The 1998 MUA dispute was a conspiracy by the Australian government, an employer, Patricks Stevedoring, and the National Farmers Federation to rid the Australian waterfront of the Maritime Union of Australia. Significantly, Bill Kelty, the secretary of the ACTU had warned the government, if it were to take on the wharfies, they would see the biggest picket lines in Australian history. The conspirators planned to sack the entire union workforce employed by Patricks and to replace them with scab labour supplied by the National Farmers Federation. Redundancy entitlements were to be provided using government funds (to be called a levy) on stevedores. The repayment by the stevedores of the redundancies has been put back until 2010. The levy has been passed on as an extra charge to consumers and exporters. – After the Waterfront, the workers are quiet
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Part 3
Two people from that dispute, Bob Carnegie and Mike Barbaer, are running for office in the union. WBT supports their principled efforts to rebuild the union. We are sad to hear another principled unionist, Paul Petersen, has been forced to bow out and wish him all the best. We post below some background of the dispute and hope that it can be resolved within the union which has such a strong rank-and-file history.
MUA is here to stay!
Ian Curr
16 April 2023