INTERNATIONAL TRANSPORT WORKERS' FEDERATION
For immediate release: Friday 8 May 1998
PRESS RELEASE
A month to the day after Australian wharfies were forced from their workplaces in a midnight raid by security guards and dogs, MUA members were back at work yesterday.
Normal shifts were being worked in Melbourne, Sydney, Newcastle and Burney yesterday and today MUA members returned to the Fremantle, Adelaide and Brisbane waterfronts.
John Coombs told the ITF General Secretary David Cockroft: "We know it's not all over but it's fantastic to be through the gates and back at work."
"This is a massive shot in the arm for the trade union movement both in Australia and internationally. It's a great historical moment. Things will never be the same again," he added.
Coombs thanked ITF affiliates for their support; the ITF has sent #25,000 for the support of MUA members' families, who are working for free pending settlement of the dispute. The ITF is asking affiliates to keep up international pressure until a union-backed settlement is reached.
MORE NEWS
Reports were received today that one of the vessels loaded with non-union labour, the CGM Gauguin was diverted from Bombay after the ITF affiliated dockers unions there warned it would be targeted.
Yesterday, the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) submitted a Freedom of Association complaint to the ILO against the Australian government on the grounds that the workers were sacked because they were members of a union. The ITF and the ACTU are supporting the complaint.
Need more information? Contact Sarah Finke, ITF press officer, at the address below or on +44 171 9409258, or Kees Marges, Dockers' Section Secretary on +44 171 9409274
The London-based ITF, whose members represent over 600,000
seafarers and 370,000
dockers is a Federation of over 500 transport trade unions worldwide.
International Transport Workers' Federation, 49-60 Borough Road,
London SE1 1DS.
Tel: (+44 171) 403 2733, fax: (+44 171) 357 7871, e-mail: mail@itf.org.uk,
website: www.itf.org.uk
