Helen Trinca and Anne Davies
Waterfront: the Battle that Changed Australia, Doubleday, Milsons Point, 2000, 317pp.

Reviewed by:
Damien Cahill
University of Wollongong

Waterfront tells the story of the conflict between the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) and Patrick Stevedores, which captured national media attention during 1998 and directly involved tens of thousands of Australians through mass picket lines and community rallies in support of the union. It is told through the actions of key players in the conflict: John Coombs, national secretary of the MUA; Greg Combet, national assistant secretary of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU); Chris Corrigan, chief executive of Patrick Stevedores; Peter Reith, Workplace Relations Minister; and a range of other individuals, from the union's lawyers to those responsible for organising the training of non-union waterfront labour in Dubai.

The book details the clandestine negotiations and dealings between government officials and representatives from corporate Australia that helped to engineer the dispute. It reveals a high level of collusion between the federal government and sections of business in formulating plans to defeat the power of the MUA. It also reveals a network of right-wing anti-union activists - many of whom have at one time or another been associated with the National Farmers' Federation - which was heavily involved in bringing its union-busting experience to confronting the MUA. The legal battle between the MUA and Patrick Stevedores, that occurred simultaneously with the battle on the picket lines, and which revolved around allegations of conspiracy being levelled against the company and the federal government, is dealt with in detail. Indeed, Waterfront reads like a political thriller, right down to the story of the union's own 'deepthroats' inside Workplace Relations Minister Peter Reith's own department and amongst the non-unionised 'mercenary' workforce of Fynwest, destined for training in Dubai, who provided valuable leaks to John Coombs of the MUA about both the government's and Patrick's actions and intentions.

The MUA dispute was a blow to the anti-union agenda of the federal government and for large sections of capital in Australia - but the union movement was not able to claim a full victory. Through an intelligent legal campaign and clever use of the militant tactics of community pickets and 'peaceful assemblies', the MUA was able to get its members back to work and thus prevent the successful establishment of non-unionised labour on the Australian wharves. There was a trade off, however. The deal eventually struck with Patrick Stevedores led to an increase in casualised workers on the wharves. At P&O, the rival stevedoring company to Patricks, 500 workers took redundancy payouts. The share prices of Patrick's parent company, Lang Corp, increased significantly and the MUA and trade union movement had to operate under the reality of the restrictive provisions of the federal government's Workplace Relations Act. Waterfront captures the ambiguous nature of the union's victory.

Waterfront is written by two working journalists, and perhaps this accounts for their interpretation of the dispute largely as a conflict between individuals. On the one hand, this is a strength, because it makes for a compelling read. However by representing the dispute as a story of political intrigue, the authors have tended to overlook the broader issues which are crucial to understanding such industrial conflict. There is only a passing acknowledgment, for example, of the long history in Australia of violent confrontations between workers, employers and governments (both Labor and non-Labor). The MUA dispute is presented as a clash between an old-style union culture and the realities of the modern economy, whereas such militant conflict between, workers, business and the state, has been and continues to be a characteristic of working life in Australia. It is portrayed as something unique, rather than an example of conflict that is at the core of the relationship between capital and labour.

The book does not question the government's or Patrick's figures on waterfront workers' productivity and efficiency, even though the authors acknowledge that these were disputed by the MUA. Indeed, the book largely accepts the government's' portrayal of the MUA - that of a union unwilling to adapt to change, with a firmly entrenched culture of unproductivity.

Waterfront highlights the extent to which governments and business will go to crush organised labour. Although at the time of the book's publication a number of key documents dealing with the government's involvement in the dispute had not been made available to the public, Trinca and Davies make it clear that Workplace Relations Minister Peter Reith was integral to the conflict. 30 years from now, when the official government records of the event are made public, we may have a more detailed picture of the events. Until then, what is certain is that the MUA dispute was not an aberration in Australian industrial relations, and there are likely to be many more bitter disputes between capital and labour as business and government pursue their aggressive neo-liberal agendas. Despite its shortcomings, Waterfront will help ensure that this important chapter of Australian history does not fade from memory.