1998 Australian waterfront dispute
Encyclopedia
Patrick Corporation
Patrick Corporation Ltd was an Australian publicly listed logistics conglomerate. Headed by CEO Chris Corrigan before it was absorbed by Toll Holdings in 2006, Patrick had interests in shipping, rail and aviation, including a 62% shareholding in airline Virgin Blue...
undertook a restructuring of their operations for the purpose of increasing the productivity of their workforce. This dispute involved Patrick Corporation locking out their workers after the restructuring had taken place, with many of these workers members of the dominant Maritime Union of Australia. The resulting dismissal and locking out
Lockout (industry)
A lockout is a work stoppage in which an employer prevents employees from working. This is different from a strike, in which employees refuse to work.- Causes :...
of their unionised
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
workforce was supported and backed by the then Australian Liberal
Liberal Party of Australia
The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...
/National
National Party of Australia
The National Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Traditionally representing graziers, farmers and rural voters generally, it began as the The Country Party, but adopted the name The National Country Party in 1975, changed to The National Party of Australia in 1982. The party is...
Coalition
Coalition (Australia)
The Coalition in Australian politics refers to a group of centre-right parties that has existed in the form of a coalition agreement since 1922...
Government.
Major events in the dispute occurred in four major ports, where the Patrick Corporation
Patrick Corporation
Patrick Corporation Ltd was an Australian publicly listed logistics conglomerate. Headed by CEO Chris Corrigan before it was absorbed by Toll Holdings in 2006, Patrick had interests in shipping, rail and aviation, including a 62% shareholding in airline Virgin Blue...
had significant operations, Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
, Fremantle
Fremantle
Freemantle is a suburb of Southampton in England.Fremantle or Freemantle may also refer to:- Places :* Fremantle, the port city to the capital Perth, Western Australia...
and Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
. It centred around attempts by Patrick Corporation
Patrick Corporation
Patrick Corporation Ltd was an Australian publicly listed logistics conglomerate. Headed by CEO Chris Corrigan before it was absorbed by Toll Holdings in 2006, Patrick had interests in shipping, rail and aviation, including a 62% shareholding in airline Virgin Blue...
and the Federal Government to improve efficiency on Australia's wharves; primarily by reducing staffing numbers and the power of the Maritime Union of Australia.
Waterfront productivity
In 1995-96 approximately 70 per cent of Australia's imports and 78 per cent of exports were transported by sea, amounting to approximately $60 billion in tradeTrade
Trade is the transfer of ownership of goods and services from one person or entity to another. Trade is sometimes loosely called commerce or financial transaction or barter. A network that allows trade is called a market. The original form of trade was barter, the direct exchange of goods and...
.
Data was collected throughout 1997 by the Productivity Commission
Productivity Commission
The Productivity Commission is the Australian Government's principal review and advisory body on microeconomic policy and regulation. It is an independent statutory authority in the Treasury Portfolio and responds to references from the Treasurer...
, comparing international container stevedoring performance for the same ships and trades. The data indicated that Australia charged generally higher, productivity
Productivity
Productivity is a measure of the efficiency of production. Productivity is a ratio of what is produced to what is required to produce it. Usually this ratio is in the form of an average, expressing the total output divided by the total input...
was lower and services were less reliable than overseas. With the exception of bulk grain
Grain trade
The grain trade refers the local and international trade in cereals and other food grains such as wheat, maize, and rice.-History:The grain trade is probably nearly as old as grain growing, going back the Neolithic Revolution . Wherever there is a scarcity of land The grain trade refers the local...
loading, other areas of traditional stevedoring also performed relatively poorly. It also found that marine service and port infrastructure charges were, in total, two to three times greater than at overseas ports -- noting that only some of this reflects cost-recovery pricing in Australia.
Together with other problems in the transport chain, this under-performance was not only resulting in higher direct costs to shippers, but also significant indirect costs from delays and unreliability which could have been reduced. Overall, the international benchmarking
Benchmarking
Benchmarking is the process of comparing one's business processes and performance metrics to industry bests and/or best practices from other industries. Dimensions typically measured are quality, time and cost...
revealed significant scope for improvement in Australia's performance.
Industrial relations legislation
The Howard government, before being elected in 1996, had promised significant industrial relations reform. In January 1997 it substantially amended the Industrial Relations Act, and renamed it the Workplace Relations Act 1996Workplace Relations Act 1996
The Workplace Relations Act 1996 is an Australian law passed by the Howard Government after coming into power in 1996. It replaced the previous Labor Government's Industrial Relations Act 1988. It started operation on 1 January 1997 and provided for the continuation of the federal award system...
. The stated aim of this legislation was to foster individual choice in workplace bargaining by reducing the powers of external organisations, particularly trade union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
s, to intervene. In addition, the legislation reduced powers of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission
Australian Industrial Relations Commission
The Australian Industrial Relations Commission, or AIRC , was a tribunal with powers under the Workplace Relations Act 1996. It was the central institution of Australian labour law...
to arbitrate
Arbitration
Arbitration, a form of alternative dispute resolution , is a legal technique for the resolution of disputes outside the courts, where the parties to a dispute refer it to one or more persons , by whose decision they agree to be bound...
disputes. The Act also introduced individual statutory employment contracts. These were known as Australian Workplace Agreement
Australian Workplace Agreement
Australian workplace agreements were formalized individual agreements negotiated by the boss and employee. Employers could offer "take it or leave it" AWAs as a condition of employment. They were registered by the employment advocate and did not require a dispute resolution procedure. These...
s or AWAs. The watering down of collective bargaining
Collective bargaining
Collective bargaining is a process of negotiations between employers and the representatives of a unit of employees aimed at reaching agreements that regulate working conditions...
provisions was a source of objection from many workers and unions.
Beginnings of the dispute
Australian waterfront productivity had been an issue of concern since the 1980s. Patrick CorporationPatrick Corporation
Patrick Corporation Ltd was an Australian publicly listed logistics conglomerate. Headed by CEO Chris Corrigan before it was absorbed by Toll Holdings in 2006, Patrick had interests in shipping, rail and aviation, including a 62% shareholding in airline Virgin Blue...
sought to improve productivity by creating redundancies and reducing overtime entitlements for its permanent employees, as well as hiring more employees on a casual
Casual employment
Casual employment is an Australian employment classification under Australian workplace law whereby an employee is paid at a higher hourly rate in lieu of having their employment guaranteed, and lacking other usual employment conditions such as sick leave...
basis. The MUA (Maritime Union of Australia
Maritime Union of Australia
The Maritime Union of Australia covers waterside workers, seafarers, port workers, professional divers, and office workers associated with Australian ports. As of 2011 the union has about 13,000 members. It is an affiliate of the International Transport Workers' Federation and represents the...
) was formed through the amalgamation of two unions: the Seafarers Union of Australia – the SUA, and the Waterside Workers Federation or WWF. The Maritime Union of Australia
Maritime Union of Australia
The Maritime Union of Australia covers waterside workers, seafarers, port workers, professional divers, and office workers associated with Australian ports. As of 2011 the union has about 13,000 members. It is an affiliate of the International Transport Workers' Federation and represents the...
was born from this background and retained a heavy union presence on the waterside.
At the time, a prospective employee had to be a card-carrying member of the MUA. The Howard Government sought to encourage a non-union workforce to compete against the MUA and made new legislative changes to bring this about.
After the legislative introduction of Australian Workplace Agreement
Australian Workplace Agreement
Australian workplace agreements were formalized individual agreements negotiated by the boss and employee. Employers could offer "take it or leave it" AWAs as a condition of employment. They were registered by the employment advocate and did not require a dispute resolution procedure. These...
s, a number of stevedoring operators toyed with bringing individual contract workers into their workforces, but abandoned their plans in the face of strident union opposition.
The Dubai experiment
One Australian stevedoring company, Fynwest Pty Ltd, sought to recruit former and current Australian Defence ForceAustralian Defence Force
The Australian Defence Force is the military organisation responsible for the defence of Australia. It consists of the Royal Australian Navy , Australian Army, Royal Australian Air Force and a number of 'tri-service' units...
members to counter the MUA. In particular, from December 1997, Fynwest began a campaign to recruit former and current members of the Special Air Service
Australian Special Air Service Regiment
The Special Air Service Regiment, officially abbreviated SASR but commonly known as the SAS, is a special forces unit of the Australian Army...
(SAS), paratroopers from 3RAR
3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment
3rd Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment is a parachute infantry battalion of the Australian Army, based in Sydney. 3 RAR was initially formed in 1945 as the 67th Battalion and has seen active service in Japan, Korea, Malaya, South Vietnam, East Timor, the Solomon Islands, Afghanistan and Iraq...
, commandos from 4RAR
2nd Commando Regiment (Australia)
The 2nd Commando Regiment is an Australian Army Special Forces unit, it is one of three combat-capable units within the Australian Special Operations Command. The regiment was established on 19 June 2009 when it was renamed from the 4th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment...
and other military specialists, to become stevedores. Others were recruited from controversial private military and security consulting companies, such as Sandline International
Sandline International
Sandline International was a private military company based in London, established in the early 1990s. It was involved in conflicts in Papua New Guinea in 1997 causing the Sandline affair, in 1998 in Sierra Leone and in Liberia in 2003 Sandline International was a private military company based...
and the Control Risks Group
Control Risks Group
Control Risks is a global risk and strategic consulting firm specialising in political, security and integrity risk. Control Risks’ aim is to help its clients to understand and manage the risks of operating in complex or hostile environments...
. This led to use of terms like 'industrial mercenaries
Mercenary
A mercenary, is a person who takes part in an armed conflict based on the promise of material compensation rather than having a direct interest in, or a legal obligation to, the conflict itself. A non-conscript professional member of a regular army is not considered to be a mercenary although he...
' in political and media circles.
Fynwest planned to send these recruits to Dubai
Dubai
Dubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates . The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi...
in the United Arab Emirates
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates, abbreviated as the UAE, or shortened to "the Emirates", is a state situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and sharing sea borders with Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iran.The UAE is a...
, where international standard training could be provided. The newly-trained stevedores would then take part in an Australian non-union dock workers training program.
The MUA was 'tipped off' about the planned Fynwest operation and took the matter to the media who met the departing Fynwest employees as they boarded a flight to Dubai and questioned their 'tourist' status. Intense criticism and the threat of international industrial retaliation forced the Dubai Government to cancel visas for the Fynwest company employees.
The lockout
In September 1997, Patricks implemented a restructure whereby the functions of employing its unionised workforce and owning its stevedoring business were divided into different companies. The stevedoring businesses and assets previously held by the employer entities were transferred to other companies within the Patricks Group. In addition, the employer entities entered into various labour supply agreements with the owner entities to supply Patricks with labour. As a consequence, the labour supply agreements became the major asset of the employer entities.Significantly, the labour supply agreements were terminable by the owner entities without notice in circumstances of industrial action. Also, the details of the corporate restructure were not made known to Patrick's employees or the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA).
In late 1997 and early 1998, Patrick's employees engaged in industrial action, most notably at Melbourne's No 5 Webb Dock.
On 8 April 1998, Patrick's management dismissed all of its employees; liquidated its assets, becoming technically insolvent; and imposed a lockout
Lockout (industry)
A lockout is a work stoppage in which an employer prevents employees from working. This is different from a strike, in which employees refuse to work.- Causes :...
at most ports in which it operated.
Minister for Workplace Relations, Peter Reith
Peter Reith
Peter Keaston Reith, , former Australian politician, was a Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party and then a senior Cabinet minister in the first two terms of the Howard Government.-Early life:...
read from a prepared brief, stating that the government fully supported Patrick in their action.
By the following morning the docks were fully operational with new staff in place.
Litigation
The case went before the Federal CourtFederal Court of Australia
The Federal Court of Australia is an Australian superior court of record which has jurisdiction to deal with most civil disputes governed by federal law , along with some summary criminal matters. Cases are heard at first instance by single Judges...
with Justice North finding in favour of the union. He found that the company had deliberately restructured their corporate structure with the sole intent to dismiss their unionised workers. The company with the support of the government appealed this decision to the full bench of the Federal Court which upheld Justice North's earlier decision. The company appealed to the High Court of Australia
High Court of Australia
The High Court of Australia is the supreme court in the Australian court hierarchy and the final court of appeal in Australia. It has both original and appellate jurisdiction, has the power of judicial review over laws passed by the Parliament of Australia and the parliaments of the States, and...
with the government's support. The full bench of the High Court found in the MUA's favour.
Resolution
The MUA and Patrick negotiated a new work agreement, which was adopted by the company and workers in June 1998. The agreement specified a near-halving of the permanent workforce through voluntary redundancies, the casualisation and contracting out of some jobs, smaller work crews, longer regular hours, company control over rostering, and productivity bonuses for faster loading. While the union retained the ability to represent maritime workers, the company achieved significant changes to work practices as it desired. Workplace Relations Minister Peter Reith stated at the time "There appears to be a number of reforms which will satisfy the seven benchmark objectives which is very important."Popular culture
- The waterfront dispute was the subject of the 2007 miniseriesMiniseriesA miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...
Bastard BoysBastard BoysBastard Boys is an Australian television miniseries broadcast on the ABC in 2007. It tells the story of the 1998 Australian waterfront dispute.-Plot:...
. - It was also an influence on The Living EndThe Living EndThe Living End are an Australian rock band from Melbourne, Victoria, formed in 1994. The current lineup consists of Chris Cheney , Scott Owen and Andy Strachan...
's song Roll On. - It was also covered in the 1st episode of the ABC TV documentary The Howard YearsThe Howard YearsThe Howard Years was a documentary series about the prime ministership of John Howard produced by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. It was divided into four one-hour episodes - one episode for each term Howard served as Prime Minister of Australia - and originally broadcast on ABC1 from 17...
, broadcast Monday 17 November 2008. - It was briefly covered in episode 2 of 'Liberal Rule' which aired on 28 July 2009 on SBS.
External links
- Workplace Relations Act 1996
- AustLII page with links to court decisions
- Outline of the Waterfront Dispute - Part 1 Australian Parliamentary Library
- Outline of the Waterfront Dispute - Part 2 Australian Parliamentary Library
- Takver's Soapbox - War on the Wharfies (independent site in support of the unions)
- An account, sympathetic to the MUA, published by the Brisbane Defend Our Unions committee in 1998)
- Z680 papers and documents of Jon Belmonte an Ex-Australian Army member, Ex-Sandline (PNG) employee, Fynwest employee held at, Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU,Canberra, Australia
- Documents and artifacts of Jon Belmonte (Collection 2) formerly of Fynwest, PCS Stevedores and Sultan of Oman's Navy
- Official site of Maritime Workers Union supplies full facts inc. independent analysis by Wendy BaconWendy BaconProfessor Wendy Bacon is an Australian investigative journalist who now heads the Journalism Program at the University of Technology, Sydney...
LLB Barrister & Solicitor, Assoc. Professor of Journalism.