Waterfront dispute papers revealed 

Secret papers hidden for years by the Security Intelligence Service will be made available to the public on Thursday.

The agency has declassified 17 files on New Zealand's biggest industrial scrap, the 1951 waterfront dispute.

A bitter scrap on the wharves led to violence on the street. The waterfront dispute pitted up to 22,000 wharfies and other union members against their employers and the government.

"As time went on you started to realise it was a cause you could not win," says Russell French, a former waterside worker.

It was a strike or a lockout, depending on your point of view, that lasted 151 days.

The government took a hard line, making it illegal to help workers' families.

And it was in the Cold War climate that the police special branch were charged with gathering information on the dispute.

A lot in the declassified papers seems routine, including reports on public meetings and union leaders' travel plans, even a letter from a policeman explaining why he retyped a messy report.

"If anybody is expecting a fascist conspiracy to crush the workers they're going to be out of luck," says Susan Butterworth, historian.

The papers also include a report about a woman who followed the watersiders band during a march and an account of a raid on the premises of the owner of a Wellington milkbar described as a rabid communist.

But some information remains classified, including details about informers.

A request can be made to view the papers at archives New Zealand in Wellington.

See related video for more or visit http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/politics/the-1951-waterfront-dispute