Trade Union entry Amalgamated Food Preserving Employees Union of Australia (1916 - 1929)

Summary

Although a union of jam, sauce and pickle works employees had been formed circa 1898, the union did not register federally until 1911. Registered as the Jam Sauce Pickle & Food Preserving Employees' Union of Australia, it was changed in 1916 to the Amalgamated Food Preserving Employees' Union of Australia. Despite its history the union failed to become a significant influence in the industry until its reorganisation under Percy Clarey, a leading Victorian unionist, after 1922. In 1929 the union registered itself as the Food Preservers' Union of Australia. A Union of fluctuating membership, reflecting the importance of seasonal labour in the canning industry, the Food Preservers' Union was one of relatively few unions to maintain a strong presence in Australia's irrigation areas. In 1992 the union amalgamated with the Confectionery Workers' Union to become the Food Preservers' Division of the new Confectionery Workers' & Food Preservers' Union of Australia [CW&FPU]. In 1994 the CW&FPU amalgamated with the Automotive Metals and Engineering Union to form the Automotive Food Metals and Engineering Union. From 1995 it has been known as the Food and Confectionery Division of the Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union.

Related entries

Timeline

 1911 - 1916 Jam Sauce Pickle & Food Preserving Employees Union of Australia
       1916 - 1929 Amalgamated Food Preserving Employees Union of Australia
             1929 - 1992 Food Preservers Union of Australia
                   1992 - 1994 Confectionery Workers & Food Preservers Union of Australia
                         1994 - 1995 Automotive Food Metals & Engineering Union
                               1995 - Automotive Food Metals Engineering Printing & Kindred Industries Union

Archival resources

The Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU Archives Program

• Food Preservers Union of Australia - Records, 1912 - 1963, T53; The Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU Archives Program. Details

The University of Melbourne Archives

• Food Preservers' Union of Australia, Federal Council & Victorian Branch - Records, 1910 - 1998, 2001.0039; The University of Melbourne Archives. Details
• Food Preservers' Union of Australia, Federal Council & Victorian Branch - Records, 1917 - 1981, 1989.0123; The University of Melbourne Archives. Details

Published resources

Online Resources

• 'Chart 15: Trade Unions - Manufacturing - Metals and Food', in Parties to the Award, 2002, http://www.atua.org.au/ptta/036.html. Details