Alcoa and the loss of Aussie seafarers jobs

[John Arton]

I guess our Aus. friends have heard all about this. Interesting comment on how/where they were able to get a crew to sail at short notice without any familiarisation of the vessel, which is against IMO/Class etc. regs.
rgds
JA
https://gcaptain.com/2016/01/14/mv-p...5#.VpjWOjYrHIU

[j.sabourn]

All depends now on the Dockers whether they handle the new ship or not. It could fizzle out, or turn into another big dock strike Australia wide, depends on the unions and their membership. JS

[Ivan Cloherty]

From my experiences of the WWF in 60's and 70's I reckon Alcoa have bitten themselves in the a*se unless the WWF has now got false teeth

[j.sabourn]

Ivan the unions here now are no where near as powerful as they once were, I think the false teeth are very likely. Cheers JS

[j.sabourn]

#1... John apart from a couple of instances my familiarization with vessels when joining has usually been a 10 minute handover in most cases. The same as most things in shipping these regs. are only good for appearances sake. At least after struggling out of Singapore at various times had 5 days to get to know vessel before going to proper work. They cant play that card in all honesty. The only time have seen done properly was on Scandanavian vessels. Also on oil rigs. And as regards supply and specialized vessels they are much more complex than the old merchantman. Cheers JS

[Charlie Hannah]

Scabby B******* Foreign labor.if this was 50s or 60s,it would be one out all out,No back bone in unions these days the way things are going there will be very few Aussies in a job they will be in dole queues all over the country with the amount of reffoes in the country now they have plenty to choose from.potential scabs the hole bunch of them.

[happy daze john in oz]

I can assure you no more will be heard of this. The crew apparently were made redundant a while ago but refused to leave the ship. Alcoa are not too worried about who crews the ship as long as wages are low and they do as they are told. One of the big smelters here they own is now closed down due to lack of demand and very high Australian wages. It is very hard for the lads who lost their jobs but the Australian MN is just about gone now. The rot began back in the 80's when the then Labor gov sold off ANL the Australian shipping line.

[Ivan Cloherty]

#6 Charlie seems upset!

[Ivan Cloherty]

#1...as regards supply and specialized vessels they are much more complex than the old merchantman. Cheers JS

When I see them and read about them and their attributes etc in my periodicals then I feel privileged to have sailed on an old Empire ship with just a magnetic compass, dodgy echo sounder and a D/F that never worked when you needed it and being a steamship gliding serenely and silently at a graceful 8 knots towards that port you hoped you would eventually reach!, then in fog actually slowing down and pulling that steam whistle lanyard every two minutes.

[cappy]

ivan can anyone tell me where any union has ever beaten a company where there is no profitability left.... what human being or corporation can run at a loss ..if the money runs out then the investors will duck .....the company will close ......in the recent redcar steel debacle ...the unions constantly gave hope ......when everyone one knew there was no demand for steel and wouldnt be for months or years.......there was a fleet of ore carriers 50 years ago coming and going ....but the chinese and other countries learned to make steel and build ships and crew them......for peanuts...sadly the end came about ......new technologies are the only way to survive......and of course the rest of the world india china japan korea are now on a level playing field .....not like years ago ....when they could only be descibed as backward.....eveyrthing changes not always for the better ......the only thing for sure is everything changes ......if not the isis would be firing bows and arrows at us........regards cappy