Jon Lamb, Darwin
East Arm Wharf is a new sprawling development on the edge of Darwin that is fast becoming the hub of the town's maritime trade. Established in 1999, the site has next to no facilities for seafarers, waterside workers and others who work there. The Darwin Port Welfare Committee (DPWC) is seeking to improve the lot of workers at East Arm.
According to Brian Manning, a retired wharfie and former secretary of the Maritime Union of Australia's Northern Territory branch, when East Arm first started operations it was a greenfield site with no facilities for workers.
"For seafarers in particular, there was nowhere to go to change money, do shopping, get on the internet", said Manning. "All that sort of thing was available when the main port activity was at Fort Hill and Stokes Hill wharves".
The Stella Maris Seafarers Centre in central Darwin has operated since 1957 to assist seafarers visiting the inner city wharves, by providing accommodation, cheap meals, cheap phone calls, computer access and money changing facilities. Because East Arm is located further away from the CBD (in an isolated mangrove swamp some 30 minutes drive away) access for seafarers and wharf workers is much more difficult. The Seafarers Centre may also need to relocate in the next few years.
"We established the Darwin Port Welfare Committee a couple of years ago as a result of a national initiative that was taken up by the union and others that were looking at the facilities available to seafarers around the world", Manning told Â鶹´«Ã½ Weekly. " A survey by the ITF [International Transport Federation] found that there was about 25% of ports around the world where there was no facilities for the seafarers."
Manning said that the DPWC is "seeking to get something established at East Arm for the benefit of all workers, not just seafarers, but stevedoring employees, truck drivers, whoever ... a canteen and place to meet".
At any one time there are 50-60 workers at the wharf and the number is expected to increase with the expansion of the East Arm facility.
"They all have a need of some sort, especially the seafarers who come into the port. Their immediate needs these days is often to get to an internet caf‚ or go to Stella Maris, to send and collect emails, buy essentials and in some cases seek fellowship", Manning explained.
The DPWC has been allocated a site by the Darwin Port Corporation to establish a building. "Our intention is to make it a place where seafarers and others can go and use recreational facilities, computers and a canteen. It will be self-funding and run by volunteers", said Manning.
A waterside worker for 35 years, Manning laments the current attacks upon the union movement. "The union movement nationally has had a lot of setbacks as a result of a concerted effort by this conservative government to reduce the need, or the perceived need for unions. There is a perception among young workers that unions are irrelevant and the waterfront is no exception. There are young people coming on to the waterfront that have no background in union activity ... they are on a learning curve.
"One of the biggest setbacks has been the present working arrangements where virtually at no time do workers get to have time together ... where all the workers on a job will be in the room at the one time, where they can discuss an issue, unless it is a stop work.
"When I came into the job there were half-hour smokos, for everybody on the wharf ... up to 300 workers and you could discuss all sorts of issues. You could prepare a discussion, like the Vietnam War, or upcoming negotiations for a contract or various problems of workplace safety."
To find out more about DPWC project or make a donation, write to the Darwin Port Welfare Committee, GPO Box 390, Darwin 0801 or email Brian Manning at <btmanning@bigpond.com.au>.
From Â鶹´«Ã½ Weekly, November 24, 2004.
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