Voices from the Ships: Australia's Seafarers and Their Union

by Diane Kirkby, Diane Elizabeth Kirkby

Kirkby (history and humanities, La Trobe U., Australia) has written this historical account of the Seaman's Union of Australia to show how this organization became involved with such political issues as apartheid in South Africa, the end of the Vietnam War, the rights of aborigines and the boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics. The author uses interviews with union members to provide general readers with working and family lives of the SUA as well as their involvement in a variety of social and industrial causes. The evolution of the SUA into the modern Maritime Union of Australia is documented as well. Annotation ©2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

480 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2009