In 1938, the Waterside Workers Federation refused to load tin clippings and pig-iron on the Dalfram at Port Kembla. During the early 1970s, the NSW Builders Labourers Federation refused to demolish buildings, destroy parkland or build high-rise buildings in some parts of Sydney.

These unions would not allow their labour to be used for what they considered destructive purposes.

Uncharted Waters examines the political theories and movements that influenced these two disputes, and argues that the unions moved beyond traditional activities and into what Jack Mundey described as uncharted waters.