Vol. 81/No. 44      November 27, 2017

 

Dockworkers protest threats of job cuts in Papua
New Guinea

 
SYDNEY — Some 80 members and supporters of the Maritime Union of Australia took part in a spirited protest outside the Papua New Guinea Consulate here Oct 31. The demonstration was called to support port workers in Port Moresby, PNG’s capital.

International Container Terminal Services Inc. bosses announced Sept. 25 they had signed 25-year contracts to operate terminals at Papua New Guinea’s two biggest ports, Motukea and Lae. The terminal at Motukea is slated to replace current operations at Port Moresby, which is operated by union labor.

The International Transport Workers Federation is campaigning against the company’s plans to open nonunion facilities, using contract labor. The bosses intend to let the union workers at Port Moresby go as they shift production to the new port, the federation says. The Papua New Guinea Maritime and Transport Workers Union says more than 1,000 dock and related jobs will be lost.

The union federation is campaigning against the union-busting drive, including publicizing International Container Terminal Services Inc.’s “disgraceful” record on safety and working conditions at ports worldwide.

The Philippine-based company operates 29 terminals, including the world’s largest fully automated facility at the port of Melbourne. Company bosses are pushing to expand further into semicolonial markets, with new ports planned in Cameroon and Guinea-Bissau.

Ryan McGibbon Thompson, a dockworker at Hutchison Ports in Sydney, told protesters the Maritime Union of Australia branch there “is committed to fighting for the workers” in PNG.

“Our weapon is solidarity, coming together and fighting together,” said Paul McAleer, the union’s Sydney branch secretary.
 
 
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