CSL Reflags Yarra

Date: 06 May 2002

Canadian Shipping Ltd has today sold the CSL Yarra to an offshore arm, cancelled the Australian registration and reflagged the vessel in the Bahamas tax haven.

Captain John Briggs gave the crew the news on board the ship in Port Pirie late this afternoon.

"Treachery -- there's no other for it," said National Secretary Paddy Crumlin. "It's just an outrageous act of corporate ship shuffling and a tax rort designed to circumvent labour, customs and migration laws.

We have appealed Justice Branson's Federal Court decision of last month which would have effectively allowed the sale and reflagging of the vessel, but the company has just gone ahead and sold the ship from under the crew anyway.

The question now is will CSL carry out their
threat and continue to trade on the Australian coast and will they bring guest workers into the country to replace Australian workers carrying Australian cargo between Australian ports?"

Crumlin said crew were expecting their marching orders to be only hours away. He called on Transport Minister John Anderson to stop any further single voyage permits for foreign vessels.

"We are determined to protect Australian jobs," said Crumlin.

The Australian seafarers now have widespread support among the community and the broader labour movement, with around 100 construction, manufacturing, mining and transport unionists joining the MUA protesting the loss of Australian jobs outside CSL offices in Sydney today, following a successful May Day rally led by ACTU President Sharon Burrow in Port Pirie, yesterday.

Speakers told the peaceful rally that if CSL was successful in replacing the crew of the Yarra with guest workers, no Australian jobs were safe and there would be no merchant marine to help protect our borders in times of crisis.

The escalating dispute could now also lead to a cement shortage in the building industry, Secretary of the Australian Workers Union Bill Shorten warned today. The AWU covers workers at Adelaide Brighton Cement which charters the CSL ships.

Contacts: National Secretary 0418 379 660, Assistant
National Secretary Ric Newlyn 0418 841378

For further information

Contact:	Paddy Crumlin
Union:	Labor Council of NSW
Contact Mobile:	0418 379 660
WWW:	http://www.mua.org.au

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