Click on the image to listen to the 3-minute voice mail message that the employer's lead negotiator accidentally left for the union.
Shipping company Patrick stevedores has been caught plotting to lock out wharfies from the docks, launching another all-out waterfront war. The threat could reignite the disputes of 1998, risking the jobs of hundreds of Melbourne workers.
Patrick’s lead negotiator Mick O’Leary accidentally left a voicemail on his union counterpart’s phone saying the company plans to “go bang” on workers.
The message was left after his two-year-old niece was playing with his phone and inadvertently dialed the number of union negotiator Garry Keane.
In the three-minute message that followed, Mr O’Leary – once a Maritime Union of Australia official himself – can be heard plotting to battle union members, even giving away the date.
He names June 8 as a possible date. “Once we do that and we don’t have any agreement on all the matters, then they’ll take protected action and we’ll go bang,” he said.
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