Seamen's Union of Australia

Last updated

SUA
Seamen's Union of Australia
Merged into Maritime Union of Australia
Founded1890
Dissolved1993
Headquarters289A Sussex St, Sydney
Location
Members
4,625 (1979) [1]
Key people
 E. V. Elliott, Tom Walsh
PublicationThe Seamen's Journal
Affiliations ACTU, ALP, Australian Council for Civil Liberties


The Seamen's Union of Australia (SUA) was the principal trade union for merchant seamen in Australia from 1876 to 1991. The SUA developed a reputation as one of the most militant trade unions in Australia and was closely associated with the communist movement in Australia. The SUA merged in 1993 with the Waterside Workers' Federation to become the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA). [2]

Contents

History

Background

Australian seamen were forerunners of maritime trade unionism. Efforts to form trade unions amongst merchant seamen trading out of Australian ports can be traced back to 1874, with the formation of the Sydney Seamen's Union and Melbourne Seamen's Union. [2] The trade unions of this period inspired, among others, J. Havelock Wilson of the British National Union of Seamen, who served on Australian coasting vessels for a period in the late 1870s.

By 1890, a number of these unions had come together to form a loose federation called the Federated Seamen's Union of Australasia, which included New Zealand until the Federation of Australia in 1901 which did include New Zealand, and adopted the name Seamen's Union of Australia (SUA) in 1906. For nearly eighty years the SUA successfully improved the wages and conditions of its members by negotiations with employers and governments or by taking militant industrial action.

Campaigning

The Committee of Management of the SUA, 1952 SUA-committee of management.jpg
The Committee of Management of the SUA, 1952

Following World War I the SUA gained a reputation as a militant union, under the leadership of socialist-inclined Tom Walsh. During the Second World War, it was instrumental in ensuring the supply of civilian seafarers for the war effort.

The SUA also took part in a wide range of social and political issues over the years, for example campaigning for Aboriginal rights, opposing apartheid in South Africa, opposing the Vietnam War, and participating in the nuclear disarmament movement. [1] The SUA also took part in the black bans and boycotts of Dutch shipping, where the union movement of Australia worked to aid the nascent Indonesian Republic, in particular, ensuring that no tugs towed Dutch ships. [3] These bans commenced in September 1945, [4] and continued through to 1949. [5] The union's longest serving leader was Eliot V. Elliott who led the SUA from 1941–1978.

During the 1970s and 80s the union was strongly active in campaigns to address the decline of the Australian shipping industry, as alternative transport modes became more prevalent, and shipowners used flag of convenience ships to reduce costs. [1] Reduced manning levels aboard ships also negatively impacted union members, and the union negotiated with companies to maintain the job security of Australian maritime workers. [1]

Amalgamation

During its long history the SUA underwent several amalgamations to increase its coverage of maritime workers, particularly as the size of the workforce decreased due to automation and the use of flag of convenience vessels. The Marine Cooks Bakers and Butchers Association (formed in 1908) amalgamated with the Seamen's Union of Australia in 1983, and the Federated Marine Stewards and Pantrymen's Association merged in 1988. In 1991 the Professional Divers' Association also amalgamated with the SUA, before it joined with the Waterside Workers' Federation to become the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) in 1993. [2]

Federal Secretaries

Further reading

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1998 Australian waterfront dispute</span> Event in Australian industrial relations history

The Australian waterfront dispute of 1998 was an event in Australian industrial relations history, in which the Patrick Corporation undertook a restructuring of their operations for the purpose of dismissing their workforce. The restructuring by Patrick Corporation was later ruled illegal by Australian courts. The dispute involved Patrick Corporation terminating the employment of its workforce and locking out the workers of the workplace after the restructuring had taken place, with many of these workers members of the dominant Maritime Union of Australia. The resulting dismissal and locking out of their unionised workforce was supported and backed by the Australian Liberal/National Coalition Government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Union of Seamen</span> Former trade union of the United Kingdom

The National Union of Seamen (NUS) was the principal trade union of merchant seafarers in the United Kingdom from the late 1880s to 1990. In 1990, the union amalgamated with the National Union of Railwaymen to form the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT).

The Amalgamated Marine Workers' Union (AMWU) was a trade union of sailors, firemen and ship-board service personnel which existed in the United Kingdom between 1922 and 1927.

Rowan Cahill is an Australian historian and journalist, with a background as a teacher and farmhand, who variously worked for the trade union movement as a rank and file activist, delegate and publicist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maritime Union of Australia</span> Maritime union organization in Australia

The Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) was a union which covered waterside workers, seafarers, port workers, professional divers, and office workers associated with Australian ports. The MUA was formed in 1993 with merger of the Seamen's Union of Australia and the Waterside Workers' Federation of Australia.

Eliot Valens Elliott, also known as Vic Elliott, was a trade union leader of the Seamen's Union of Australia (SUA) from 1941 to 1978.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tas Bull</span>

Tasnor Ivan "Tas" Bull was an Australian trade union leader, serving as General Secretary of the Waterside Workers' Federation from 1984 to 1993.

The Myanmar Maritime Trade Unions Federation, formerly known as Seafarers Union of Burma (SUB) is a trade union in Myanmar. It represents an estimated 20,000-30,000 workers in the international shipping industry, many of whom work on Flag of Convenience ships and suffer from poor work and pay conditions.

Firemen and Deckhands' Union of New South Wales (FDU) was an Australian trade union existing between 1901 and 1993. The union covered deckhands employed on ferries, tugs, launches, lighters and hoppers, as well as enginemen, wharf hands, turnstill hands, change hands, firemen, motorboat coxmen and assistants. The FDU operated a closed shop, with all labour in the industry provided to employers through the union.

Federated Marine Stewards and Pantrymen's Association of Australasia was an Australian trade union established in 1884, and existing as a federal union from 1909 to 1988. The association represented marine stewards and stewardesses, marine pantrymen and crew attendants. The union operated a closed shop, with all workers employed in the industry members of the union, and operated on a 'no OK card - no job' principle.

Marine Cooks, Bakers and Butchers' Association of Australasia was an Australian trade union. It was formed in Melbourne in August 1907 as a breakaway group from the Federated Stewards and Cooks' Union of Australia and was registered under the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Act 1904 in January 1908 and affiliated with the Trades and Labour Council in April 1908. The Association represented workers employed as cooks, bakers, butchers and other food preparation roles aboard ships in Australia and New Zealand. In November 1908 Mr Justice Higgins issued a judgement on rates of pay and hours for marine cooks in a case involving the Association and the Commonwealth Steamship Owners' Association. The Association moved its Head Office moved from Melbourne to Sydney in January 1915.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jim Healy (trade unionist)</span> Australian trade unionist

James "Big Jim" Healy was an Australian trade unionist and communist activist. Healy served as General Secretary of the Waterside Workers' Federation of Australia from 1937 to his death in 1961, a period when the union recovered from its defeat in the 1928 waterfront strike to become one of the most powerful trade unions in Australia. Healy was one of the most prominent public representatives of the communist movement in Australia during the Cold War.

Professional Divers' Association of Australia was an Australian trade union which existed between 1969 and 1991. The union had coverage of all workers employed underwater in Australia, principally as professional divers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paddy Crumlin</span> Australian trade unionist

Padraig "Paddy" Crumlin is an Australian trade unionist. In addition to his leadership of the Maritime Union of Australia since 2000, he has been the President of the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) since 2010 and the International President of the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union since that union was established in 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Waterside Workers' Federation of Australia</span> Former maritime trade union in Australia

The Waterside Workers' Federation of Australia (WWF) was an Australian trade union that existed from 1902 to 1993. After a period of negotiations between other Australian maritime unions, it was federated in 1902 and first federally registered in 1907; its first general president was Billy Hughes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black Armada</span> Maritime strike in Australia

The Black Armada was a name applied to Dutch merchant and military vessels which were prevented from sailing to the newly proclaimed independent Indonesia from Australian ports due to waterfront strikes or 'black bans' by maritime trade unions from 1945 to 1949.

Rupert Ernest Lockwood was an Australian journalist and communist activist.

The Dalfram dispute of 1938 was a political industrial dispute at Port Kembla, New South Wales, protesting the export of pig iron from Australia to Japan during the Second Sino-Japanese War. It became famous for providing the nickname of Pig Iron Bob to Attorney General Robert Menzies, later to serve as Prime Minister.

Della Elliott was an Australian trade unionist.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Huntley, Pat. (1985). "Inside Australia's Top 100 Trade Unions". Northbridge:Ian Huntley Pty. Ltd. ISBN   0-9589527-01
  2. 1 2 3 Smith, Bruce A. (20 April 2001). "Seamens Union of Australia". Australian Trade Union Archives . Retrieved 24 September 2011.
  3. ↑ Lockwood, Rupert (1982). Black Armada: Australia and the Struggle for Indonesian Independence, 1942-49. Sydney: Australasian Book Society. ISBN   978-0-86806-004-0.
  4. ↑ "Seamen's Union to Discuss Indonesia". The Sun. 20 December 1948. Retrieved 22 September 2018.
  5. ↑ "New Ban on Dutch Ships". The Daily Telegraph (Sydney). 7 January 1949. Retrieved 22 September 2018.
  6. ↑ "Conviction Upheld". Press. 3 October 1931. p. 10. Retrieved 29 May 2016.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.