Reith tried -- and failed -- to undermine the Maritime Union of Australia when he was Australia's Workplace Relations Minister in 1998.
Australian businesses will be forced to deal increasingly with militant unionists this year as the individual contracts of their employees expire and unions exploit generous right-of-entry clauses in Labor’s Fair Work Act.
In a speech [on Feb. 24], former Howard government minister Peter Reith says he expects the industrial relations climate to worsen.
Mr Reith, who led the former government’s fight against the Maritime Union of Australia during the 1998 waterfront dispute, highlights recent strike action by the MUA as well as attempts by unions to “muzzle” the construction industry watchdog.