At 2 p.m. (AEST) 21 April, Justice North in the Federal Court granted an interim injunction sought by the MUA which orders Patrick to reinstate its locked-out employees and to refrain from divesting itself of assets, or to dispose of the business until further order. J North found that the MUA had demonstrated an arguable case that Patrick acted in breach of s 298K(1) of the Workplace Relations Act, that the acts amounted to a breach of the employees' contracts of employment and that Patrick owners and employers had engaged in an unlawful conspiracy to replace their workforce with non-union labour. The union has given undertakings not to engage in industrial action while the injunction is in force. The full judgement is (or soon will be) available from http://www.fedcourt.gov.au)
Patrick has not yet responded but an appeal is expected.
At the Federal Court, Justice Tony North reserved his ruling on the MUA application for reinstatement to a date to be fixed. Earlier, the administrator appointed to the four companies which employ the 1400 locked-out waterside workers told the Court he had been told by Chris Corrigan that business had slumped 50 per cent since the lock-out, and that he intended to stop operating in Newcastle and Port Kembla in NSW, Bell Bay and Burnie in Tasmania, and Adelaide.
At Sydney, protesters at Darling Harbour cheered wildly an address by Chris Corrigan's brother, Derek, who spoke passionately for about 15 minutes, after which he eagerly accepted an MUA t-shirt. Actor and Comedian Ernie Dingo also spoke to the protesters. A semi-trailer, which appeared to be accelerating towards the picket line, collided with a car containing an MUA official, while a man was taken to hospital after being hit by a truck. Two truck drivers were detained for questioning, but released without being charged.
A security guard at Port Botany claimed that several security guards had resigned as a result of intimidation by protesters. He also stated that some security guards had formed a vigilante group in order to hit back at protesters.
The executive director of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry stated that companies in other industries should use Patrick's corporate restructuring strategy to sack their employees if they refused to increase their productivity.
The Prime Minister, John Howard, stated that a divided Australia was `part and parcel of solving challenges to our economic future'. He was later confronted by 450 demonstrators at Maitland Town Hall, and allegedly pelted with eggs, apples and tomatoes.
Protesters at East Swanson tipped over a semi-trailer container, blocking the two inbound lanes to the main terminal gate. Railway tracks, sleepers, spikes and other obstacles were also dumped, but access by small vehicles is possible. A police communications van is at the terminal gate. Protesters have been allowed access to the coffee/tea making and toilet facilities at the terminal building. Police agreed to give protesters 30 minutes warning before moving in.
I went back to East Swanson about 8 p.m. There were about 500 protesters there, and numbers steadily grew during the night. Margaret Roadnight appeared as promised, but sang only two songs. Periodically, union leaders stepped up to the microphone to brief the protesters, and to advise on protocol and rights if arrested. No alcohol was permitted. If the police moved in, protesters were to form into groups and link arms and passively resist. Police were not to be punched, spat at or abused. A printed sheet outlining these protocols was distributed, as was another outlining what protesters should do if arrested. These information sessions ended with a chorus of chanting, `MUA, here to stay!'.
At Tokyo, Japanese trade unionists held a large protest meeting in support of the MUA. A former MUA member holidaying in Japan, Fred Brock, 74 years of age, collapsed and died while addressing the meeting. After the meeting, about 100 delegates and officials marched to the Australian Embassy to present a letter of protest to the Australian government.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission wrote to the MUA threatening to prosecute John Coombs and others for acting `in concert' with the ITWU to `threaten or organise international industrial action at various ports around the world' if undertakings were not given to discontinue these actions. Mr Coombs said no undertakings would be given, and challenged the ACCC to prosecute.
The AFL-CIO asked its 17 million members to boycott Australian farm products. The president of the ILWU stated that a boycott of Australian ships was also being considered.
The number of protesters at East Swanson grew overnight, and some 2 to 3 thousand were gathered there when the police moved in about 7 a.m. The protesters, who included ACTU secretary Bill Kelty and former Victorian Premiers, Joan Kirner and John Cain, linked arms, but the police made no attempt to remove the protesters, and drew up in ranks a short distance from them. About a thousand building workers walked off their jobs and gathered behind the police, who became wedged between the two groups of protesters. The police were permitted to retreat in triple file through the ranks of the building workers.
Meanwhile, police secured a small back gate to the terminal, however protesters gathered outside the police lines, and only one truck was able to get through. Allegations were made that the police used `pressure point' tactics to remove protesters. Later, an a train attempted to enter by another entrance, but protesters gathered on the tracks, and concrete blocks were placed on the tracks. The train driver then apparently fell ill, called in sick, then abandoned the train. The train was later removed.
No attempts made in Sydney to remove protesters.
I returned to East Swanson at 12.30 a.m. It was quiet, with only about 150 protesters at the main gate, and perhaps 50 at No. 2 gate. Six policemen were outside the main gate, talking to two men in union shirts. The police force was embroiled in a pay dispute, and had rejected the most recent government offer. So I gave them some gratuitous advice, `I am an industrial relations expert', I told them, handing one of them a card, `and I can help you with your pay dispute. Just tell the Commissioner you won't be going within 500 metres of a dock until you get the full 11 per cent. You'll get it by tomorrow'.
One of the unionists bristled, `Are you union?' he asked me. `NTEU", I replied. `And these guys are unionists too, and getting ripped off, just like everyone else'.
I asked the policemen if anything would be happening tonight. They said they'd be going home, which they did shortly afterwards. An agreement had earlier been reached with the unions that no attempt would be made to clear the protesters that evening. I was sceptical, but the police kept their word. It was a cold night, and protesters huddled around three or four fires to keep warm. Numbers had dwindled to less than 100 by 5 a.m. Later, another agreement was made that police would make no attempt to breach the line before 10 a.m. on Monday.
Later in the morning, protesters at East Swanson began welding the railway lines together, calling their endeavour `The Barricade: A Community Arts Project'.
Chris Corrigan stated that the government had promised in December 1997 to introduce the $250 million redundancy scheme. He also stated that the missing $300 million from his company restructure had been used to pay `inter-company debts'. He criticised the Victorian police for their agreement with the unions.
Federal Opposition leader Kim Beasley promised to change Australian corporation law so that companies could not repeat Patrick's tactic of restructuring its way out of its responsibilities to its workers.
About 1800 meatworkers were under threat of being stood down as a result of the shortage of empty shipping containers. However, the anticipated standowns at the Toyota plant were averted when the ship was diverted to another dock and the necessary parts unloaded by union labour. Workers from the plant joined protesters at the wharf today.
This evening, about 400 protesters peacefully reoccupied the Patrick terminal at the Port of Brisbane.
Police at Fremantle were
A second Morgan/Bulletin poll showed support for the government increased from 45 to 47 per cent. The poll was conducted over Wednesday and Thursday nights, following media publicity of 2 distraught children clinging to their father as protesters were being dragged away from a protest by police.
At about 3 a.m., pro-union graffiti was painted on a wall and roadway outside the Sydney home of Chris Corrigan. The offenders were not apprehended.
At Walgett airport, Premier Bob Carr was prevented from leaving by angry farmers, who threatened to hold him until he gave a guarantee that he would clear protesters from outside the Sydney docks. Carr was released after being detained for 90 minutes.
At the Sydney docks, a code of conduct similar to the Melbourne protocol was issued to protesters.
In Townsville, about 60 miners from central Queensland marched through the city, before joining protesters at the Patrick terminal.
The ACCC has given the MUA a further 24 hours to respond to its letter.
The union-police agreement in Melbourne expired at 10 a.m., and police equipped for crowd control began massing behind police headquarters. Several riot trucks were on standby. However, no attempt was made to break through the picket. Premier Jeff Kennett warned that police may have to `firmly intervene', and he said he would refuse to meet with union officials as long as the blockade was maintained.
Transport Workers Union members blockaded Footscray Road near the Patrick terminal with their trucks. Protesters said this was a diversionary tactic to distract police, allowing them to move in and retake control of Gate No. 2.
Two to three thousand members of the National Union of Workers have walked off the job in Victoria in support of the locked-out wharfies. The action will affect food distribution, warehousing and some manufacturing industries. Some CFMEU members have also reportedly walked off their jobs.
The Western Australian Pastoralists and Graziers Association has threatened that its members will use their trucks to break through the blockade at Fremantle within the next 24 hours. The NSW Farmers Federation has declared that its members would attempt to break the Port Botany protest line. The moves have been endorsed by the secretary of the National Farmers Federation, Wendy Craik.
The Queensland government has threatened wharfies with five years jail. Workers at the Castlemaine brewery at Brisbane held a stop-work meeting to discuss the dispute.
The ACTU executive has called upon affiliates to call meetings of members to secure endorsement of a range of action in support of the MUA.
Patrick intends to launch contempt of court proceedings against the MUA tomorrow.
An unprecedented Victorian Supreme Court injunction was granted by Justice Barry Beach this afternoon which apparently prevents anyone from being within 200m of the main access roads to the Patrick terminals, and from taking photographs of people entering or leaving the premises. The order has been met with open defiance by union leaders and protesters alike. The union will make an appeal. Subsequently, the ACTU executive joined the protesters at East Swanson. ACTU president Jenny George declared she was prepared to be jailed if necessary. Vice-president of the Australian Council of Civil Liberties, John Marsden, called the injunction a `disgrace', and said he would travel to melbourne from Sydney to join the protesters.
Meanwhile, the NSW Supreme Court extended 2 interim injunctions against the MUA, 3 of its officials, and the leader of the CFMEU until 5 p.m. tomorrow. Patrick's counsel alleged that the company's Darling Harbour manager had been threatened by an MUA protester waving a tomahawk.
The MUA allowed 11 trucks into Port Botany to allow the pick-up of emergency medical supplies.
In New Zealand, 80 delegates of the two main union federations, the CTU and the TUF, met in Wellington, and resolved to use `creative' ways of providing support to the MUA while staying within the letter of NZ's harsh employment laws.
The first international boycott of ships loaded by Patrick came with union bans placed on two ships in Papua New Guinea.
There has been a turning of the tide in the dispute, and there is now an even-money chance that Peter Reith will become the first Australian Industrial Relations minister since the second world war to lose a major industrial dispute. How do I know this? From studying the entrails of the invisible hand of the infallible market. After reaching a high of $2.60 last Tuesday, heavy selling today saw Lang Corporation stock slump to $2.00 today. Financial analysts say that a conservative valuation of the shares in the event of a company victory is $4.00, so the markets are saying the odds of that happening are 50-50 at best.
There is a growing perception that the government has bungled badly. An opinion poll conducted on the weekend found that while 74 per cent supported reform and restructure on the waterfront, and while 46 per cent supported the actions of Patrick as opposed 31 per cent support for the MUA, only 33 per cent approved of the way the government has handled the dispute, while 52 per cent were opposed. 32 per cent said the dispute would make them less likely to vote for the government, while 13 per cent said it would make them more likely to do so. If an election had been held on the weekend, the government would have been defeated.
Prior to the dispute, the MUA was probably Australia's least popular union in the popular imagination. This was due to an historical legacy of militancy, and the government's persistent propaganda campaign against their alleged rorts and high pay. Instead of capitalising on these natural advantages, the government has succeeded only in mobilising the support of the labour movement and much of the community behind the MUA, in a display of unity not seen since the days of the Vietnam War struggles. Australians have a tradition of supporting a `fair go', or fair play, and many people have been alienated by the sight of men in balaclavas and black jackets holding dobermans spraying mace, by the partisanship of the government, and by the tricks employed by Patrick to evade its responsibilities.
Former Federal Liberal minister James Killen described the tactics of the government as `absurd' and called for a negotiated solution. Even government and business leaders are now clearly rattled.
Documents released today indicate that a member of Reith's personal staff met with Patrick executives two days before the Patrick plan to train a new workforce in Dubai came to light in parliament last year. Reith has consistently denied any knowledge of the Dubai scheme.
Australia's `singing nun', Janet Mead, who had a chart hit with the Lord's Prayer in the 1970s, has criticised the government for creating division. She said that she and her supporters have been collecting money for the families of the locked-out workers.
About 50 protesters arrested in Brisbane.
Cheers
Stuart Svensen
National Key Centre in Industrial Relations, Monash University
Level 8, 30 Collins St, Melbourne, Vic 3000 Australia
Ph: 61-3-99038708 Fax: 61-3-99038710
