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1. Who were the parties involved in dispute and the location and date of the dispute?
Indeed, there were many who were keenly involved in the dispute, both for the Govt., the Maritime Union of Australia (henceforth known as MUA,) and those, such as the media who had a stake in the dispute.
The pro union parties included:
• MUA- a small union, but dominant on the waterfront. It was a militant and political union, and ironically resisted change.
• ACTU(Australian Council of Trade Unions)- seized the opportunity to vilify the Howard govt. and show that the serving govt. was full of radicals.
• Media- was sympathetic to the Unions, as it was a somewhat popular story.
• International Transport Workers Federation- contributed funds and generated mild international attention to the case (i.e. in the UK)
The anti union parties included:
• National Farmers Federation- first company to begin hiring non union stevedores.
• Fynwest Pty Ltd- a private company which had aspirations of being a non unionized hire labour company which would hire out ex-military types as stevedores (a dock labourer.)
• Patrick Stevedores- the company which initially sacked the unionised workers and hired Fynwest workers.
• The Commonwealth Govt.- As the Howard Govt. brought in the Workplace Relations Act 1996, it brought in AWA s thus removing union power. It also technically gave Patrick the ability to sack the workers.
The primary location of the dispute took place on the docks of Melbourne. Court cases took place in the Supreme Court of Victoria, the High Court, and even legal action in the Hight Court of the UK, with Patrick (Plaintiff) seeking an injunction against the International Transport Federation regarding the ITF’s attempts to blacklist Patrick.
All the drama and litigation took place in 1998.

2. What were the issues that were in dispute between the parties and how did the...