The 1998 Waterfront Dispute was described by John Howard as "a defining moment in Australia's industrial relations history." Do you agree with this statement? Support your view by discussing the events and outcomes of this dispute. John Howard's comment on the 1998 Waterfront dispute between the Maritime Union of Australia and Patrick Stevedores was a hypocritical and ignorant description of one of Australia's worst industrial relations disputes. The Australian Government considers that Australia is poorly served by its waterfront industry. The serious inefficiencies that have persisted on the waterfront, despite previous reforms, have acted as a brake on economic growth and international competitiveness. "The globalising strategies of both Labour and Liberal governments have intensified the pressure on Australian employers to maintain international competitiveness by cutting costs and increasing productivity." (Wiseman p1) In the lead up to the 1996 federal election, the Coalition advocated the prohibition of union preference with Mr Reith arguing that "where union membership was genuinely voluntary, unions are more likely to be responsive to the needs of their members." (Thorpe & McDonald p24) However, it is more .
Introduction Employment relation is the interaction between any of the actors. Employment relation is comprised of three major actors, employees/unions, management/employers and the state. They all have different roles to affect in the employment relations. This essay attempts to examine that the role of all actors and it focuses on the state as the most significant than the role of other actors due to the sate has more power than other actors in employment relations. The essay focuses on definition of all actors and explanation in role of them in employment relation. Also this paper will evaluate that why the state is most significant than other actors. Employment relation The employment relations belong to three sets of actors.