The 1891 shearers' strike is one of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

's earliest and most important industrial disputes. The dispute was primarily between unionised and non-unionised

wool Wool is the textile fiber 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 some properties similar to animal w ...

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, government, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, demoralization (warfare), demoralization, destabilization, divide and rule, division, social disruption, disrupti ...

and violence on both sides. The

strike Strike may refer to: People *Strike (surname) * Hobart Huson, author of several drug related books Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm * Airstrike, ...

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 known as the Labor Party or simply Labor, is the major Centre-left politics, centre-left List of political parties in Australia, political party in Australia and one of two Major party, major parties in Po ...

and the rise to power of a pro-Labor Party faction in the Australian Socialist League.

Background

In 1891, wool production was one of the Australian continent's largest industries, however, working conditions for sheep shearers 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 The Darling Downs is a farming region on the western slopes of the Great Dividing Range in southern Queensland, Australia. The Downs are to the west of South East Queensland and are one of the major regions of Queensland. The name was generally ...

went on

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. In the , the population of Rockhampton was 79,293. A common nickname for Rockhampton is "Rocky", and the demonym of Rockhampton is Rockhamptonite. The Scottish- ...

wharfie A dockworker (also called a longshoreman, stevedore, docker, wharfman, lumper or wharfie) is a Dock (maritime), waterfront manual laborer who loads and unloads ships. As a result of the Intermodal container, intermodal shipping container revolu ...

s responded and refused to touch the Jondaryan wool. The unionists won the battle. This galvanised the

squatters Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building (usually residential) that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there wer ...

, 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

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

, although the incidents of actual violence or arson were few. One of the first

May Day May Day is a European festival of ancient origins marking the beginning of summer, usually celebrated on 1 May, around halfway between the Northern Hemisphere's March equinox, spring equinox and midsummer June solstice, solstice. Festivities ma ...

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 tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper in ...

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 eight-hour day movement (also known as the 40-hour week movement or the short-time movement) was a social movement to regulate the length of a working day, preventing excesses and abuses of working time. The modern movement originated i ...

", "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 or organization, that tends toward rebellion against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent toward, or insurrection against, establ ...

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, and George Taylor) later became Labor members of parliament – Hamilton in Queensland and the other two in

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

. The 1891 shearers' strike is credited as being one of the factors for the formation of the

. 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 UNESCO's Memory of the World (MoW) Programme is an international initiative to safeguard the documentary heritage of humanity against collective amnesia, neglect, decay over time and climatic conditions, as well as deliberate destruction. It ca ...

Australian Register and in 2009, the document was added to UNESCO's Memory of the World International Register.

Literary references and allusions

Henry Lawson Henry Archibald Hertzberg Lawson (17 June 1867 – 2 September 1922) was an Australian writer and bush poet. Along with his contemporary Banjo Paterson, Lawson is among the best-known Australian poets and fiction writers of the colonial period ...

'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. It has been suggested that

Banjo Paterson Andrew Barton "Banjo" Paterson, (17 February 18645 February 1941) was an Australian bush poet, journalist and author, widely considered one of the greatest writers of Australia's colonial period. Born in rural New South Wales, Paterson worke ...

'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 written about this era of shearers' industrial disputes in Queensland. It was the subject of the play '' Hail Tomorrow'' and radio serial '' Two Worlds'' both by

Vance Palmer Edward Vivian "Vance" Palmer (28 August 1885 – 15 July 1959) was an Australian novelist, dramatist, essayist and critic. Early life Vance Palmer was born in Bundaberg, Queensland, on 28 August 1885 and attended the Ipswich Grammar School. Wi ...

. The strike was the background to the popular stage musical '' Reedy River''. 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 Ken Hannam (12 July 1929 – 16 November 2004) was an Australian film and television director who also worked in Television in the United Kingdom, British television drama. Career Born in St Kilda, Victoria, St Kilda, Melbourne, the eldest of ...

has been partly inspired by the events surrounding this strike. Playwright Errol O'Neill 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.

References

Sources

* ''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)
* *

'' 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