Unions ends RI boycott

Unions ends RI boycott

SYDNEY (AFP): Australian dockers agreed Friday to call off
their ban on Indonesian ships from midnight Saturday.

The Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) was reacting to a call
from the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) to suspend
their industrial boycott of Indonesia when peacekeepers arrive in
East Timor.

But the union body warned in a statement the bans would be
quickly reimposed if Indonesia failed to uphold its commitments
to the United Nations in relation to the peacekeepers.

Australian unions have boycotted all commercial activity
involving Indonesia for a week in protest at the killing of
thousands of people in East Timor by army-backed militias.

The bans caused loading of three shiploads of wheat to
Indonesia to be delayed and a build-up of containers and general
cargo on ports around Australia.