MUA tug-o-war

Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) members working for tug-boat company 
Adsteam have been taking stop-work action for up to three days at a time in 
response to company proposals to reduce crews on tug-boats from the current 
four to just three. The MUA says the proposed crew reductions are 
unsafe.

The stoppages are "protected action" and arise from the company's proposals 
contained in its draft enterprise agreement.

Adsteam currently employs two MUA deckhands, one captain and one engineer. 
They claim that only one deckhand is necessary because the engineer can 
also work on deck and that this is the norm overseas. However International 
Transport Workers' Federation statistics do not back up this claim.

"Yes, there are tugs in some world ports that have a crew of three", said 
MUA Assistant National Secretary Mick Doleman, "but there are just as many 
examples where the manning is even more than four. We just don't have the 
conditions nor the technology here to enable three crew to do the job 
safely.

"Adsteam have done nothing to update the tugs. They're the same ones we've 
been operating for decades. We don't have magnetic lines or other 
technological advances here and we don't have protected harbours and seas 
where you can count on smooth conditions.

"It's just too risky counting on the engineer to leave his station below 
deck and come and help out, only to be called away for engine room alarms, 
leaving one person on deck.

"You need two people on deck the whole time. We have never agreed to a crew 
of three and we never will under current conditions", said Mr Doleman.

The MUA first gave the Industrial Relations Commission notice it would be 
taking protected action on November 9, and a series of rolling stoppages 
have since taken place in the ports of Townsville, Sydney, Port Botany, 
Newcastle, Port Kembla, Fremantle, Adelaide and Kwinana.

"Adsteam are saying they have to cut crew to be competitive", said Mr 
Doleman. "But Howard Smith Tugs have just won a seven-year contract for 
towage in the Port of Gladstone with on crews of four. And they won the 
contract despite fierce competition from overseas operators.

"Other tug companies have not claimed three-man crew in their EBA 
discussions, including Howard Smith who are in joint venture partnership 
with Adsteam in some ports."

Mr Doleman said wage rises for MUA members in the industry had remained 
only marginally above CPI increases for many years and up till now there 
had been no industrial disputes.

"Crew numbers were halved in recent years and only after an exhaustive 
inspection program that included Federal Government and employer 
participation. Towage services are delivered on time all the time. Adsteam 
just can't blame the workers for not doing their job efficiently", he said.

"All they are really after is increased profits, and they are prepared to 
put people's lives at risk in their pursuit of the dollar. Profits have 
gone up in the past year, not down — up to more than $17 million.

"Greed is what's driving this dispute", said Mr Doleman.