Shrinking wharfie union seeks merger to survive

By Brad Norington, Industrial Editor, Sydney Morning Herald,
Wednesday 8 November 2000

The man who led the Maritime Union of Australia during the dramatic waterfront dispute admits his union's survival is in jeopardy - despite its proud slogan MUA here to stay.

Mr John Coombs, the MUA's national secretary, yesterday proposed a merger with the giant left-wing Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union as a way of keeping the MUA afloat.

Mr Coombs said his union was reduced to 9,000 members and had little prospect of membership growth.

He said that no-one would be left in charge of the union unless the long-term prospects for membership and finances were secured.

A formal resolution is being considered this week at the CFMEU's national convention to work in close co-operation with and commence discussions on the sharing of resources or amalgamation with the Maritime Union of Australia.

The resolution is the product of an increasingly close relationship between the two left-wing unions, personified in the friendship between Mr Coombs and the CFMEU's national leader, Mr John Maitland.

The CFMEU was one of the main unions on the front lines of pickets to defend the MUA during the waterfront dispute with Patrick stevedores two years ago.

The MUA has reciprocated by sending busloads of wharfies to Hunter Valley pickets of coalminers during strikes involving the Rio Tinto company.

Mr Coombs, who is making the merger issue a priority before he retires, said he had explored the question of merging with other unions and found few opportunities existed apart from the mining division of the CFMEU.

A merger with the 150,000-member CFMEU would potentially guarantee the MUA's financial survival - but the union could be swamped by the much larger parent and lose its historical identity.

The MUA was created a decade ago with the merger of the Waterfront Workers Federation, representing stevedores, and the Seamens Union, representing local seafarers.

Since then the number of seafarers has fallen as the number of Australian coastal ships has fallen. The full-time workforce of stevedores has also fallen because of large-scale redundancies as docks have switched to greater mechanisation and companies have opted for more casual employees.

Mr Coombs said he had to consider what his members wanted after a number of ACTU-backed union mergers in the 1990s left workers disenchanted.