
Issue No 56		02 June 2000

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Review

Who Really Won the War?

By Michael Purvis

It might be being pulped for a reference to serial-suitor Peter Costello, but 'Waterfront' has sparked some lively debate about our recent industrial history.

The 1998 waterfront dispute between Patrick Stevedores and the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) was front page news for over six months and the images are still fresh in our minds. It was a story of security guards with balaclavas and dogs taking over the docks in the middle of the night, thousand of pickets at port gates around the country and legal wrangling that went all the way to the High Court.

But who won? The MUA has claimed it was the ultimate victor since the aim of the Federal Government, Patricks and the National Farmers Federation (NFF) was to end its presence on the Australian waterfront and this clearly failed. Their chant said it all: "MUA - here to stay". And they are still here. On the other hand, Patrick's CEO Chris Corrigan has claimed he won since the share price of Patrick's parent company Lang Corp, more than tripled in the months after the dispute and it reported a profit of $36 million for the year ending September 30, 1999, compared with a loss of $63 million in 1998.

Who won is just one of many intriguing questions examined in this first book on this landmark dispute: Waterfront: The battle that changed Australia, by Fairfax journalists Helen Trinca and Anne Davies. It is a complex story, well told. The book explains how the Howard Government developed its strategy to take on the union, how the training of a substitute workforce in Dubai came unstuck after leaks to the union by a friendly "Deep Throat" and the intervention of International Transport Workers Federation, the role of the NFF, Corrigan's corporate restructure where the wharfies found themselves employed by a company whose assets had been completely stripped and ultimately how the Government was defeated partly by its own legislation. It's a complicated story and the authors do a fine job explaining how the union movement had to fight on a number of fronts: on the ground, in the media and in the courts.

The book highlights key issues that created much controversy during the course of the dispute. Many unionists at the time were asking, why not go in harder and just call a national strike? As the authors point out it would have exposed the entire union movement to damages and would not have lasted long enough to sort out the mess. But this was a view pushed by some within the MUA itself, particularly by joint national secretary, Tony Papconstuntinos, who was eventually sidelined.

Meanwhile, many employers witnessing the effectiveness of the pickets were asking why the police were not doing their duty by enforcing the law against picketing and allowing trucks to move in and out of the docks. Jeff Kennett has been unfairly accused for the alleged failure of the police to clear pickets on the Melbourne waterfront, but as the authors explain the responsibility for this lies elsewhere. At one stage, despite a large crowd picketing the main gate to East Swanston Dock the Victoria Police were able to hold open a small gate on Coode Road for four hours but no trucks were willing to enter the port facility. As Trinca and Davies tell it, three transport companies were willing to try to get goods off the docks for their clients but not without the backing of the entire industry. This highlights a key point that baffled many observers during the dispute; industrial relations is a complex and difficult business and finding solution is usually involves more than just applying the law.

The most intriguing question is of course who won. Trinca and Davies claim that Corrigan was the clear winner since he ultimately ended up with a very profitable business when at one stage he was staring at the prospect of a huge financial loss. But how many employees want to work for an unprofitable employer? An unprofitable company is just a short step away from going into liquidation, laying off workers with many losing their accrued entitlements. Despite their animosity towards Corrigan the MUA would have been the last to want Patrick to go broke. Rather the question of who won depends on what was at stake. Clearly, the key issue was not whether Corrigan could make a quid but whether or not his employees could choose to be union members. It was this question on which the legal battle turned and ultimately the courts upheld the right of Patrick employees to do so.

In the end both sides got part of what they wanted. Corrigan wanted a profitable company but one employing non-union labour. He got the first but not the second. The MUA wanted to uphold the right of its members at Patrick to remain MUA members. It did this but at the cost of having to accept redundancies and a degree of casualisation. Dare I say it, but could the 1998 waterfront dispute be the best example we have yet of the fabled win/win solution?

Waterfront: The battle that changed Australia, by Helen Trinca and Anne Davies, 2000, Doubleday 317pp, $26.95

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Issue 56 contents

Interview: When the War is Over
Teachers Federation chief Sue Simpson has just come through the industrial dispute of a lifetime. But where to now for her members?

Politics: The Beazley Manifesto
Read the full transcript of Kim Beazley's Fraser Lecture develiered this week, where he unveiled Labor's new industrial relations platform.

Unions: Dudded on the Dock of the Bay
Until a few weeks ago Allan and Beverley Crelley had never ever heard of SERCO the big London multinational that specialises in winning contracts from governments committed to outsourcing their workers.

History: The Long March for Justice
Against the backdrop of the Walk for Reconciliation across the Sydney Harbour Bridge that took place last Sunday, it is worthwhile recognising that trade unionists were actively promoting the issue decades ago.

International: UK Unions Turn the Corner
Union membership is on the rise for the first time in 20 years, indicating an early response to union recognition legislation set to come into effect next month.

Work/Time/Life: Flexible Clerks Save Hours
The Australian Services Union has successfully blocked an attempt by wholesaler Davids Limited to force clerical staff at the company's Blacktown office from flexible working hours to a standard 38 hour week.

Review: Who Really Won the War?
It might be being pulped for a reference to serial-suitor Peter Costello, but 'Waterfront' has sparked some lively debate about our recent industrial history.

Satire: Gosper's New Torch Role
A week after he was excluded from the Olympic torch relay as a result of public criticism, Kevan Gosper has been reinstated by SOCOG President Michael Knight for a special project.

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» Major Blow to Government Outsourcing

» Beazley Blocks Contracts as Reith Hits New Wall

» Carr Makes Formal Offer on Olympics Pay

» Surfing Carnivals Highlights Beach Threat

» Mail Stopped Over Junk Deal

» CBA Staff To Strike Over Queues and Abuse

» Women's Bureau to Stay in DIR

» Joy's Winter of Discontent

» Advocate Pushes Pattern Bargaining

» Nike Versus The Workers

» New Safety Laws A First in Australia

» Workers March for Reconciliation

» Labour Movement Mourns Loss of Neil Marshall (11th June 1943 - 31st May 2000)