Solidarity with Australian waterside workers
In the final plenary session of the Asia Pacific Solidarity Conference, a statement of solidarity with Australian waterside workers and the Maritime Union of Australia was adopted by acclamation. Following is an abridged version of the statement.
This conference endorses and applauds the regional campaign of political solidarity with the Maritime Union of Australia initiated by the organisations represented at the conference. In particular it notes:
1. the solidarity statement issued by the People's Democratic Party of Indonesia;
2. the picket actions outside the Australian embassy in Manila initiated by the trade union centre affiliated with Sanlakas, the Bukluran Mangagawa Filipino (Filipino Workers Solidarity);
3. the picket actions being prepared by the Labour Party of Pakistan and its trade union allies outside the Australian embassy in Lahore;
4. the campaign of protest letters and messages, including the picketing campaign pledged by the New Socialist Party of Sri Lanka;
5. the campaign being prepared by the United Left in Spain to organise solidarity actions in Barcelona harbour against Australian ships, to move a motion in the Spanish parliament and solidarity resolutions to be moved at the Holden Barina factory in Saragossa;
6. the pledge of support by the New Zealand Alliance to raise the matter in parliament and to investigate the possibility of a protest action during the rugby league tournaments;
7. the Trade Union Federation of New Zealand's attempts to investigate solidarity actions amongst its affiliates and to try to track down the source recruiting scabs and security guards on the Australian waterfront;
8. the comrades from Solidarity in the USA have begun to spread the need for solidarity and plan to work with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union. There has already been a protest demonstration outside the Australian embassy in San Francisco; and
9. the activities of the Democratic Socialist Party and Resistance in helping initiate the regional solidarity campaign coming out of this conference.
International solidarity is a vital fighting column in the struggles of the working class the world over. The conference recognises this and salutes the historic role played by the MUA in supporting progressive struggles and causes: from the 1945 waterside workers' ban on Dutch ships in solidarity with the Indonesian fight for independence, to the 1960s and 1970s when the waterside workers led protests against French nuclear testing, banning French ships and aircraft in 1972, and fought against US and Australian intervention in Vietnam.
In Australia, all workers are in debt to the MUA for the working conditions the union won through struggle, which often flowed on to the entire working class. These include the shorter work week, annual leave and, more recently, solidarity with the Weipa workers and the Hunter Valley miners, which was key to defeating Rio Tinto's push to de-unionise its work force.
This conference affirms that a victory for the MUA is a victory for all workers. We will do our part to strengthen solidarity with the MUA and help assure that victory. Long live working-class solidarity! Long live working-class internationalism!