Confectionery Workers' Union of Australia

[9] It was formed as a result of concerns among female confectionery workers that the main trade union in the industry, the Victorian United Confectioners' Society, was not adequately representing their interests.

[10] While the workforce was by this stage composed predominantly of women and girls, the Victorian United Confectioners' Society remained male-dominated.

[15] For the same reasons, the workforce in the sector as a whole was exceptionally young: 80% of female confectionery workers were younger than 25, and the vast majority of this group were between 10 and 19 years old.

Male union delegates on the Wages Board, in line with common stereotypes, had a low estimation of women's ability to bargain for themselves.

In 1925, it appeared that they would merge into the FCA; however, negotiations collapsed once again due to disagreements over women's representation on the Wages Board.

[19] The dispute occurred against the backdrop of the Prices and Incomes Accord, an agreement between the ACTU and the Australian Labor Party government led by Bob Hawke.

The Accord was an attempt to steer Australia out of the stagflation crisis that was affecting the world's industrialised economies at the time.

[22] Many of these unions were associated with a small, hard-left faction of the Labor Party, of which the FCA's Victorian leader Carlo Frizziero was a member.

[23] In 1983, the owner of Dollar Sweets, Fred Stauder, offered his employees pay increases in line with those fixed centrally under the Accord, despite the fact that the union was not a formal signatory.

[19] Stauder argued that this contravened the prior agreement, as it essentially functioned as a wage claim and therefore fell outside the terms of the Accord.

[25] According to Peter Costello, who represented Stauder as a junior barrister during the dispute, the picketers employed a variety of militant tactics, obstructing not only workers who were trying to enter the site but also truck drivers who were attempting to deliver supplies.

[26] The dispute was accompanied by a long and bitter legal battle, resulting in the union paying $175,000 in damages to Dollar Sweets for financial losses incurred during the picket.

[22] Prior to the dispute, it was highly unusual for an Australian union to be compelled by common law to pay financial compensation to a company.

[22][19] Recognising its significance, many of the figures and institutions associated with the emerging New Right in Australia rallied around the dispute, providing Stauder with financial support, legal advice, and publicity.

Peter Costello, who supported Stauder legally throughout the dispute, would go on to become Treasurer during the Howard government; Michael Kroger, another lawyer, also achieved considerable influence within the Liberal Party.

Both of the latter parties viewed the dispute as a threat to the integrity of the Accords, the ALP's economic strategy, and ultimately their own legitimacy.