In this centre of the tourism industry, a new opportunity is emerging to organise the recreational diving industry. The catalyst for this has been the refusal by Brooke O'Mara to continue to work under a $3 per hour "training" contract. Many work under similar contracts in the industry.
O'Mara spoke first to diving workers and union activists at the Cairns Yacht Club on August 28 at a 50-strong meeting organised by the provincial Queensland Council of Unions committee as part of the Your Rights at Work campaign.
She said she had experienced months of inaction from the Office of Workplace Services in her efforts to get paid properly and had only found support after turning to the labour movement. She stressed the need for diving workers to organise in order to overcome the problems they faced.
Two other speakers explained how the Howard government's anti-worker laws had removed any minimum wage provision for diving workers under age 21 on contracts similar O'Mara's. They said that traineeships should provide 80% of regular wages and time off for certified training.
Mick Doleman, assistant national secretary of the Maritime Union of Australia spoke about the problem of the industry's outdated 1992 award, the union's attempt to organise diving workers and to establish a collective agreement in the industry.
Local Labor candidate Jim Turnour, who has helped to publicise O'Mara's case, said the ALP's proposals for industrial relations laws would address the issues raised at the meeting.
A number of diving workers contributed to the discussion. Their comments exposed the poor pay and conditions of these workers, among whom are instructors responsible for safely educating people in the skills of this potentially dangerous activity. They also expressed uncertainty about what could be achieved, in an industry where workers on short-term visas are often employed, if only a few workers joined the union.