Federated Marine Stewards and Pantrymen's Association of Australasia was an Australian

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

established in 1884, Kirkby, Diane. (2008). "''Voices from the ships: Australia's seafarers and their union''". Sydney: University of New South Wales Press Ltd. . dui: 331.88113875. and existing as a federal union from 1909 to 1988.Smith, Bruce A. created 20 April 2001, last modified 6 August 2010. Trade Union Entry: Federated Marine Stewards & Pantrymen's Association of Australasia. "http://www.atua.org.au/biogs/ALE0467b.htm".

Australian Trade Union Archives Australian Trade Union Archives is a website intended to be an online resource for archived and present day material related to industrial organisations in Australia. It went online in 2002. It is a joint project of the Australian Science and Tec ...

. Retrieved 13 March 2011. The association represented marine stewards and stewardesses, marine pantrymen and crew attendants. The union operated a

closed shop A pre-entry closed shop (or simply closed shop) is a form of union security agreement under which the employer agrees to hire union members only, and employees must remain members of the union at all times to remain employed. This is different fro ...

, with all workers employed in the industry members of the union, and operated on a 'no OK card - no job' principle. The Association amalgamated with the

Seamen's Union of Australia The Seamen's Union of Australia (SUA) was the principal trade union for merchant seamen in Australia from 1876 to 1991. The SUA developed a reputation as one of the most militant trade unions in Australia and was closely associated with the ...

in 1988.

Politics

For most of its history the union had poor relations with the more radical, left-wing maritime trade unions due to the strong communist influence in these organisations, and was aligned with the right wing of the Labor movement, as represented by the Democratic Labor Party. The Marine Stewards' Association resisted industry-wide strike action in August 1935, when members of the

advocated a strike over pay and conditions.Fitzpatrick, Brian and Cahill, Rowan J. (1981). ''The Seamen's Union of Australia 1872-1972: A History''. Sydney: Seamen's Union of Australia. . The Marine Stewards' Union was the first maritime union to admit women into its membership, albeit initially in very low numbers and only on passenger ships. Robert James (Bob) Heffron was for a number of years in the 1920s the Secretary of the NSW Branch of the Federated Marine Stewards and Pantrymen's Association, and between 1959 and 1964 was Premier of New South Wales.

Amalgamation

Despite a long history of proud independence, the association began to consider amalgamation during the 1980s, as generational change reduced animosity with other maritime trade unions, and changes in the industry, such as

automation Automation describes a wide range of technologies that reduce human intervention in processes, namely by predetermining decision criteria, subprocess relationships, and related actions, as well as embodying those predeterminations in machines ...

and a reduction in passenger travel by sea, reduced the membership base. The process of amalgamation with the Seamen's Union was initiated in 1985, and completed in 1988. Amalgamation reduced the cost of running a small organisation, and allowed more concerted action on board ships, where previously up to 8 separate unions could have had coverage on a ship of 40, with each union holding separate meetings. The greater industrial strength of the new SUA (later to amalgamate with the

Waterside Workers' Federation The Waterside Workers' Federation of Australia (WWF) was an Australian trade union that existed from 1902 to 1993. After a period of negotiations between other Australian maritime unions, it was federated in 1902 and first federally registered ...

to become the

Maritime Union of Australia The Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) was a union which covered waterside workers, seafarers, port workers, professional divers, and office workers associated with Australian ports. The MUA was formed in 1993 with merger of the Seamen's Union ...

) led to achievements, including new hiring arrangements which gave greater job security to ships' stewards.

References

{{Authority control Defunct trade unions of Australia Maritime trade unions Trade unions disestablished in 1988 Trade unions established in 1884