The Waterfront Dispute: Of Vendetta and the Australian Way

Abstract

In the latter part of 1997, and the first half of 1998, Australian industrial relations was dominated by a major recognition dispute on the waterfront. Patrick Stevedores sacked its Maritime Union of Australia workforce on 7 April 1998, employing labour supplied by a National Farmers Federation subsidiary. The sackings precipitated mass picketing around Australian ports. The Federal Court issued an interlocutory injunction, which in essentials was upheld by the High Court 6-1, ordering reinstatement of the workforce because of the possibility that Patrick, the National Farmers Federation and the Australian government had conspired to thwart the Freedom of Association provisions of the Workplace Relations Act 1996 (Comm.). The dispute is further complicated by an unsuccessful attempt to train former and current military personnel as stevedores in the port of Dubai. This article examines and analyses major twists and turns associated with this dispute.