disputes. The Act also introduced individual statutory employment contracts. These were known as Australian Workplace Agreements or AWAs. The watering down of collective bargaining provisions was a source of objection from many workers and unions. Beginnings of the dispute Australian waterfront productivity had been an issue of concern since the 1980s. Patrick Corporation sought to improve productivity by creating redundancies and reducing overtime entitlements for its permanent employees, as well as hiring more employees on a casual basis. The Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) was formed through the amalgamation of two unions: the Seafarers Union of Australia (SUA), and the Waterside Workers Federation (WWF). The MUA was born from this background and retained a heavy union presence on the waterside. At the time, it was mandatory for prospective employees to be card-carrying members of the MUA. The Howard Government sought to encourage a non-union workforce to compete against the MUA and made new legislative changes to bring this about. After the legislative introduction of Australian Workplace Agreements, a number of stevedoring operators toyed with bringing individual contract workers into their workforces but abandoned their plans in the face of strident union opposition and activism. The Dubai operation One Australian stevedoring company, Fynwest Pty Ltd, sought to recruit former and current Australian Defence Force members to counter the MUA. In particular, from December 1997, Fynwest began a campaign to recruit former and current members of the Special Air Service (SAS), paratroopers from 3RAR, commandos from 4RAR and other military specialists, to become stevedores. Others were recruited from controversial private military and security consulting companies, such as Sandline International and the Control Risks Group. This led to the use of terms like 'industrial mercenaries' in political and media circles. Fynwest planned to send these recruits to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, where international standard training could be provided. The newly trained stevedores would then take part in an Australian non-union dock workers training program. The MUA was "tipped off" about the planned Fynwest operation and took the matter to the media who met the departing Fynwest employees as they boarded a flight to Dubai and questioned their "tourist" status. Intense criticism and the threat of international industrial retaliation forced the Dubai government to cancel visas for the Fynwest company employees. The lockout In September 1997, Patrick implemented a restructure whereby the functions of employing its unionised workforce and owning its stevedoring