Barrow Island might be declared Port of Convenience

International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) President Paddy Crumlin has said that Barrow Island could be declared a Port of Convenience unless Chevron tempers its union-busting efforts in Australia’s offshore oil and gas sector.

Chevron’s Gorgon LNG project has blown out from US$37 billion to US$54 billion due to the company’s ongoing mismanagement of the project. But rather than take responsibility for its poor performance, parts of the company insist unions were to blame, said Crumlin, who is also National Secretary of the Maritime Union of Australia.

“If Chevron continues to seek to exclude my union from an Australian island which will export natural gas then it will have to be declared a Port of Convenience,” Crumlin told Dockers’ Section at the 43rd ITF Congress in Sofia, Bulgaria.

“They are suing us for nothing more than we want a collective agreement. We have made attempts to reach out to Chevron, we travelled to their shareholder meeting in Midland, Texas, earlier this year,” said Crumlin.

It was there the MUA received an assurance from Chevron chief executive John Watson that unions were not to blame for cost blowouts on the Gorgon project.

Watson said he had “no intention of blaming organised labour for cost overruns or delays at Gorgon.”

Crumlin told the global conference that the neo-liberals don’t want strong unions like the MUA, International Longshoremen’s and Warehousemen’s Union (ILWU) from the West and Coast of the USA and Zenkokowan of Japan.

Nor did they enjoy the strength of dockers’ unions from Norway, Sweden, Belgium, Netherlands and Germany in northern Europe.

Crumlin paid tribute to the ongoing Global Network Terminals (GNT) campaign – which targets the big four – APM, Hutchison, PSA and DP World.

“The ITF isn’t a threat; it’s a promise,” he said. “Some people say internationalism is irrelevant but we have to understand this is a global industry. If we fail to see that, we will get picked off one at a time. That’s why we not only work closely with each other but also the seafarers.”

“We need to ensure they don’t lash our cargo and take our jobs, just because some employer tells them so,” says Crumlin.

Crumlin said this was why the MUA is teaming up with the Maritime Union of New Zealand and Papua New Guinea Maritime and Transport Workers Union to form the Regional Maritime Federation.

There are ongoing discussions to expand the RMF to include unions form Indonesia and Timor Leste.

Crumlin said the ITF was working closely with international shipowners through the IBF, which in June reached a three years agreement to begin in 2015.

He said the ITF was not opposed to changes in stevedoring technology such as automation but that they needed to be consulted and be able to provide members with jobs into the future.

“Employers need to clearly decide whether they want to work with unions – and we’ll be there – or against unions – and we’ll be there as well,” Crumlin said.

MUA Deputy National Secretary Mick Doleman said it was originally thought that automation was about reducing unit labor costs.

“But what we’ve seen in Australia with Patrick’s at Port Botany suggests otherwise,” Doleman said.

“There is no economic case; it’s about getting rid of workers, militant workers, workers who don’t agree with the boss. It’s a tool to get rid of unions from the workplace; we think we have the worst employers in the world – if you think yours are worse, keep them to yourselves, we don’t want them,” said Doleman.

Press Release, August 13, 2014; Image: MUA