.

The forum was sponsored by the united transport unions, the MUA, the Public Transport Union and the Transport Workers Union.

Davies led the MUA campaign in Cairns, which defeated the US shipping company International Purveyors' move to sack unionised wharfies and replace them with non-union labour.

Davies told the meeting of around 40 people that this was “a resounding defeat for the Howard government”, which had provoked the dispute as a test case for its union-busting Workplace Relations Act.

However, this is “only round one” of a long struggle to defeat the government's drive to smash the MUA, Davies warned.

Davies quoted the letter of support from the International Transport Federation of unions, which was decisive in halting International Purveyors' attack. The letter promised a “worldwide campaign” of solidarity with the MUA.

He also reported that unions from around Australia sent messages of support, and that the Cairns community had assisted the struggle. This campaign shows the “urgent need for unity” of all workers, Davies said.

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