The Maritime Union of Australia has accused global cruise giant Carnival Cruises of running a sham “home porting” operation in Australia while refusing to comply with basic Australian workplace safety laws.
Yesterday, officials from the MUA accompanied government safety inspectors from SafeWork NSW to an inspection of the cruise vessel Carnival Adventure in New South Wales waters, berthed alongside a NSW Government owned and operated passenger wharf at Circular Quay.
“The actions of Carnival Cruises alongside Circular Quay yesterday were a breach of state safety laws and they will now be prosecuted”, MUA Assistant National Secretary Jamie Newlyn said.
Changes to the laws in New South Wales activated this month allow worker safety organisations like the Maritime Union of Australia to launch proceedings in the state’s industrial courts to penalise companies who refuse to follow workplace health and safety law. The maximum penalty for refusing, delaying or obstructing the entry of a WHS entry permit holder is $74,849 per incident. The Union and SafeWork NSW have now been refused entry on three separate occasions.
Despite marketing the vessel as being “home ported” in Australia, Carnival has repeatedly refused to recognise the lawful rights of Australian workplace safety officials and union permit holders to access the ship and consult with workers.
Under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW), authorised inspectors and WHS entry permit holders have a lawful right to enter workplaces to consult with workers and advise them about their health and safety rights.
Mr Newlyn said Carnival’s conduct raised serious questions about whether they should continue enjoying Ministerial exemptions to the Coastal Trading Act which allow them to operate foreign flagged ships in Australian waters.
“Carnival claims vessels like the Carnival Adventure are ‘home ported’ in Australia when it suits their marketing department, but when it comes to obeying Australian laws they suddenly pretend those laws don’t apply to them,” Mr Newlyn said.
“You can’t have it both ways. If you are operating out of Australian ports, carrying Australian passengers, and marketing yourself as part of the Australian tourism industry, then you must obey Australian workplace safety laws,” Newlyn explained.
The MUA said Carnival is currently promoting multiple vessels as being “home ported” in Australia yet continues to resist the lawful rights of workplace health and safety officials and union representatives to ensure the safety of crew.
“Carnival’s so-called ‘home porting’ arrangement is nothing more than a marketing gimmick designed to disguise workplace exploitation and safety breaches unfolding up and down our coastline,” MUA Sydney Branch Secretary Paul Keating said.
“Refusing entry to a WHS permit holder is not a technicality. It is a breach of New South Wales safety laws. Section 121 of the Act exists to protect workers from exactly this kind of corporate behaviour,” Mr Keating said.
The MUA warned that multinational cruise corporations cannot continue to be allowed to operate floating workplaces in Australian waters while ignoring the laws that apply to every other Australian employer.
“This misconduct by Carnival is completely inconsistent with their claims to be operating in good faith in Australian waters,” MUA Sydney Branch Organiser, Shane Reside said.
“Clearly the company has something to hide, or they would not be breaking the laws of the land in which they operate to keep safety inspectors and WHS permit holders off their ship,” Mr Reside said.
The union is calling on regulators to begin applying the full spectrum of inspectorate, regulatory and enforcement provisions available to government under Australian state and federal law to bring the cruise behemoth to heel in Australian waters.
“This company takes more from us than what it gives back. They employ very few local workers, they pay no tax here, and they refuse to obey our laws, while running ships on our coast using a workforce paid as little as US$2.50 per hour” Mr Reside said.
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Contact details:
Tom Harris-Brassil: 0401 834 924
