23-12-2008, 03:45 PM
In glorious technicolor here:
http://mua.org.au/war/
War on the Waterfront
Power in the Union
A short film on the Patrick dispute produced by the International Transport Workers' Federation...Music by Billy Bragg
Cloak & Dagger: the secret plans emerge
The full war plan for the docks remains secret. But a brief prepared for the Prime Minister in April, 1997 and leaked to parliament in July outlines the gameplan. "The use of a maritime issue would make it easier to sack stevedores for striking over an issue which was not directly relevant to their own employment."
First skirmish: Cairns & victory to international solidarity
Shock troopers conducted exercises on an Australian ship, manhandling an MUA seafarer while they were at it."It was no longer a question of if there would be a fight, but when."
The Dubai Debacle
The year ended with a proverbial bang on the Australian waterfront. On December 3 the Australian Council of Trade Unions and the Maritime Union of Australia exposed that a group of Sandline-style mercenaries were flying to Dubai to train as wharfies."This is real gangland warfare stuff and Jimmy Hoffa-style"
Terror
Brian Gallager had heard that there was to be a military exercise on board his ship, the Australian Enterprise..."Five or six men, their heads covered, ran up behind me from the starboard side of the ship yelling and screaming at me: 'Get down, get down,'"
Whether Chris Corrigan, employer of about 2,000 Maritime Union members around the coast, was the spider out to entice the union into his clutches, or just another cockroach entangled in his own foibles and a web of intrigue spun in Canberra, is slowly being revealed. "This is obviously just another sorry chapter in the Australian Sandline industrial mercenary saga," said MUA National Secretary John Coombs."These cowboys are trying to get New Zealand workers to train as union busters. I wouldn't be surprised if their first job isn't training
The Defectors
3 men exposed how the training at Webb dock was a sham."it was heard that Patrick Stevedores would sack its entire unionised workforce by Easter - symbolically Crucifixion Day"
Goebbels Inspired: Propaganda at its best
Productivity on the wharves has mysteriously plummeted ? Or so the Government publicists would like us believe.."Deception, distortion, half truths, lies & make belief."
Invasion: Guards & dogs on the docks
Hundreds of guards and dogs storm the wharves under cover of darkness as Patrick boss Chris Corrigan sacks his entire 2000 strong workforce nationwide."The place was crawling with them, about 100 men and dogs."
Mobilisation: pickets, priests & public protest
Ministers of the cloth come to bless the Fremantle picket by candlelight"It was extraordinary stuff.....allowing helicopters to sweep in over the crowd onto the Patrick wharves, bringing in scabs and managers"
Judgement Day: Courts rule against Corrigan
The battle between Patrick, an employer hell bent on breaking the Maritime Union of Australia and the union..."We've had a total of 10 out of 11 judges rule in our favour in 3 trials. That's 10 to 1 in our favour, a win in anyone's language."
Peace Treaty: Patrick forced to settle out of court
Patrick Port Botany workers were put off pay on March 18 when Minister for Workplace Relations, Peter Reith, advised that they could not be paid if they refused to work overtime."They wanted to sack the lot and have them reapply for their jobs,"
The Return - Workers reclaim the wharves
It was lunchtime when the union lawyers withdrew their submission in the Federal Court to have 'dogs and goons' removed from all Patrick terminals before the labour returned to work."It was pretty clean" said Assistant Branch Secretary Barry Robson. "I guess the scabs had nothing better to do than tidy up for a couple of weeks. There'd been no delivery or receival of cargo."
Art Attack
Conspiracy has become a fine art. Thanks to Howard, Reith & Co. it is now framed and hanging in the nation's galleries. "What started as a few pictures turned into an obsession. I felt insulted by the lies told by the Government and Chris Corrigan.
Humour at the front: How Australia's top cartoonists see it
A Cartoon History of the great docks dispute features Australia's great political cartoonists: Moir, Nicholson, Petty, Rowe, Tandberg, Leak, Leunig, O'Neill, Pryor, Coopes, Leahy, Spooner, Emmerson, Clement and many more."We need to be reminded of these things, and these great illustrations, like tatoos on the brain, will keep us vigilant."
Who Cares - Letters of support from unions overseas and abroad
Letters of support from unions overseas and abroad, the community, including farmers, flooded into MUA National Office, each day during the Patrick dispute.
WA Conspiracy Inc
NOVEMBER, 1998: The Maritime Union of Australia has successfully launched a second conspiracy case, this time against the Western Australian Government and the Geraldton Port Authority."Reith has publicly backed the move all the way," said National Secretary John Coombs. "The conspiracy we've exposed has got all the elements of the Patrick plot, including Dubai trainees waiting in the wings. When this all comes out in court it could prove as damaging to the Court Government, if not more so, than the WA Inc debacle that brought down the previous Labor Government.
Tribute to Vic
MUA Assistant National Secretary Vic Slater retires after over three decades on the waterfront Vic Slater, professor, philosopher, wharfie, unionist, election punter, negotiator, internationalist, communist, campaigner and man of compassion retired from the union and the labour movement in February, 1999.The mobile kept ringing. Emotions were high. Angry wharfies spoke of defending their jobs with their lives - of blood on the wharves. News came that workers at Darling Harbour, Sydney, were refusing to leave. We jumped in the car and sped back to Hickson Road and waited, unionists outside the gates taunting the grinning 'two legged dogs' and their furry friends on the inside.
Address by (then) MUA National Secretary John Coombs
Address by MUA National Secretary John Coombs, Australian Institute of Management 1998 Annual Conference (16/10/98): Getting it Right: Changing the Rules of Management Managing Their Way....'Patrick has a way with people... his way or else.'
The Waterfront: One year on
MAY, 1999: ONE year after what was arguably the biggest Australian industrial dispute in living memory and the Maritime Union of Australia is STILL Here to Stay."Kelty's success will be measured by how many companies follow Patrick's lead and tackle unions head-on. At this stage, most companies are spooked... The legacy of the waterfront dispute is that the construction companies are unwilling to take on the CFMEU... Reith's frustration is palpable as he flounders in attempts to persuade business to use his 1996 Workplace Relations Act to its full potential."
The Waterfront: two years on
APRIL, 2000: The timing could not have been better. On Friday, April 6, the eve of the second anniversary of the Patrick Dispute, Justice Marshall of the Federal Court rejected an application on behalf of Peter Reith, that disclosure of the secret waterfront documents "would be contrary to the public interest". Reith's dock days draw nearerHow much more international condemnation can the Howard/Reith Government sustain before it achieves the international notoriety of the likes of President Slobodan Milosevic?
The Waterfront 3 years on - Labor salutes Labour
Dogged, determined, tenacious, passionate, compassionate, courageous, a genuinely tough fighter, a warrior, a one man intelligence operation, a remarkable man, a man of integrity, a decent person, a fair person, everyone's favourite uncle, one who inspires others, who saved the union, one of the giants of the labour movement."The company here to salute John Coombs demonstrates what a remarkable man he is," said Opposition leader Kim Beazley. "John's victory capped a career in the labour movement which will leave him among the legends for decades and centuries to come."
http://mua.org.au/war/
War on the Waterfront
Power in the Union
A short film on the Patrick dispute produced by the International Transport Workers' Federation...Music by Billy Bragg
Cloak & Dagger: the secret plans emerge
The full war plan for the docks remains secret. But a brief prepared for the Prime Minister in April, 1997 and leaked to parliament in July outlines the gameplan. "The use of a maritime issue would make it easier to sack stevedores for striking over an issue which was not directly relevant to their own employment."
First skirmish: Cairns & victory to international solidarity
Shock troopers conducted exercises on an Australian ship, manhandling an MUA seafarer while they were at it."It was no longer a question of if there would be a fight, but when."
The Dubai Debacle
The year ended with a proverbial bang on the Australian waterfront. On December 3 the Australian Council of Trade Unions and the Maritime Union of Australia exposed that a group of Sandline-style mercenaries were flying to Dubai to train as wharfies."This is real gangland warfare stuff and Jimmy Hoffa-style"
Terror
Brian Gallager had heard that there was to be a military exercise on board his ship, the Australian Enterprise..."Five or six men, their heads covered, ran up behind me from the starboard side of the ship yelling and screaming at me: 'Get down, get down,'"
[URL="http://mua.org.au/war/terror.html"][READ MORE]
[/URL]
War at Webb Dock[/URL]
Whether Chris Corrigan, employer of about 2,000 Maritime Union members around the coast, was the spider out to entice the union into his clutches, or just another cockroach entangled in his own foibles and a web of intrigue spun in Canberra, is slowly being revealed. "This is obviously just another sorry chapter in the Australian Sandline industrial mercenary saga," said MUA National Secretary John Coombs."These cowboys are trying to get New Zealand workers to train as union busters. I wouldn't be surprised if their first job isn't training
The Defectors
3 men exposed how the training at Webb dock was a sham."it was heard that Patrick Stevedores would sack its entire unionised workforce by Easter - symbolically Crucifixion Day"
Goebbels Inspired: Propaganda at its best
Productivity on the wharves has mysteriously plummeted ? Or so the Government publicists would like us believe.."Deception, distortion, half truths, lies & make belief."
Invasion: Guards & dogs on the docks
Hundreds of guards and dogs storm the wharves under cover of darkness as Patrick boss Chris Corrigan sacks his entire 2000 strong workforce nationwide."The place was crawling with them, about 100 men and dogs."
Mobilisation: pickets, priests & public protest
Ministers of the cloth come to bless the Fremantle picket by candlelight"It was extraordinary stuff.....allowing helicopters to sweep in over the crowd onto the Patrick wharves, bringing in scabs and managers"
Judgement Day: Courts rule against Corrigan
The battle between Patrick, an employer hell bent on breaking the Maritime Union of Australia and the union..."We've had a total of 10 out of 11 judges rule in our favour in 3 trials. That's 10 to 1 in our favour, a win in anyone's language."
Peace Treaty: Patrick forced to settle out of court
Patrick Port Botany workers were put off pay on March 18 when Minister for Workplace Relations, Peter Reith, advised that they could not be paid if they refused to work overtime."They wanted to sack the lot and have them reapply for their jobs,"
The Return - Workers reclaim the wharves
It was lunchtime when the union lawyers withdrew their submission in the Federal Court to have 'dogs and goons' removed from all Patrick terminals before the labour returned to work."It was pretty clean" said Assistant Branch Secretary Barry Robson. "I guess the scabs had nothing better to do than tidy up for a couple of weeks. There'd been no delivery or receival of cargo."
Art Attack
Conspiracy has become a fine art. Thanks to Howard, Reith & Co. it is now framed and hanging in the nation's galleries. "What started as a few pictures turned into an obsession. I felt insulted by the lies told by the Government and Chris Corrigan.
Humour at the front: How Australia's top cartoonists see it
A Cartoon History of the great docks dispute features Australia's great political cartoonists: Moir, Nicholson, Petty, Rowe, Tandberg, Leak, Leunig, O'Neill, Pryor, Coopes, Leahy, Spooner, Emmerson, Clement and many more."We need to be reminded of these things, and these great illustrations, like tatoos on the brain, will keep us vigilant."
Who Cares - Letters of support from unions overseas and abroad
Letters of support from unions overseas and abroad, the community, including farmers, flooded into MUA National Office, each day during the Patrick dispute.
WA Conspiracy Inc
NOVEMBER, 1998: The Maritime Union of Australia has successfully launched a second conspiracy case, this time against the Western Australian Government and the Geraldton Port Authority."Reith has publicly backed the move all the way," said National Secretary John Coombs. "The conspiracy we've exposed has got all the elements of the Patrick plot, including Dubai trainees waiting in the wings. When this all comes out in court it could prove as damaging to the Court Government, if not more so, than the WA Inc debacle that brought down the previous Labor Government.
Tribute to Vic
MUA Assistant National Secretary Vic Slater retires after over three decades on the waterfront Vic Slater, professor, philosopher, wharfie, unionist, election punter, negotiator, internationalist, communist, campaigner and man of compassion retired from the union and the labour movement in February, 1999.The mobile kept ringing. Emotions were high. Angry wharfies spoke of defending their jobs with their lives - of blood on the wharves. News came that workers at Darling Harbour, Sydney, were refusing to leave. We jumped in the car and sped back to Hickson Road and waited, unionists outside the gates taunting the grinning 'two legged dogs' and their furry friends on the inside.
Address by (then) MUA National Secretary John Coombs
Address by MUA National Secretary John Coombs, Australian Institute of Management 1998 Annual Conference (16/10/98): Getting it Right: Changing the Rules of Management Managing Their Way....'Patrick has a way with people... his way or else.'
The Waterfront: One year on
MAY, 1999: ONE year after what was arguably the biggest Australian industrial dispute in living memory and the Maritime Union of Australia is STILL Here to Stay."Kelty's success will be measured by how many companies follow Patrick's lead and tackle unions head-on. At this stage, most companies are spooked... The legacy of the waterfront dispute is that the construction companies are unwilling to take on the CFMEU... Reith's frustration is palpable as he flounders in attempts to persuade business to use his 1996 Workplace Relations Act to its full potential."
The Waterfront: two years on
APRIL, 2000: The timing could not have been better. On Friday, April 6, the eve of the second anniversary of the Patrick Dispute, Justice Marshall of the Federal Court rejected an application on behalf of Peter Reith, that disclosure of the secret waterfront documents "would be contrary to the public interest". Reith's dock days draw nearerHow much more international condemnation can the Howard/Reith Government sustain before it achieves the international notoriety of the likes of President Slobodan Milosevic?
The Waterfront 3 years on - Labor salutes Labour
Dogged, determined, tenacious, passionate, compassionate, courageous, a genuinely tough fighter, a warrior, a one man intelligence operation, a remarkable man, a man of integrity, a decent person, a fair person, everyone's favourite uncle, one who inspires others, who saved the union, one of the giants of the labour movement."The company here to salute John Coombs demonstrates what a remarkable man he is," said Opposition leader Kim Beazley. "John's victory capped a career in the labour movement which will leave him among the legends for decades and centuries to come."
"The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways. The point, however, is to change it." Karl Marx
"He would, wouldn't he?" Mandy Rice-Davies. When asked in court whether she knew that Lord Astor had denied having sex with her.
“I think it would be a good idea” Ghandi, when asked about Western Civilisation.
"He would, wouldn't he?" Mandy Rice-Davies. When asked in court whether she knew that Lord Astor had denied having sex with her.
“I think it would be a good idea” Ghandi, when asked about Western Civilisation.