The 1891 shearers' strike is one of
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...
's earliest and most important
industrial dispute
Strike action, also called labor strike, labour strike, or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became common during the In ...
s.
The dispute was primarily between
unionised and non-unionised
wool
Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have properties similar to animal wool. ...
workers. It resulted in the formation of large camps of striking workers, and minor instances of
sabotage
Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. One who engages in sabotage is a ''saboteur''. Saboteurs typically try to conceal their identitie ...
and violence on both sides. The
strike was poorly timed, and when the union workers ran out of food, they were forced to come to terms. The outcome is credited as being one of the factors for the formation of the
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms t ...
and the rise to power of a pro-Labor Party faction in the
Australian Socialist League.
Background
In 1891, wool production was one of Australian continent's largest
industries, however, working conditions for
sheep shearer
A sheep shearer is a worker who uses (hand-powered)-blade or machine shears to remove wool from domestic sheep during crutching or shearing.
History
During the early years of sheep breeding in Australia, shearing was carried out by sheph ...
s during the 19th century in Australia were consistently poor. With the growth of the wool industry, more workers became shearers and employees of the sheds and as their number and influence rose, many joined unions to campaign for better conditions.
By 1890, the
Amalgamated Shearers' Union of Australasia boasted tens of thousands of members, and had unionised thousands of sheds. At their annual conference in
Bourke in 1890, the
Union laid down a new rule, which prohibited members from working with non-union workers. Soon after, shearers at Jondaryan Station on the
Darling Downs went on
strike over this issue. As non-union labour was still able to process the wool, the Jondaryan shearers called for help. The
Rockhampton
Rockhampton is a city in the Rockhampton Region of Central Queensland, Australia. The population of Rockhampton in June 2021 was 79,967, Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. making it the fourth-largest city in the state outside of t ...
wharfie
A stevedore (), also called a longshoreman, a docker or a dockworker, is a waterfront manual laborer who is involved in loading and unloading ships, trucks, trains or airplanes.
After the shipping container revolution of the 1960s, the number o ...
s responded and refused to touch the Jondaryan wool. The unionists won the battle. This galvanised the
squatters, and they formed the
Pastoralists' Federal Council, to counter the strength of the unions. The
Australian Socialist League also involved itself directly with the shearers as the strike loomed (which would lead to its involvement in the foundation of the
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms t ...
).
The strike
Many
union shearers were outraged when Logan Downs Station Manager Charles Fairbain asked the shearers to sign a contract that would reduce the power of their union. On 5 January 1891 the shearers announced a strike until the following demands for a contract were met:
*Continuation of existing rates of pay
*Protection of workers' rights and privileges
*Just and equitable agreements
*Exclusion of low-cost Chinese labour, which manifested itself later as
Labor Party policy - the
Immigration Restriction Act, also known as the
White Australia Policy - although anti-Chinese demands were opposed by the Australian Socialist League, which was heavily involved with the strike.
The strike started and quickly spread. From February until May, central Queensland was on the brink of civil war. Striking shearers formed armed camps outside of towns. Thousands of armed soldiers protected non-union labour and arrested strike leaders. The unionists retaliated by raiding shearing sheds, harassing non-union labour and committing acts of
sabotage
Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. One who engages in sabotage is a ''saboteur''. Saboteurs typically try to conceal their identitie ...
, although the incidents of actual violence or arson were few.
One of the first
May Day marches in the world took place during the strike on 1 May 1891 in
Barcaldine. The
Sydney Morning Herald
''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...
reported that 1340 men took part of whom 618 were mounted on horse. Banners carried included those of the Australian Labor Federation, the Shearers' and Carriers' Unions, and one inscribed 'Young Australia'. The leaders wore blue sashes and the
Eureka Flag was carried. The "Labor Bulletin" reported that cheers were given for "the Union", "the
Eight-hour day", "the Strike Committee" and "the boys in gaol". It reported the march:
In the procession every civilised country was represented doing duty for the Russian, Swede, French, Dane etc, who are germane to him in other climes, showing that Labor's cause is one the world over, foreshadowing the time when the swords shall be turned into ploughshares and Liberty, Peace and Friendship will knit together the nations of the earth.
But the shearers were unable to hold out. The summer had been unseasonably wet, and the strike was poorly timed for maximum effect on the shearing season (winter). By May the union camps were full of hungry penniless shearers. The strike had been broken. The squatters had won this time, but it had proved a costly exercise.
Thirteen union leaders were charged with
sedition
Sedition is overt conduct, such as speech and organization, that tends toward rebellion against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent toward, or insurrection against, esta ...
and conspiracy, taken to Rockhampton for the trial, convicted, and sentenced to three years in gaol on
St Helena Island Prison. Three of those imprisoned (
William Hamilton,
Julian Stuart
Julian Stuart (18 December 1866 – 3 July 1929) was an Australian journalist, trade unionist, poet, Archaeologist and politician.
Early career
John (Julian) Alexander Salmon Stuart was born in Raymond Terrace, New South Wales and grew up on t ...
, and
George Taylor) later became Labor members of parliament – Hamilton in Queensland and the other two in
Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to t ...
.
The 1891 shearers' strike is credited as being one of the factors for the formation of the
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms t ...
. On the 9 September 1892 the ''Manifesto of the Queensland Labour Party'' was read out under the well known
Tree of Knowledge at Barcaldine following the Great Shearers' Strike. The State Library of Queensland now holds the manifesto. In 2008 the historic document was added to UNESCO's Memory of the World Australian Register and in 2009, the document was added to UNESCO's Memory of the World International Register.
Literary references and allusions
Henry Lawson's well known poem,
Freedom on the Wallaby, was written as a comment on the strike and published by
William Lane in ''the Worker'' in Brisbane, 16 May 1891. And William Lane wrote his novel in 1892, ''The workingman's paradise'', with two aims: to support fundraising efforts for the imprisoned unionists, and to explain unionism and socialism to those who would listen.
Banjo Paterson's song
Waltzing Matilda
"Waltzing Matilda" is a song developed in the Australian style of poetry and folk music called a bush ballad. It has been described as the country's "unofficial national anthem".
The title was Australian slang for travelling on foot (waltzing) ...
, an unofficial Australian anthem, was also written about this era of shearers' industrial disputes in Queensland.
Helen Palmer's song 'The Ballad of 1891', set to music by Doreen Jacobs, details the lead up to the strike and aftermath.
The 1975 film Sunday Too Far Away, directed by Ken Hannam has been partly inspired by the events surrounding this strike.
Playwright
Errol O'Neill
Errol O'Neill (1945–2016) was an Australian activist, author, actor and playwright, based in Brisbane, Queensland. O'Neill was an activist for workers' rights and against the Vietnam War and apartheid
Apartheid (, especially South ...
wrote ''On the Whipping Side – a play about the 1891 shearers' strike.'' This was first performed by the
Queensland Theatre Company in 1991 and toured parts of Queensland.
Legacy
The site of the
striking shearers' campsite in Barcaldine is listed on the
Queensland Heritage Register
The Queensland Heritage Register is a heritage register, a statutory list of places in Queensland, Australia that are protected by Queensland legislation, the Queensland Heritage Act 1992. It is maintained by the Queensland Heritage Council. ...
.
See also
*
Australian labour movement
The Australian labour movement began in the early 19th century and since the late 19th century has included industrial (Australian unions) and political wings (Australian Labor Party). Trade unions in Australia may be organised (i.e., formed) o ...
*
Eureka Stockade
The Eureka Rebellion was a series of events involving gold miners who revolted against the British administration of the colony of Victoria, Australia during the Victorian gold rush. It culminated in the Battle of the Eureka Stockade, whic ...
Notes
References
* ''The shearers' war : the story of the 1891 shearers' strike'' (1989) Stuart Svensen, University of Queensland Press.
* ''The shearers' war : the story of the 1891 shearers' strike'' (rev ed, 2008) Stuart Svensen, Hesperian Press
* ''Industrial War - The Great Strikes 1890 - 1894'' (1995) Stuart Svensen
* ''A Short History of the Australian Labor Movement'' (1944)
Brian Fitzpatrick, Rawson's Bookshop, Melbourne.
External links
The Shearers' Strikes (Barcaldine)125th anniversary of the Manifesto of the Queensland Labour Partyat
State Library of Queensland
The State Library of Queensland is the main reference and research library provided to the people of the State of Queensland, Australia, by the state government. Its legislative basis is provided by the Queensland Libraries Act 1988. It contain ...
Striking shearers burn boat ''
Green Left Weekly'', August 24, 2005
Barcaldine: famous for its role in the development of the Australian labour movement ''
The Age
''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...
'', 17 February 2005
The Ballad of 1891- Lyrics (and an MP3) to the famous Australian trade union song about the strike
at
Australian Dictionary of Biography
The ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'' (ADB or AuDB) is a national co-operative enterprise founded and maintained by the Australian National University (ANU) to produce authoritative biographical articles on eminent people in Australia's ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:1891 Australian Shearers' Strike
Australian Shearers Strike, 1891
Labour disputes in Australia
Shearer's strike
Agriculture and forestry strikes
Sheep shearing
Australian sheep industry
1890s in Queensland