Foreword 

by Jack Mundey 
Greg Mallory has made a positive contribution to the history of trade unionism in this country with Uncharted Waters. 

It is trail breaking as it explores social responsibility by two of the most progressive and militant trade unions—the Waterside Workers Federation (WWF) and the Builders Labourers Federation (BLF). 

The book traces militant trade unionism through much of the 20th century, including through the arbitration system, basic wage cases and the penal powers of the Arbitration Act, and, from the 1930s through to the end of the century, the vital role of the left in Australian unionism. The Communist Party in particular, but also other strands of socialist, anarchist and social democratic thought and organisation, played a significant role during most of the century. 

Ted Roach of the WWF, until now, has not been given due recognition for the fine historic role he played in the Dalfram dispute in the late 1930s, which saw the waterside workers in Port Kembla ban the export of pig-iron to Japan. Roach's leadership in exposing Japan's militarism was an expression of his internationalism, which came to light again in the 1940s when he was deeply involved in Indonesia's fight for independence from the Dutch, a fight in which he played an impressive role. 

In highlighting Roach's contribution, Greg Mallory has set an important record straight. 

Green Bans—the birth of environmental activism in the trade union movement 

In the 1970s, it was the famous US biologist, Paul Erlich, who was so impressed with the NSW BLF's Green Bans that he described them as the birth of urban environmentalism, as distinct from nature conservation.