'I can't turn away'
By Bill Mason
On February 11, Brisbane activists heard MUA Southern Queensland branch organiser Jeff Langdon speak at the Resistance Centre on the union's strategy in its dispute with the National Farmers Federation.
The attacks on waterfront labour in the Cairns and Dubai adventures last year were calculated to destroy the MUA, Langdon said. "If it wasn't for the solidarity of Australian unions and the International Transport Federation, they would have won at Cairns."
The MUA is planning to send members to all job sites in Brisbane, as well as to country areas to explain their position. "Produce has never rotted on the docks", Langdon explained.
"If it comes to legal action", he said, "they can take my house. You've got to draw a line in the sand. I've had 27 years of struggle and I can't turn away."
On the supposed non-competitiveness of the Australian wharves, Langdon told the audience, "the death rate's about three a day in Singapore".
Brisbane Democratic Socialist Party organiser Graham Matthews pledged the unconditional support of the DSP. "In fighting for themselves they fight for all workers", he concluded.