ABSTRACT
The law has acquired a new machine which its operators allege is capable of producing a necessary incentive to good industrial relations. Trade unions allege that this is irrelevant because no one will buy the product. The law of tort has contributed to the unfair industrial practice its most effective concept: that of liability for inducement to breach of contract. Much of the way in which sections 96 and 98 of the Industrial Relations Act operate will depend on the interpretation the courts in the past have given to this tort. This chapter examines some of the elements of this tort in detail, and the remaining relevant torts, and the defences to them, more generally. Liability also depends on the inducer having a measure of knowledge of the contract. The courts have whittled down the required extent of this knowledge.
