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Industrial Relations

Great Strike of 1917

The Great Strike of 1917 is regarded as one of Australia’s largest industrial conflicts. The strike erupted on the NSW railways and tramways in August 1917 in response to the introduction of a new way of monitoring worker productivity. Thousands of working people across a range of industries were mobilised as the strike spread throughout NSW and Australia. In Sydney, there were extraordinary street marches and demonstrations led by the strikers and their supporters. On the other side of the political and class divide, strikebreakers were recruited to keep transport and industry running. While the strike lasted for only six weeks, its consequences – political, social and cultural – lingered for decades, shaping the political consciousness of generations.

Industrial Arbitration Act 1940

Legislation that consolidated previous Acts and rationalised the procedures of the Industrial Commission.

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Masters' and Servants' Act 1845

Legislation to regulate labour relations by requiring loyalty and obedience from contracted servants, and which in reality disciplined employees and repressed combination of workers in labour unions.

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The Hungry Miles

The Hungry Miles is a documentary made by the Waterside Workers' Federation Film Unit. It documents industrial relations on the waterfront since the 1930s and includes dramatised scenes of working conditions during the Depression.

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1890s strikes

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Series of national strikes, beginning in August 1890 with the maritime unions and supported by coal miners, transport and agricultural workers, and followed by a shearers' strike in 1891. The strikes were both defeated, after military and police intervention, and large pay cuts ensued. The defeat led to the entry of the Labor Party into parliamentary politics.

Great Strike 1917

Mass strike, mainly in NSW and Victoria, and mainly involving railway and waterside workers, that began on August 2 1917 at Eveleigh Railway Workshops and Randwick Tramsheds. Originated in efforts by the railways to improve productivity through time and motion studies.The unions eventually capitulated.

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Royal Commission on Strikes 1890

The economic depression of 1890 saw employers attempt to reduce wages and re-organise production which resulted in a wave of strikes across transport, mining and pastoral sectors. The Royal Commission was established to investigate and negate the influence of trade unions which were not legally recognised until after the Commission.

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Drapers' Association

Association to promote the welfare of employers and employees in the mercantile community. As well as the sanitary conditions of workers it was also concerned with the manufactures and imports of the colony.

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Russian Workers' Association

Organisation formed to give voice to alienated migrant workers.

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Women's Committee of the Sydney Branch of the Waterside Workers' Federation

Committee established to assist in the national waterfront strikes during the 1950s and 1960s. It mostly made up of wives of the striking wharf workers and performed volunteer help for their communities.

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Gregson, Jesse

Company superintendent who took charge of some of the most important enterprises in Australia including extensive pastoral and coal mining companies.

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Lily White Association Commemorative medalet, 1917 New South Wales General Strike

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This silver Lily-White medal was designed by Newtown jeweller William Trantum in 1918. The Amalgamated Society of Engineers commissioned and issued the medal to its members who remained out on strike.

By

William Trantum

Contributed By

Australian War Memorial

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