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An Economic Analysis of the 1998 Patrick Dispute

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2023

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Abstract

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This article considers some of the policy issues at stake in the waterfront dispute, including an analysis of the factors that led to the dispute and a discussion of the likely outcomes of the new negotiated agreements. It concludes that the introduction of another competitor into the Australian stevedoring industry is relatively unlikely. Without such competition and in the face of 100 percent unionisation, it is not clear whether the short-run gains in productivity from the latest round of enterprise agreements will necessarily be sustained.

Type
Symposium on the Waterfront Dispute
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 1998

Footnotes

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The comments in this paper should not be attributed to the Productivity Commission.

References

Productivity Commission (PC) (1998a), International Benchmarking of the Australian Waterfront, Research Report, Ausinfo, Canberra, April.Google Scholar
Productivity Commission (PC) (1998b), Work Arrangements in Container Stevedoring. Research Report, Ausinfo, Canberra.Google Scholar
Sloan, J., Robertson, F. (1997), Selected Analysis of Employment Conditions of Workers in the Australian Waterfront and Seafaring. Working Paper 145, National Institute of Labour Studies, Flinders University of South Australia.Google Scholar