Jul-Aug 2008

Invasion: Guards & dogs on the docks

APRIL 7: Hundreds of guards and dogs storm the wharves under cover of darkness as Patrick boss Chris Corrigan sacks his entire 2000 strong workforce nationwide.

It was done with military precision, raising speculation that the Ministry for Defence co-ordinated the action.

The guards entered the wharves by road on coaches and by water in rubber dinghies. Ian Macyon was manning the watch at the Darling Harbour , Sydney gates, quietly doing his job when a coach full of security guards and rottweilers flew through the gates and stormed his lookout post: "A dozen guards with two dogs ran up the steps and shoved a piece of paper under my nose, saying 'You're terminated.'"

Jake Haub was the job delegate: "We were loading a ship, two gangs of workers when security guards jumped on the moving cranes and grabbed the keys out of the ignition. The place was crawling with them, about 100 men and dogs."

Andrew Maguire was on the ship directing the crane when he saw two men jump onto the moving crane and grab the wheel. They told everyone to get out, they were sacked.

Guaranteed Wage Earner (GWE) Johnny Walton said he was pulled off the job and "surrounded by about 50 guards and barking rottweilers."

Lee Smith was on the forklift on the wharves lifting two containers: "Two men jumped onto the fork and grabbed the wheel, trying to yank the key out of the ignition. It scared me. I thought it might be criminals or thugs I didn't know what was going on."

First aid attendant Vince Micallef "heard screams from the foreman and thought someone had been hurt on the job". He grabbed the oxygen and his kit, running out to see the wharves being invaded. Assistant National Secretary Vic Slater was awoke by the administrators in the middle of the night. He arrived at the Darling Harbour gate to confront thickset security guards and surveillance cameras: "It was like being in Nazi Germany, guards and dogs storming the wharves in the dead of night," he said.

In Brisbane waterside worker Peter Thorburn jumped the fence and hid under a spreader before moving out onto the dock and sitting quietly 'Ghandi-style' in protest: "Security guards asked me to move. I refused, saying I was protecting my enterprise agreement. So they called in this big guy. He got me in a headlock. The men carried me off, one bending my fingers back until I thought they would break. Another stuck his thumb in my neck at the back of my ear and a third bent my right arm behind my back."

In Fremantle MUA branch secretary Terry Buck "held ground inside the docks with about 60 other waterside workers until police arrived." He said they refused to move out when ordered by guards who would not show any identification, but agreed to go peacefully when police arrived.

In Melbourne Murray Kent arrived on the job to be greeted by workmate Craig Roper: "They're in there, they're f...in' in there," he said. Murray spotted the security guards, "dressed in black hoods and dogs," inside the gates. In a fit of rage he and fellow MUA workers, some on straddles, chased them out through the gate. They hid wherever they could. But the chase went both ways. Security guards skitched one of the rottweilers onto Anthony Cassar. He fell, hurting his back. Branch Secretary Terry Russell arrived and called for calm.

The 27 MUA members inside the gates gathered in the mess room, hunched around the TV to hear the news around the nations wharves. The radio was on at the same time: "Most of us paced up and down looking through the doors and windows only to see the black dressed hoods and dogs - the four legged kind had more brains!" said Murray. "The 27 of us stayed up all night and all the next day and into the night again and did not sleep or change shift.," .Finally they drove out the gate with police escorts to the joy and cheersof their comrades chanting 'MUA Here to Stay'.

The seizure of the other regional ports was less dramatic. In Adelaide and Port Kembla, Bell Bay and Burnie MUA members worked through the night at the Patrick enterprise without interference. In Townsville only two members stayed back to load fertiliser when 30 security guards with dogs ordered them off.

In Port Kembla the morning shift turned up at 7am and waited until 10am. When they weren't allowed in the gates they quickly established an assembly with the support of labour council, university students and local residents. Lord Mayor Dave Campbell announced the Illawara region was no place for non union labour.

"No scabs turned up," said Branch Secretary Mark Armstrong.

"They were going to bring them in, but community support was too solid.

War on the Waterfront articles

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Last Modified: Tuesday, 15-Nov-2005 19:31:58 EST

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