{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.014460511679644048, 'fraction_numerical': 0.008898776418242492, 'mean_word_length': 5.474820143884892, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
The Economics of the Australian Waterfront Dispute

Industrial Relations returned to the forefront of the Australian public debate in 1998 with the dispute between the Federal Government and Patrick Stevedores on the one hand and the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) on the other. This article, which was written in April 1998 at the height of the dispute, concentrates on the economic issues involved and the facts about ‘waterfront reform’. The article analyses the economic aspects of the dispute in terms of employment issues, productivity issues, industrial relations and the relationship between waterfront reform and Australia's international trade. It concludes that economic issues must be understood carefully in order to distinguish between genuine practical concerns about waterfront efficiency and purely political points made by those who oppose the MUA and trade unionism in general.