The anniversary coincided with the History Channel preparing to run a Wollongong documentary made about the dispute nationally.

Pig Iron Bob was made by Sandra Pires and the team at Why Documentaries and will air on November 25.

The Dalfram Dispute started on November 15, 1938, when 180 men on the Port Kembla wharves stopped loading scrap iron on a ship called the Dalfram.

They believed the pig iron was destined for Japan to be used in the invasion of China where hundreds of thousands of innocent people were being killed.

They were also concerned the pig iron could return as bullets against Australian soldiers.

Over several months the wharfies stood their ground and their action saw the working class in Wollongong influence international foreign policy.

Urgent telegrams to the Prime Minister Joe Lyons by the Japanese Chamber of Commerce demanded action be taken to get the men back to work. But they stood their ground through Christmas and beyond.

They were fighting on moral grounds and the Wollongong community rallied behind them despite a shortage of money and food.

People from other parts of Australia helped out and the longevity of the dispute started putting Menzies under pressure. Prime Minister Lyons was ill and there was speculation he could be the next Prime Minister when he visited Wollongong to try and resolve the dispute.

He was called Pig Iron Bob and it remained with him for the rest of his life.

The documentary has attracted considerable attention. Wollongong Lord Mayor Gordon Bradbery recently laid a wreath at the Nanjing Massacre Memorial. The documentary and the story are now going to be part of an exhibition at the memorial.

The film was in the running for the best Feature Documentary Award at the Screen Producers Association of Australia this week.