ILWU longshore workers stood in solidarity with Maritime Union of Australia dockers in 1998 when the Australian government worked with employers to try to break the union.
The Maritime Union of Australia boss, Paddy Crumlin, has leapt on an admission by the former prime minister John Howard [in Howard’s memoir, Lazarus Rising] that he met the Patrick chief Chris Corrigan before the bitter waterfront industrial dispute.
Mr Crumlin accused Mr Howard of misleading Parliament and said, ”Howard gave himself up. It is quite extraordinary.”
Dr Sheil, who is researching a book on the dispute, said the admission of a 1997 meeting ”is an indication of how unreliable Howard’s statements are generally on the waterfront”.
Patrick restructured as a company in September 1997 in preparation for the industrial relations showdown with the Maritime Union of Australia.
In late 1997 it was revealed the company was training a secret workforce in Dubai.