The Amalgamated Shearers' Union of Australasia was an early

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 ...

n trade union. It was formed in January 1887 with the amalgamation of the Wagga Shearers Union and Bourke Shearers Union in

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

with the

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literatur ...

-based Australian Shearers' Union, with

William Spence William Guthrie Spence (7 August 1846 – 13 December 1926), was an Australian trade union leader and politician, played a leading role in the formation of both Australia's largest union, the Australian Workers' Union, and the Australian Labor ...

as president and David Temple as secretary. In 1886 three organisers were sent to New Zealand to enrol members and set up branches. A special effort was made to recruit Maori members, who were highly represented in the shearing industry (the rules were even printed in Maori). Membership in NZ reached 2,300 in the first year. The Moree Shearers Union in NSW and the South Australian Shearers Union both merged into the union as new branches in 1888, and the union widened its reach to include shearers across the four colonies. However, the union was "constantly at odds with" the Queensland Shearers' Union and never became established in that colony. It helped establish the General Labourers Union of Australasia in 1891 in order to unionise shed-hands and present a united front during industrial action as a result of issues arising from the 1891 shearers' strike, and subsequently merged with the GLUA in 1894 to form the

Australian Workers' Union The Australian Workers' Union (AWU) is one of Australia's largest and oldest trade unions. It traces its origins to unions founded in the pastoralism, pastoral and mining industries in the late 1880s and it currently has approximately 80,000 ...

References

{{reflist Trade unions in Australia 1887 establishments in Australia Trade unions established in 1887 Australian sheep industry Sheep shearing Defunct trade unions of Australia