1891 Australian shearers' strike

Labour strike in Australia June 2020 June 2020 300px|thumb|Shearers' strike camp, Hughenden, central Queensland, 1891.The 1891 shearers' strike is one of Australia's earliest and most important industrial disputes.Wendy Lewis, Simon Balderstone and John Bowan Events That Shaped Australia 84 New Holland 2006 978-1-74110-492-9 The dispute was primarily between unionised and non-unionised wool workers. It resulted in the formation of large camps of striking workers, and minor instances of sabotage and violence on both sides. The strike 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 and the rise to power of a pro-Labor Party faction in the Australian Socialist League.McIlroy Jim Australia's First Socialists https://books.google.com/books?id=CSGe6EMth94C&pg=PA11 2003 Resistance Books Sydney, New South Wales, Australia 978-1876646394 11 Background January 2020 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 went on strike over this issue. As non-union labour was still able to process the wool, the Jondaryan shearers called for help. The Rockhampton wharfies responded and refused to touch the Jondaryan wool. The unionists won the battle. This galvanised the squatters, 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 Australian Labor Party). The strike thumb|250px|Workers' library at Barcaldine, during 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.thumb|Card celebrating shearers as Unionist Prisoners after the shearers strike in Barcaldine 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 sabotage, although the incidents of actual violence or arson were few. One of the first May Day marches in the world took place during the strike on 1 May 1891 in Barcaldine. The Sydney Morning Herald reported that 1,340 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 Strike Committee" and "the boys in gaol [jail]". 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 and conspiracy, taken to Rockhampton for the trial, convicted, and sentenced to three years in jail 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.Centenary of Shearers Strike & Labour Movement, Monuments Australia. Retrieved 7 January 2017. thumb|Shearers' Strike Manifesto, 1891 The 1891 shearers' strike is credited as being one of the factors for the formation of the Australian Labor Party. 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.2017-09-08 125th anniversary of the Manifesto of the Queensland Labour Party State Library Of Queensland https://www.slq.qld.gov.au/blog/125th-anniversary-manifesto-queensland-labour-party 2021-03-23 www.slq.qld.gov.au en The State Library of Queensland now holds the manifesto. In 2008 the historic document was added to UNESCO's Memory of the World Australian RegisterManifesto of the Queensland Labour Party, 1892 Australian Memory of the World https://www.amw.org.au/register/listings/manifesto-queensland-labour-party-1892 2021-03-23 www.amw.org.au and in 2009, the document was added to UNESCO's Memory of the World International Register.Manifesto of the Queensland Labour Party to the people of Queensland (dated 9 September 1892) United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization http://www.unesco.org/new/en/communication-and-information/memory-of-the-world/register/full-list-of-registered-heritage/registered-heritage-page-5/manifesto-of-the-queensland-labour-party-to-the-people-of-queensland-dated-9-september-1892/ 2021-03-23 www.unesco.org Literary references and allusions Henry Lawson'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.Lane, William (1892) "Preface" to The Workingman's Paradise, Sydney, Sydney University Press, 2009 edition It has been suggested that Banjo Paterson's song Waltzing Matilda, an unofficial Australian anthem, was written about this era of shearers' industrial disputes in Queensland.Alexander Nicole Waltzing Matilda - A shearer's strike, a suicide & Banjo: How our unofficial national anthem came into being. https://www.nicolealexander.com.au/2019/03/30/waltzing-matilda-a-shearers-strike-a-suicide-banjo-how-our-unofficial-national-anthem-came-into-being/ 2024-08-13 Nicole Alexander en-USBarnard Loretta 2020-05-12 Waltzing Matilda: Origins of the sheep larcenist we took to our bosom https://thebigsmoke.com.au/2020/05/12/waltzing-matilda-origins-sheep-larcenist-we-took-to-our-bosom-matilda/ 2024-08-13 The Big Smoke en-US It was the subject of the play Hail Tomorrow1947-10-15 The Red Page https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-532927845 The Bulletin en 68 3531 2 2025-12-20 Trove and radio serial Two Worlds both by Vance Palmer.28 November 1951 Vance Palmer Wins Jubilee Radio Serial http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article63394705 21 December 2025 The Townsville Daily Bulletin Queensland, Australia 5 National Library of Australia LXXI The strike was the background to the popular stage musical Reedy River.12 March 1953 Reedy River Well Staged & Danced https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article205721361 20 December 2025 The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954) National Library of Australia Melbourne, Vic. 2 Helen Palmer's song 'The Ballad of 1891', set to music by Doreen Jacobs, details the lead up to the strike and aftermath.The Ballad of 1891 https://unionsong.com/u114.html 2025-12-20 Union Songs The 1975 film Sunday Too Far Away, directed by Ken Hannam has been partly inspired by the events surrounding this strike.March 2024 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.https://playlabtheatre.com.au/playwright/errol-oneill/ Errol O'Neill Archives Playlab Theatre en-US 2020-01-09 Legacy The site of the striking shearers' campsite in Barcaldine is listed on the Queensland Heritage Register.14794 Shearers' Strike Camp Site, Barcaldine 600019 1 August 2014 See also Organized labour 1894 Australian shearers' strike Australian labour movement Eureka Stockade 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 978-0-85905-434-8 Industrial War - The Great Strikes 1890 - 1894 (1995) Stuart Svensen 0-646-22797-1 A Short History of the Australian Labor Movement (1944) Brian Fitzpatrick, Rawson's Bookshop, Melbourne. External links The Shearers' Strikes (Barcaldine) https://www.slq.qld.gov.au/blog/125th-anniversary-manifesto-queensland-labour-party 125th anniversary of the Manifesto of the Queensland Labour Party State Library of Queensland https://web.archive.org/web/20240215150128/https://www.slq.qld.gov.au/blog/manifesto-queensland-labour-party-0 2024-02-15 live 2021-12-20 Shear power: Shearer’s strike of 1891 - Stories from the Archives https://blogs.archives.qld.gov.au/2021/12/21/shear-power-shearers-strike-of-1891/ live https://web.archive.org/web/20240320214037/https://blogs.archives.qld.gov.au/2021/12/21/shear-power-shearers-strike-of-1891/ 2024-03-20 Blogs Queensland State Archives Striking shearers burn boat, Green Left Weekly, August 24, 2005 Barcaldine: famous for its role in the development of the Australian labour movement, The Age, 17 February 2005 The Ballad of 1891 - Lyrics (and an MP3) to the famous Australian trade union song about the strike William Hamilton at Australian Dictionary of Biography Australian Shearers Strike, 1891 Category:Labour disputes in Australia Shearer's strike Category:Agriculture and forestry strikes Category:Sheep shearing Category:Australian sheep industry Category:1890s in Queensland