WIN FOR IRISH DOCKERS IN SELF-HANDLING DISPUTE:  Irish dockers won a victory in early August after ITF pressure prevented seafarers from unloading a vessel docked in Dublin port, against the instructions of the ship’s Irish charterer.  Ukrainian crew on board the German-owned and managed MV Aase, on charter to Irish specialist cement producer, Ecocem, were expected to unload a bulk cargo of cement in Dublin port on 3 August. This was despite the fact that the crew were not trained or paid to carry out such work.  ITF representatives Norrie McVicar and Ken Fleming went on board the vessel after they were informed that Ecocem was insisting that the crew should carry out the work. They were able to ensure that the cargo-handling clause of the management company’s agreement with the ITF was implemented. The ship was subsequently unloaded by dockers represented by the ITF-affiliated Services, Industrial, Professional and Technical Union (SIPTU) and employed by Dublin Cargo Handling, one of the main stevedoring firms in Dublin port.  Ecocem appears since to have backed down on the matter after SIPTU dockers were allowed to unload cargo from a second ship chartered by the company on its arrival in Dublin port on 5 August. Nevertheless a court injunction instigated by Ecocem against Siptu was still in place.  The union’s legal team was dealing with the matter.

CALLS FOR JUSTICE FOLLOWING KNIFE ATTACK ON RUSSIAN UNION LEADER:  Mikhail Chesalin, Chairman of the Dockers’ Union of Russia’s (DUR) branch in the city of Kaliningrad was beaten and repeatedly stabbed from behind by an unknown number of assailants as he was about to enter the union’s office at 10:30 on 7 June 2007. He was left lying unconscious on the ground.  On receiving the news, the Dockers’ Section called on member unions to back its demands for a proper investigation.  The DUR has asked the ITF to help put pressure on the law enforcement agencies to properly investigate the case.  Despite an overwhelming response from affiliates and other Global Union Federations, there has been no response and apparently no reaction from the authorities to the calls for justice.  Union representatives have informed the secretariat that the freedom of association and collective bargaining are not respected by the authorities.  Victimisation of workers who contact the union is also common.  The Section is consulting with the DUR on these issues.

ZENKOKU-KOWAN CONTINUES FIGHT TO PROTECT WORKING CONDITIONS IN AKITA PORT:  The National Council of Dockworkers’ Unions of Japan has been campaigning to protect job security and working conditions in Akita port in the face of deregulation in the Japanese port industry.  The campaign relates to an attempt by trucking company, Noshiro Unyu, to enter the stevedoring business.

Dockers fear that a licence for Noshiro, if granted, would threaten their jobs by ushering in a host of new port businesses.  As a result of strong union protests last year, supported by the employers’ organisation, the Japan Harbour Transportation Association (JHTA), Noshiro Unyu withdrew its first bid to begin operating at the port. However JHTA changed its position this July and supported Noshiro’s reapplication, in which the company undertook to limit the type of cargo it would handle.  Zenkoku-Kowan, unconvinced by the company’s assurances, renewed its campaign and scheduled a nationwide series of rallies, and raised the possibility of strike action while urging the JHTA to return to negotiations.  Strike action was eventually put on hold after the employers’ organisation agreed to negotiate.  Recently, those talks stalled again temporarily but Zenkoku-Kowan again managed to resolve the matter through negotiation. 

ITF TRIBUTE TO OUTGOING US LONGSHORE WORKERS’ PRESIDENT:  The ITF has paid a special tribute to the President of the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA), John Bowers, who stepped down at the union’s recent convention in the USA.  During an address to the ILA convention held in Hollywood from 23-26 July, ITF General Secretary David Cockroft described John Bowers’ contribution to the development of the ITF. Bowers had “played a major part in the development of what the ITF has become today, a key player in the global economy in which transportation – and the longshore industry – has become central.”  Cockroft outlined how, in conjunction with the ITF’s Seafarers’ Section, Bowers had worked tirelessly to bring different seafarers’ and dockworkers’ unions together.  Bowers steps down following 20 years of service as ILA President, as well as a long stint as ITF Vice President and executive board member and more than ten years as chair of the ITF Dockers’ Section. Bowers is to be succeeded by Richard Hughes as ILA President, while Harold Daggett was elected the new Executive Vice President. Paddy Crumlin of the Maritime Union of Australia, who also addressed the convention, replaced Bowers as ITF Dockers’ Section Chair at the ITF’s Congress in Durban, South Africa, last year.

CROSS-SECTORAL COOPERATION ON CONTAINER CARGO SAFETY:  Dockers and truckers have joined forces to establish an agenda for action following numerous reports of accidents involving unsafe container cargo.  Representatives from unions across Europe, America and Asia Pacific raised concerns over improperly secured, overweight and unevenly loaded container cargo at an ITF meeting, hosted by US affiliate the Teamsters, in Oakland, US, on 30 and 31 May.  Zenkoku-Kowan, recalled how, with the assistance of the ITF, it had been lobbying the Japanese government to introduce legislation to cover cargo safety. The union was currently in discussion with the ministry of transport.  Meanwhile, the Teamsters unveiled several reports from port drivers, which outlined problems caused by overweight container cargo; a spot-check survey conducted in Miami port found that 43 per cent of cargo was overweight.  According to the UK-based Transport and General Workers' Union, more than 160 accidents involving overturned cargo trucks took place every year on the UK’s roads.  The discussion led to a decision to share information on the issue via an interactive website; lobby international organisations and carry out awareness raising programmes during ITF international road transport action week this coming October.  The website http://www.itfglobal.org/road-transport/ContainerSafety.cfm is in its development stage and comments (send to Clarke_Claire@itf.org.uk) from dockers’ affiliates are very welcome.