Ukrainian ballast

[mattd]

Union denies ship sabotage
 From AAP
04jan02
THE seafarers' union has denied sabotage aboard a ship at the centre of a 
row over plans to replace its Australian crew with cheaper labour from 
Ukraine.
Federal police are expected to meet representatives of the 
Australian-registered 30,000-tonne bulk carrier, CSL Yarra, when it docks 
in Adelaide on Sunday to investigate allegations of sabotage.
The Yarra's captain said someone had opened a fire hose that pumped water 
into the ship's residual cargo hold containing 700 tonnes of cement which 
had set hard.
The ship is at the centre of a Federal Court battle between CSL Australia 
and the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) over plans to replace the local 
crew with Ukrainian sailors.
The Yarra left Brisbane three days ago and was sailing off the NSW south 
coast en route to Adelaide at the time of the incident.
MUA South Australian branch secretary Rick Newland said the culprit was a 
leaky fire hydrant and not sabotage.
"I dispute the use of that word simply because we're about saving that 
vessel and maintaining it to work on the Australian coast carrying 
Australian cargoes with Australian seafarers," he told ABC radio today.
"To the cynical it would look at though there was something quite 
deliberate that happened.
"I believe there will be an inquiry simply into the mechanical faults of 
that fire hydrant, on arrival in Adelaide, and we welcome that outcome."
He said sabotage at sea was outside seafarers' view of life.
Mr Newlan said the union was legitimately seeking to protect employment 
opportunities for Australian seafarers on Australian vessels.
"We're not promoting the Australian coast to be open to Third World 
seafarers who are certainly not up to the skills."
Open end the star system!, December 27, 2001 (from 
Amazon... >http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0900384409/qid=1010135372/ 
sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_8_2/102-1712066-7776933<
Reviewer: professor rat (see more about me)
Like the Abel Paz classic,"Durrutti,The people armed."This is one essential 
book.Second only to Durrutti in time.The place for the drama is the 
Ukraine,circa,1917-20.The history of the Makhnovista's is truly epic,gut 
wrenching and incredible.It is almost totally forgotten or ignored 
now,yet,this is one of those points in History with a capital H.The ripples 
of these extraordinary events and superhuman feats are still rippling 
outward in spite of several genocides wreaked on this reigon.The writers 
style seems a little old fashioned and unusual,yet, you get drawn in by the 
human interest story of the education and stellar rise of a genuine working 
class hero and revolutionary Icon,"Batko",Nestor Makhno met the author in 
prison and learnt the basics of anarchism from him.They were released in 
the febuary revolution and their battles in the south against tyranny's of 
white and red armies have become the stuff of legend.The study of what 
ordinary people actually do in revolutionary periods is intrinsically 
interesting.I would suggest that close study of the makhnovist libertarian 
socialist revolution should be rewarding,if only for entertainment.(Its 
70mm cinematic.)