Merseyside Port Shop Stewards' convenor Jim Nolan recently announced the end of the 28 month docks dispute. Five hundred Liverpool dockers had been locked out in a battle over casualisation of working conditions and attempts to break unionism in the port. Although maritime workers around the world rallied to the support of their colleagues in Liverpool, the dockers were hamstrung from the start by the refusal of their own officials from the Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU) to declare the dispute official.
Nevertheless, the dockers - and their partners in the 'Women of the Waterfront' group waged a courageous and inspiring struggle against enormous odds. Left high and dry by their union's national leadership, they depended on international solidarity and the help of thousands of British workers and youth to survive. The committee set up by the Liverpool dockers was a model of self-organisation and they toured country after country seeking support.
We should not judge them for their decision to end the dispute without securing their central demands. But we should draw the lesson from the shameful behaviour of the traitors in the TGWU leadership and the Labour government. The fact that the company - Mersey Docks and Harbour Company - is partly owned by the government says a lot about Tony Blair's 'New Labour Party'.
In a message to supporters, Jim Nolan said that: 'At a mass meeting...the Liverpool Dockers decided to call an end to their long running dispute on a recommendation from their shop stewards. The decision to end the dispute was taken after hearing about a number of very important and significant developments which made it more or less impossible to continue.'
The dockers accepted a $24 million settlement that will see every worker get a $60,000-plus payout and allow all but the 80 youngest dockers re-apply for any jobs that are advertised in the future. The dockers had to give in on their central demand of full re-instatement.
The tragedy is that if the TGWU had come in behind them, especially after Labour won the May 1st election, it would have been difficult for Blair to implement the anti-union legislation first introduced by Thatcher.
The lesson for Australia is that when a group of workers are attacked they can't be left to fight alone. If we continue to fear anti-strike and anti-union legislation, right-wing governments will just continue to extend such legislation until we have nothing left. We must take a stand. The Liverpool dockers will go down in the annals of working class history and will be remembered long after the TGWU national leadership is long forgotten.