Patrick 10 years on

The wharves stopped nationwide on April 8 to mark the 10th anniversary of the 1998 lockout of waterside workers at Patrick terminals with one minute' silence.

It was 10am and inside the Sydney Convention Centre at Darling Harbour all 500 national and international delegates at the MUA National Conference also stood in silence.

"Today we remember a turbulent time on the waterfront - a dispute that not only threatened the job security of more than 2,000 workers but also took a sometimes dreadful toll on their families as well," said National Secretary Paddy Crumlin.

"Today we remember the way the Howard Government orchestrated the attack on these workers, the tactics of using dogs and hoons in balaclavas to clear the docks and the secret training of mercenaries in Dubai to replace them."

Around 1,000 union leaders and rank and file delegates joined MPs, the legal fraternity and the arts community to come together in Sydney during the two weeks in commemoration of the victory of national and international solidarity that was the waterfront dispute.

Both the MUA National Conference of Delegates and the International Mining and Maritime seminar were timed to coincide with the anniversary to enable all those who had played a role in the 1998 victory to be in Australia for the commemorations.

Guest speakers at the dinner held on April 9 were union QC Julian Burnside and former Labor leader Kim Beazley (see box). At conference the acting Prime Minister Julia Gillard, Transport Minister Anthony Albanese and ALP secretary Tim Gartrell all paid special tribute to the union and the dispute.

Notable among the 800 dinner guests were John Coombs, former MUA secretary who led the 1998 dispute and wife Gwen, Bill Shorten, now a minister in the Labor Government, Bob Carr, premier of NSW at the time of the dispute and Robert Coombs, then Sydney Branch secretary now a NSW MP, industry leaders and all key dispute veterans and delegates from the branches at the time.

Key strategist during the dipsute Greg Combet, former ACTU secretary and now parliamentary secretary, addressed the M&M dinner the following week.

From the arts community, The Sydney Theatre Company produced a segment from Harbour, the award winning play by Katherine Thomson on the lockout for the launch of the weeklong cultural festivities and the unveiling of the wharfie mural at the Australian National Maritime Museum on April 8.

Melbourne artist Bill Hay lent his collection of oils, watercolours and lithographs on the dispute to go on show during conference in conjunction with Ray Hughes Gallery. An exhibition of work by photojournalists Tony McDonough and Dean Sewell taken on the picket lines was on display during the week (see p13) And in Melbourne, sculptor Dan Wollmering took out first prize in the Docklands 2008 Contempora Sculpture Awards for his work commemorating the dispute - "Waterfront".

Veterans of the 1998 waterfront dispute and workers gathered for the dedication of a commemorative sculpture on April 3. "This is where it all began," said Victoria State Secretary Kevin Brackin. "That is when they hired out Webb Dock to train the men who would try to take our jobs."

Many of the international delegates to conference recalled their union's role in the dispute, not least the International Longshore and Warehouse Union. In Los Angeles US wharfies black banned the Columbus Canada loaded by scab labour at the time, forcing it to return to Australia.

"It's been 10 years since the Patrick Dispute," said ILWU International President Bob McEllrath. "Seventeen days that ship lay at anchor. The rank and file in Los Angeles, Local 13, local 63 and the foremen's union stood behind the officers. It makes you proud to have international solidarity. That's how we win. It's not just done on a dock. A dock is where it happens. It's done around the world."

In return the MUA again pledged its full support to the ILWU which is currently in contract negotiations with employers in the US.

The International Transport Workers' Federation played a central role in the union's victory, co-ordinating global solidarity action and stopping the training of industrial mercenaries in Dubai. But on the 10th anniversary General secretary David Cockroft saluted the Australian workers: "You started something (with Patrick). A fundamental fight back," he said. "We now have well integrated, organised global action."

"Patrick created a new powerful balance among the workers around the world," said Akinobu Itoh of the All Japan Dockworkers Union.

"We stood together in international solidarity by holding protest demonstrations at the various ports in Japan," said Youji Fujisawa of Zenko-Kowan (Japanese Seafarers Union). "The strong solidarity between Australia and Japan arose from this struggle."

"Ten years ago a political storm pursuing industrial deregulation dominated the world and Australian dock workers were at the front of the attack," he said. "We as trade unionists are proud of the passion and courage that you displayed at that time."

In Fremantle the anniversary was also marked by a two-hour stopwork on April 3 with National Secretary Paddy Crumlin leading the march through the streets. Paddy Crumlin ran the Fremantle picket during the lockout. It was particularly brutal because of the policies of the anti-union Court Liberal Government but the community remained strong.

The commemorations were run alongside a major media campaign pushing for the release of key documents withheld by the Howard Government/ The union believes these papers would once and for all expose the role the government of the day played in the conspiracy to sack the entire union workforce nationwide.

Major reports were carried in all metropolitan dailies, with the result that the government has gone public on its reform of FIO legislation and flagged the possibility that the changes to the laws may become retrospective.