Well hey ho you landlubbers here’s a tale of a ship of shame A leaky tub that’s manned by slaves and the Bucket O’ Rust is her name Bucket O’ Rust is her name
The flag of convenience she flies the Jolly Roger of today With laundered money contraband and drugs and a crew that gets no pay A crew that gets no pay
Well the Bucket O’ Rust is a grimy heap it’s a wonder that she can float And if she sinks you can’t escape you can’t launch the safety boats Launch her safety boats
Her urinals are full of slime and scum but what’s even worse than that Is the rancid food in the galley must be shared with the roach and the rat You got to share it with the roach and the rat
Well the Bucket O’ Rust is a great success she’s welcome in our ports She undercuts our local ships with her cheapness and her rorts Cheapness and her rorts
Deregulated industry is her blood her life line You can be substandard and be a sweatshop and the government don’t mind No the government don’t mind
Well sad to say the Bucket O’ Rust could this have been God’s will? On the Great Barrier Reef she ran aground with two crew members killed Two crew members killed
And it took them twelve days to blast her away and free her from the reef And all through the time the oil she spilled it brought the sea to grief You know it brought the sea to grief
It’s hard to believe that this story ends well and this great heap of shit The Minister of Transport saved the day when he issued a new permit
(Spoken) – John Anderson was his name it’s a true story
Our shipping must be competitive he said in the world economy So the Bucket O’ Rust continues to crawl like a coffin on the sea A coffin on the sea
Yeah the Bucket O’ Rust continues to crawl Upon the grimy the sea
Notes Many thanks to John Hospodaryk for permission to add this song to the Union Songs collection.
This song won first prize in the 2002 MUA song competition. It is on the MUA centenary CD "With These Arms"