Employed on the docks at Port Moresby, the country’s capital, Mahuk is also the president of the Trades Union Congress (TUC). There are some 500 dockworkers in the capital and twice as many in Lae, the main industrial city on the northeast coast.

The MIWU is at the forefront of efforts to gain an income that ensures working people the minimal conditions of life, said the union leader. The base pay rate for dockworkers is K2.65 per hour with higher rates according to skill (1 Kina =US$0.24). Casual workers get an additional 10 percent to compensate for the fact that they receive no pensions, and no holiday or sick pay.

Mahuk discussed the conditions facing other workers. While those who labor for foreign companies in the gold and copper mines can earn relatively high wages, workers in rural areas are paid much less--around K12-15 per week. Wage workers in the coastal logging areas "are the most exploited of all," he said.

The TUC calls for an increase in the weekly minimum wage to K64. "Nobody can live" on the current level of K24.67, Mahuk said, adding that the higher rate "would still not be enough, but would establish a new baseline, and help to cover the basic cost of living."

The previous government of Mekere Morauta rejected this demand, he said. Morauta was defeated at the ballot box in August in part because of popular memories of the student-led demonstrations in June 2001, and of the police killings of four protesters.

The union leader spoke of the role played by the MIWU in the 2001 events. "We felt the students were a part of us," he said. "We went on strike to show our sympathy." While the MIWU was "the only union to take practical action," he said, "other unions morally supported the students."

Some dockers and other workers went to the campus in support of the protesters and their fight to defend the country’s sovereignty against proposals to open it up to deeper penetration by Australian and other imperialist companies.

After the cop killings, the maritime union struck the wharves for two days, adding its voice to the broad popular anger.

The MIWU played an important role in setting up the new Labour Party, "a new thing for the labour force," he said. In the August elections the party won a single seat in the western province. "Support is there but in PNG, money plays an important role," said Mahuk. "If the election had been conducted transparently, the Labour Party would have had quite a few candidates" in parliament.

The MIWU has opposed government plans to sell off institutions like the PNG Harbours Board, the national airline, and the country’s telecommunications and electricity enterprises. In the fight against privatization of the harbors, the union has allied itself with the clans who hold traditional common ownership of seafront land, Mahuk said.

Ron Poulsen is a member of the Maritime Union of Australia. Bob Aiken contributed to this article.
 
 
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