Everybody is talking about waterfront reform — the federal government, Patrick Stevedores, P & O Ports, the ALP and the ACTU. "The need for waterfront reform" has been hammered in the media for so long that for several months, opinion polls have shown a majority of Australians supporting it.
Sue Boland
When Patrick Stevedores, with the support of the Howard government, locked 2000 waterside workers out of their jobs at 11pm on April 7, the government and Patrick gave the impression they were on a winner. But the strong community and union support for the maritime union has shown that many workers understand that the future of trade unionism is at stake in this dispute.