Waterfront Reform in Britain and Australia—In Practice and in Principle

Abstract

In 1989 industry-wide employment arrangements in Britain's docks and on the Australian wharves were abandoned in favour of company- or enterprise-level arrangements. In both countries waterfront reform was a response to industrial relations problems and economic inefficiency, but there the similarity ends. In Britain the abolition of the National Dock Labour Scheme has unleashed a cost-cutting exercise of unparalleled proportions, with massive job losses and new working practices implemented almost literally overnight. This has produced a short-term fillip to productivity, but has failed to address many of the industry's underlying problems. In contrast, the three-year In-Principle Agreement negotiated in Australia has produced less spectacular changes but has laid the foundations for long-term structural reform.