Why we must defend the maritime workers

Why we must defend the maritime workers

Continued from page 3.

All unions and workers must defend the maritime workers. Besides a verbal commitment, unions must also be prepared to give industrial support.

Last November a national meeting of Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) members passed the following motion: "The MUA and PTU [Public Transport Union] pledge mutual support and cooperation, including manual and industrial support, where considered necessary."

A real alliance between all the transport unions, the MUA, the PTU and the Transport Workers Union, would be a good first step to counter the government's attacks.

This is how Tom Hills describes the contribution of waterfront workers in his book Under the Hook: "We told them [fellow workers] that workers have got the power to change the world. We said: 'You're not just helpless!'. After all, workers built the bloody ships, and the wharves too. They started to understand that they could win, and that they could show other workers the way to win."

From GLW issue 303