The Blacksmiths' Society of Australia was an Australian trade union which existed from 1911 to 1965. It was established in late 1911 as a federation of pre-existing state unions under the name of the Blacksmiths' Society of Australasia. The federation occurred amidst bitter demarcation tensions with the

Australian Society of Engineers The Australasian Society of Engineers (ASE) was an Australian trade union active from 1890 to 1991. It was eventually incorporated into the Australian Workers' Union (AWU). History In 1890, the Australasian Society of Engineers was established a ...

, which saw the ASE successfully oppose the BSA's NSW state registration in a succession of legal battles from their first attempt in May 1912 until 1918 on the basis that the already-registered ASE was capable of representing the BSA's members. By May 1918, however, the deciding judge held that the BSA's case for independent recognition had been made out, only refusing on the basis that the BSA had participated in the

1917 Australian general strike Usually referred to as the "New South Wales General Strike", but referred to by contemporaries as "the Great Strike", it was in fact neither general nor confined to NSW. The strike was however a mass strike, involving around 100,000 workers, mostl ...

, which would have seen them deregistered if they had been registered to begin with. They were finally successful in obtaining NSW registration in August 1918, and then federal registration in December 1919. The union was renamed the Blacksmiths Society of Australia in 1954. It amalgamated with the Boilermakers' Society of Australia in 1965 to form the Boilermakers and Blacksmiths Society of Australia.

References

Defunct trade unions of Australia Metal trade unions 1912 establishments in Australia Trade unions established in 1912 Trade unions disestablished in 1965 1965 disestablishments in Australia {{Australia-trade-union-stub