1998 Australian waterfront dispute

The Australian waterfront dispute of 1998 was a watershed event in Australian industrial relations history, in which the Patrick Corporation undertook an illegal restructuring of their operations for the purpose of increasing the productivity of their workforce. This dispute involved Patrick Corporation locking out their workers after the restructuring had taken place, with many of these workers members of the dominant Maritime Union of Australia. The resulting dismissal and locking out of their unionised workforce was supported and backed by the then Australian Liberal/National Coalition Government.

Major events in the dispute occurred in four major ports, where the Patrick Corporation had significant operations, Melbourne, Brisbane, Fremantle and Sydney. It revolved around attempts by Patrick Corporation and the federal government to improve efficiency on Australia's wharves; primarily by reducing staffing numbers and the power of the Maritime Union of Australia.

In 1995–96 approximately 70 per cent of Australia's imports and 78 per cent of exports were transported by sea, amounting to approximately $60 billion in trade. This however does not include the revenue on car importations.

Data was collected throughout 1997 by the Productivity Commission, comparing international container stevedoring performance for the same ships and trades. The data indicated that Australia charged generally higher, productivity was lower and services were less reliable than overseas. With the exception of bulk grain loading, other areas of traditional stevedoring also performed relatively poorly. It also found that marine service and port infrastructure charges were, in total, two to three times greater than at overseas ports – noting that only some of this reflects cost-recovery pricing in Australia.

Together with other problems in the transport chain, this under-performance was not only resulting in higher direct costs to shippers, but also significant indirect costs from delays and unreliability which could have been reduced. Overall, the international benchmarking revealed significant scope for improvement in Australia's performance.

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