We have to work to survive. Since the dawn of time when mankind relied on hunter/gatherer societies to fulfil their duties to the tribe, to the capitalist landscape we find ourselves in today, survival and the simple act of living have always come with a price. Since work is the most valuable commodity of society, who ensures that the price of work is fair? That remuneration is accurate, hours aren’t excessive, and workers have sufficient representation when raising issues with management?

 

While the onus lies on policymakers and managers to ensure that their staff are secure and not burning out, unions must represent workers in the workplace before any legal action becomes necessary. 

While workers are capable of advocating for themselves, the sad truth is that in many companies it isn’t safe for them to do so, at least without support; and although anyone can get an online Masters of Law and defend themselves – that’s not a viable option in the short term. This is why unions exist so that workers who are being treated unfairly can get the support they need and have some clout against unfair or toxic employers. But where did these organisations come from?

 

1700 and Beyond: The Convict Rebellions

It’s no secret that Australia was founded by convicts. While it’s not totally inaccurate, it is a gross oversimplification. Australia was discovered long before it was colonised and its native populations subjugated, but it was deemed so arid and hostile that it was unsuitable for colonisation. However, in the late 1700s two main British-owned penal colonies were founded, one in New South Wales (1788) and the other in Tasmania (1803.) The convicts that were sent to these colonies for forced labour were, alongside their jailors, the first major European colonisation efforts on Australia’s shores.

 

This is likely where Australia’s modern cultural distrust and loathing of authority stems from, as there are records of major convict rebellions during this time – with convicts regularly fighting against their captors due to poor working conditions, and human rights abuses, and more. Two of the most famous of these are the Castle Hill Convict Rebellion of 1804, and the Eureka Rebellion in 1853 where gold miners formed an armed resistance against the overzealous and unfair use of mining licenses during the Gold Rush.

 

Impressively, despite both of these rebellions ending in a loss for the convicts and miners, both have become emblematic of Australia’s culture of mateship, anti-authoritarianism, and sense of “justice.”

 

There were other several major worker uprisings in Australia, leading to breakthroughs in social class equality, and enforced legal stipulations to protect workers. As Australia became more and more (for the lack of a better word) civilised through breeding, expansion, and the violent genocide of its native population, the Australian working class was pivotal in establishing several major concessions we take for granted today.

Stonemasons and Seamstresses

The first recorded union was a group of Australian stonemasons, advocating for an 8-hour work day. In April 1856, stonemasons simply ceased working and marched off-site in response to their employer’s unfair demands. At this time, stonemasons were expected to work from sunrise to sunset six days a week, with the seventh being reserved for rest and going to church. Negotiations between the organised builders and their employers broke down on the 21st of April. In response, a man named James Stephens led his colleagues in setting down their tools and marching to Parliament to demand their cause be known.  As they marched, James Galloway famously proclaimed:

“We have come 16,000 miles to better our condition, and not to act the mere part of machinery.”

 

They were successful, and soon other industry workers followed suit and got organised against their oppressive employers.

 

In 1882, the clothing company Beith Shiess & Co. attempted to lower its seamstress’s wages. The wages were based on what is called “piece rates,” which is where they were only paid per completed garment. Despite the use of sewing machines, the piece rate was already low and difficult to survive on, so when Beith Shiess & Co attempted to lower the rates even further, the women in their employ banded together and established the Tailoresses’ Association of Victoria. They protested against the unfair wage decrease and won, and the TAV joined the Tailor’s Society in 1906.

Wartime Union Success and Australian Identity

1914 World War 1 erupted, and Australian Unions would come to the rescue again. As a British ally, Australia was forced into the war, and although many trade unionists enlisted in the armed forces in response – the government at the time flirted with the concept of replacing the volunteer military with a conscription system.

 

This was hotly contested by the unions at the time, who pushed against the Prime Minister, advocating for the choice to go to war or not. In 1916, the unions won the first referendum on the issue, followed by the second in 1917, ensuring that Australia’s military power was made solely of volunteers.

 

WWII saw trade unions supporting the war effort, as communist ideologies made their way into Australia’s unions. As more unions became divided between communist and non-communist factions, the unions supported the anti-totalitarian fighting.

 

Australia’s multiple successes with unions spread globally. Our nation garnered an image as the “workingman’s paradise” or “land of the fair go.” Our cultural identity became that of a nation where anyone could achieve anything with enough grit and determination. 

 

We were an icon of equality, fairness, and camaraderie.

Now

There are currently several trade unions in Australia, and though we still hold an international image of fun-loving larrikins it seems that we may be becoming more like our convict-oppressing forebears than we’d perhaps like to admit.

 

A rise in conservative thinking and classist/xenophobic attitudes can pose a significant threat to everything our anti-authoritarian ancestors struggled to accomplish. Unions are important, they advocate for workers and protect their rights when no one else can. They must be maintained and protected, because without them, who will protect the vast majority of Australians that have to work for a living?

 

Our unionist revolutionary history is something to be proud of. Let us make sure that we uphold it.