Federated Ship Painters and Dockers Union
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The Federated Ship Painters and Dockers Union (FSPDU) was an Australian
trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...
which existed between 1900 and 1993. It represented labourers in the
shipbuilding industry Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to befo ...
, covering "mostly work associated with chipping, painting, scrubbing ndcleaning
hips In vertebrate anatomy, hip (or "coxa"Latin ''coxa'' was used by Celsus in the sense "hip", but by Pliny the Elder in the sense "hip bone" (Diab, p 77) in medical terminology) refers to either an anatomical region or a joint. The hip region ...
working in every size of tanks, cleaning boilers, docking and undocking vessels, and rigging work".


History


Establishment

The Painters and Dockers' Union had its origins in the New South Wales Associated Laborers Union, also known as the Balmain Labourers Union, which was established in Balmain in May 1883. The new union was formed to represent all unskilled workers or labourers in the area, but was focussed mainly on shipbuilding and ship repair, the main industry in Balmain. The union gradually grew in stature over the next decade, affiliating with the
Trades and Labor Council of Sydney The Labor Council of New South Wales, branded Unions NSW, is the peak body for trade unions in the state of New South Wales, Australia. As of 2005 there are 67 unions and 8 Rural and Regional Trades & Labor Councils affiliated to the Labor Coun ...
in 1889 and establishing the Balmain Trades and Labor Hall in 1890. The union was involved in the unsuccessful 1890 Maritime Strike. The union was also heavily involved in the formation of the first branch of the Labor Electoral League of New South Wales, the forerunner to 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 the f ...
, in Balmain in April 1891. The union's finances suffered during the depression of the 1890s and in January 1898 the union's members unanimously voted for its dissolution. Following the dissolution of the Balmain Labourers' Union its members were reorganised along industrial lines, with the broad coverage of unskilled and semi-skilled workers in the shipbuilding industry split mainly between the
Federated Ironworkers' Association The Federated Ironworkers' Association of Australia (FIA) was an Australian trade union which existed between 1911 and 1991. It represented labourers and semi-skilled workers employed in the steel industry and ironworking, and later also the che ...
and the Federated Ship Painters and Dockers' Union of Port Jackson, the latter being formally established in 1900. The union conducted two successful strikes in the same year, establishing
closed shop A pre-entry closed shop (or simply closed shop) is a form of union security agreement under which the employer agrees to hire union members only, and employees must remain members of the union at all times to remain employed. This is different fr ...
arrangements in the industry. The union soon expanded out of Balmain to represent painters and dockers working throughout
Sydney Harbour Port Jackson, consisting of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta Rivers, is the ria or natural harbour of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The harbour is an inlet of the Tasman Sea (p ...
, growing rapidly from 449 members in 1902 to 1,954 in 1907. The union achieved its first industrial award in 1903, a collective agreement with employers, registered by consent, before amalgamating with similar unions in other states to form the Federated Ship Painters and Dockers Union of Australia in 1909. The union achieved federal registration in 1916, giving it access to the federal system of arbitration and conciliation courts.


Growth

Working conditions and pay for ship painters and dockers in the early 20th century were poor, with 80 percent of the union's membership in 1939 earning less than the
basic wage A living wage is defined as the minimum income necessary for a worker to meet their basic needs. This is not the same as a subsistence wage, which refers to a biological minimum, or a solidarity wage, which refers to a minimum wage tracking labor ...
. Ninety percent of painters and dockers were employed as casuals, under the free selection of labour system. This meant workers had to wait outside shipyards and port workshops, where foremen would choose different men to work each day, depending on the requirements of the employer. The union made significant efforts to regulate this system of hiring, including introducing limits on the minimum length of employment and the number of hours workers would wait each day, but with little success. Conditions changed dramatically during World War II, as increased demand in the shipbuilding industry led to a labour shortage. The membership of the union grew rapidly, increasing in Sydney from 880 in 1939 to 2792 in 1945. During 1945 the union began operating a roster for painters and dockers, dispatching workers to the various employers as needed. This development was resisted by employers, who launched a
lockout Lockout may refer to: * Lockout (industry), a type of work stoppage **Dublin Lockout, a major industrial dispute between approximately 20,000 workers and 300 employers 1913 - 1914 * Lockout (sports), lockout in sports leagues **MLB lockout, lock ...
of all painters and dockers in the
Port of Newcastle The Port of Newcastle is a major seaport in the city of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. It is the world's largest coal port. It is made up of facilities located at Port Hunter - Yohaaba in the Hunter River estuary. The port was the f ...
, but agreement was reached in the Commonwealth Arbitration Court in 1946 allowing the practice to continue. The roster was operated out of the branch office of the union in each port, which acted as a
hiring hall In organized labor, a hiring hall is an organization, usually under the auspices of a labor union, which has the responsibility of furnishing new recruits for employers who have a collective bargaining agreement with the union. It may also refer t ...
. Members were allocated jobs each morning based on how long they had been waiting for work. Refusal to accept a job meant the member would lose his position in the allocation order. Employers retained the right to determine the number of workers required, and to reject any workers they thought unsuitable. The dangerous and difficult nature of the work, as well as the small and close-knit nature of the workforce, encouraged strong union organisation amongst the painters and dockers and the FSPDU developed a reputation for militancy. For example, despite representing only 15 percent of the workforce in the shipbuilding and ship repair industry the FSPDU was involved in 40 percent of all industrial disputes between 1975 and 1978. The FSPDU was also notable for being the only union in Australia after 1976 to have more than 5 percent of its members in the shipbuilding and ship repair industry.


Decline

The FSPDU faced a decline in membership during the late 20th century as mechanisation (including
sandblasting Sandblasting, sometimes known as abrasive blasting, is the operation of forcibly propelling a stream of abrasive material against a surface under high pressure to smooth a rough surface, roughen a smooth surface, shape a surface or remove su ...
and
spray painting Spray painting is a painting technique in which a device sprays coating material (paint, ink, varnish, etc.) through the air onto a surface. The most common types employ compressed gas—usually air—to atomize and direct the paint particles. ...
) and the decline of Australian commercial shipbuilding reduced the number of jobs available. By the late 1970s membership of the union had fallen to approximately 2000, although the union actively defended the work of its members through competition with other unions over coverage, being involved in a high proportion of all
demarcation dispute A demarcation dispute is a dispute between (usually) two trades unions as to whose members should do a particular job, and is associated with multi-unionism in an enterprise, where two labour unions claim the right to represent the same class or g ...
s in the shipbuilding industry. As work declined in the industry, employers began to seek the removal of the union roster system, provoking an eleven-week strike at the Garden Island dockyard in Sydney in 1976 and a sixteen-week dispute in Newcastle in 1978. Both disputes ended with the union retaining the right to operate the roster.


Alleged criminality and deregistration

In the 1960s and 1970s the union was alleged to have criminal connections. In 1980 the union was subject to the
Costigan Commission The Costigan Commission (officially titled the Royal Commission on the Activities of the Federated Ship Painters and Dockers Union) was an Australian royal commission held in the 1980s. Headed by Frank Costigan QC, the Commission was establ ...
(officially entitled the ''Royal Commission on the activities of the Federated Ship Painters and Dockers Union''), enquiring into its involvement with organised crime and tax evasion. The union was de-registered in 1993. Despite widespread allegations of criminality, the reason the union was de-registered was because it had fewer than 1,000 members. After the ''Industrial Relations Act 1988'' was passed by the Hawke
Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...
unions with fewer than 1,000 members had to show why, in the public interest, their existence should continue. Whilst the Dockers opposed the de-registration on principle it could not advance an argument to continue its existence, taking the Act into account. Before de-registration members of the Dockers had been transferred to what are now the
Maritime Union of Australia The Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) was a union which covered waterside workers, seafarers, port workers, professional divers, and office workers associated with Australian ports. The MUA was formed in 1993 with merger of the Seamen's Unio ...
and the AMWU. Several prominent former members were involved in the
Melbourne gangland killings The Melbourne gangland killings were the murders of 36 underworld figures in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, between January 1998 and August 2010. The murders were retributive killings involving underworld groups. The deaths caused a power va ...
.
Lewis Moran Lewis Moran (7 July 1941 – 31 March 2004) was an Australian organized crime figure and patriarch of the infamous Moran family of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Notable for his involvement in the Melbourne gangland killings, Moran was shot de ...
and
Graham Kinniburgh Graham Allen Kinniburgh (20 October 1942 – 13 December 2003) was an Australian organised crime figure from Kew, a suburb of Melbourne. He became a victim of the Melbourne gangland killings, which were dramatised in the drama series ''Underbel ...
were both former members and met on the Melbourne waterfront. Five persons who were members or associated with the Union were connected with the attempted robbery of Trans Australia Airlines Flight 454.


See also

*
Costigan Commission The Costigan Commission (officially titled the Royal Commission on the Activities of the Federated Ship Painters and Dockers Union) was an Australian royal commission held in the 1980s. Headed by Frank Costigan QC, the Commission was establ ...
* Bottom of the harbour tax avoidance


References


External links


The Ship Painters and Dockers Award 1969
- the Federal
Award An award, sometimes called a distinction, is something given to a recipient as a token of recognition of excellence in a certain field. When the token is a medal, ribbon or other item designed for wearing, it is known as a decoration. An awar ...
of the Union
My Union Right or Wrong. A history of the Ship Painters and Dockers Union 1900-1932
By Issy Wyner (2003) {{Authority control Defunct trade unions of Australia Shipbuilding trade unions Organised crime in Australia Trade unions established in 1900 Trade unions disestablished in 1993