Join us at NIBS 5:30pm for drinks and 6pm start
Speakers are Diane Kirkby, Author
Rae Frances, President of ASSLH ( the Austn Society for the Study of Labour History)
and Paddy Crumlin, MUA National Sec. and ITF President.
Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/maritime-men-of-the-asia-pacific-book-launch-tickets-467302754117
Key Features of this book launch talk:
Brings the Asia-Pacific into focus at the forefront of labour internationalism
Placing Australian Unionism in a context of global activism for maritime labour rights
Shows the complexities of pursuing internationalism and reaching beyond racist and Cold War Ideologies
Blends legal, labour and social history within a transnational frame
Maritime workers occupy a central place in global labour history. This new and compelling account from Australia, shows seafaring and waterside unions engaged in a shared history of activism for legally regulated wages and safe liveable conditions for all who go to sea. Maritime Men of the South Pacific provides a corrective to studies which overlook this region’s significance as a provider of the world’s maritime labour force and where unions have a rich history of reaching across their differences to forge connections in solidarity. From the ‘militant young Australian’ Harry Bridges whose progressive unionism transformed the San Francisco waterfront, to Australia’s successful implementation of the Maritime Labour Convention 2006, this is a story of vision and leadership on the international stage. Unionists who saw themselves as internationalists were also operating within a national and imperial framework where conflicting interests and differences of race and ideology had to be overcome. Union activists in India, China and Japan struggled against indentured labour and ‘coolie’ standards. They linked with their fellow-unionists in pursuing an ideal of international labour rights against the power of shipowners and anti-union governments. This is a complex story of endurance, cooperation and conflict and its empowering legacy.