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Trade Union entry Waterside Workers Federation of Australia (i) (1907 - 1991)

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    Chart 16: Trade Unions - Maritime and Stevedoring
    Details

From
1907
To
1991
Functions
Trade Union (Federal)
Reference No
014V

Summary

The first waterside workers' unions in Australia were formed in Port Adelaide, Sydney, and Port Melbourne in 1872. By 1889 there were notable waterfront unions in New South Wales, South Australia, Victoria and Western Australia. The various unions federated in March 1890 but the Waterside Workers' Federation of Australia [WWF] was not established until 7 February 1902.

Following Federation it was believed that state and port based unions would have common concerns which could be more adequately addressed by a federal body. Subsequently, the state wharf labourers' organisations met to discuss the formation of a federal body and established a Committee which included 5 members of Parliament, two of whom later became Prime Minister of Australia (Andrew Fisher and Billy Hughes). In 1902 the WWF was formed with Sydney Branch Secretary, W.M. Hughes elected as the organisation's first President. Other inaugural members included F.W. Bamford (Vice President), Senator de Largie (Treasurer) and Joe Morris (Secretary). By the end of 1902 the WWF consisted of 18 branches and 6260 members.

Following many debates within the ranks of the union the WWF applied for and obtained federal registration as a union in 1907, and elected Billy Hughes as its first General President, a position he maintained until 1916 when he was expelled from the union for his views on conscription.

The structure of the WWF remained largely unchanged until 1950 when it absorbed the Permanent & Casual Wharf Labourers Union of Australia. In 1991 the WWF amalgamated with the Australian Foremen Stevedore Association but retained the name Waterside Workers' Federation of Australia.

The largest change to the administrative structure of the WWF occurred when it amalgamated with the Seamen's Union of Australia [SUA] in 1993 to form the Maritime Union of Australia [MUA]. Whilst joint General Secretaries controlled the MUA under the new structure, they ensured that the representation and responsibilities of the former Waterside Workers and the Seamen were differentiated. The MUA dispute in 1998 did, however, consolidate the MUA as a single union.

Archival resources

Archives Rare Books and Special Collections Unit, Auchmuty Library, University of Newcastle

  • South Maitland Railways Archive - Legal and Industrial Records, 1903 - 1954, A5547; Archives Rare Books and Special Collections Unit, Auchmuty Library, University of Newcastle. Details
  • Waterside Workers Federation of Australia, Port Stephens Branch - Minute Book, 1923 - 1925, B9784; Archives Rare Books and Special Collections Unit, Auchmuty Library, University of Newcastle. Details

Fryer Library and Department of Special Collections, University of Queensland

  • Leo Lenane - Papers, 1940 - 1972, UQFL 34; Fryer Library and Department of Special Collections, University of Queensland. Details

Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales

  • Records, MLMss1956; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details

National Library of Australia Oral History Collection

  • Charlie Fitzgibbon interviewed by Richard Raxworthy in the Labor Council of New South Wales oral history project, 1986, ORAL TRC 1948/19; National Library of Australia Oral History Collection. Details
  • Chicka Dixon interviewed by Gary Foley, 1995, ORAL TRC 3282; National Library of Australia Oral History Collection. Details
  • Dutchy Young interviewed by Richard Raxworthy in the Labor Council of New South Wales oral history project, 1986?, ORAL TRC 1948/8; National Library of Australia Oral History Collection. Details
  • Harry Quinn interviewed by Richard Raxworthy in the Labor Council of New South Wales oral history project, 1994, ORAL TRC 3128/9; National Library of Australia Oral History Collection. Details
  • Interview with Ted Bull, Communist, trade unionist, Secretary of the Victorian Branch of the Waterside Workers Federation, 1967-1979 - interviewer, Barry York, 1988, ORAL TRC 2375; National Library of Australia Oral History Collection. Details

The Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU Archives Program

  • Association of Employers of Waterside Labour - Records, 1901 - 1992, Z430; The Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU Archives Program. Details
  • C.H. Fitzgibbon Papers, 1929 - 1989, P102; The Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU Archives Program. Details
  • Waterside Workers Federation of Australia - Records, 1899 - 1989, Z387; The Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU Archives Program. Details
  • Waterside Workers Federation of Australia - Records, 1912 - 1968, E213; The Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU Archives Program. Details
  • Waterside Workers Federation of Australia - Records, 1901 - 1942, E144; The Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU Archives Program. Details
  • Waterside Workers Federation of Australia - Records, 1911 - 1945, T63; The Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU Archives Program. Details
  • Waterside Workers Federation of Australia - Records, 1917 - 1989, Z387 (pt); The Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU Archives Program. Details
  • Waterside Workers Federation of Australia - Records, 1981 - 1991, Z433; The Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU Archives Program. Details
  • Waterside Workers Federation of Australia - Records, 1902 - 1968, N101; The Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU Archives Program. Details
  • Waterside Workers Federation of Australia - Records, 1900 - 1983, T62; E171; E211; E250; N114; M26; M76; Z432; Z604; The Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU Archives Program. Details
  • Waterside Workers Federation of Australia - Records, 1901 - 1979, N140; The Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU Archives Program. Details
  • Waterside Workers Federation of Australia - Records, 1931 - 1992, Z429; The Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU Archives Program. Details
  • Waterside Workers Federation of Australia - Records, 1909 - 1959, E166; The Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU Archives Program. Details
  • Waterside Workers Federation of Australia - Records, 1889 - 1992, M70; Z248; The Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU Archives Program. Details
  • Waterside Workers Federation of Australia - Records, 1908 - 1979, N135; The Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU Archives Program. Details
  • Waterside Workers Federation of Australia - Records, 1911 - 1980, Z348; The Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU Archives Program. Details
  • Waterside Workers Federation of Australia - Records, 1914 - 1975, T41; E236; The Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU Archives Program. Details
  • Waterside Workers Federation of Australia - Records, 1891 - 1990, N28; Z474; The Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU Archives Program. Details
  • Waterside Workers Federation of Australia - Records, 1907 - 1929, E148; The Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU Archives Program. Details
  • Waterside Workers Federation of Australia - Records, 1872 - 1983, E81; N90; The Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU Archives Program. Details

State Library of Victoria, Australian Manuscripts Collection

  • Muriel Agnes Heagney - Papers, 1936-1968, 1936 - 1968, MS 9106; State Library of Victoria, Australian Manuscripts Collection. Details

The University of Melbourne Archives

  • Kevin Hince Collection, 1959 - 1977, 1994.0147; The University of Melbourne Archives. Details
  • Waterside Workers' Federation - Records, 1948 - 1970, 1980.0097; The University of Melbourne Archives. Details
  • Waterside Workers' Union of New South Wales - Records, 1908 - 1949, 1984.0084; The University of Melbourne Archives. Details

University of Wollongong Archives

  • Albert Smith and Ray Elliot - 'Dalfram Dispute', 1938 - 1939, B12; University of Wollongong Archives. Details
  • 'The Growing militancy of the South Coast branch of the Waterside Workers' Federation 1930-39' by Garry Griffith, 1980, A773; University of Wollongong Archives. Details
  • Jack Lowrey Collection - Waterside Workers Federation, 1955 - 1983, D156; University of Wollongong Archives. Details
  • Ray Elliot and Keith Johnson - Port Kembla waterfront during The Depression, 1930s, B19; University of Wollongong Archives. Details
  • Walter Bailey - Port Kembla Waterfront, 1930 - 1939, B18; University of Wollongong Archives. Details
  • Waterside Workers' Federation (WWF) 1950-79 - Records, 1950 - 1979, C29; University of Wollongong Archives. Details
  • The Waterside Workers' Federation of Australia - Commonwealth Award, 1944, A348; University of Wollongong Archives. Details
  • Waterside Workers' Federation of Australia - Constitution and rules, 1954, A129; University of Wollongong Archives. Details

Published resources

Books

  • Beasley, Margo, The Wharfies: a History of the Waterside Workers' Federation of Australia, Halstead Press in assocation with the Australian National Maritime Museum, Rushcutters Bay, New South Wales, 1996, 222 pp. Details
  • Brown, W. J., The Strike of the Australian Waterside Workers, Melbourne, 1929, 22-33 pp. Details
  • Gaby, J., The Restless Waterfront, Antipodean Publishers, Sydney, 1974, 252 pp. Details
  • Lockwood, Rupert, Black Armada, Australasian Book Society, Sydney, 1975, 352 pp. Details
  • Lockwood, Rupert, War on the Waterfront: Menzies, Japan and the pig-iron dispute, Hale and Iremonger, Sydney, 1987, 264 pp. Details
  • Lockwood, Rupert, Ship to Shore: A History of Melbourne's Waterfront and its Union Struggles, Hale and Iremonger, Sydney, 1990, 398 pp. Details
  • Lowenstein, Wendy and Hills, Tom, Under the hook, Melbourne waterside workers remember working lives and class war: 1900-1980, Melbourne Bookworkers in association with Australian Society for the Study of Labour History, Melbourne, 1982, 192 pp. Details
  • Nelson, Tom, The Hungry Mile, Waterside Workers' Federation of Australia, Sydney, 1957, 125 pp. Details

Edited Books

  • Murphy, D.J. (ed.), The Big Strikes, Queensland 1889-1965, University of Queensland Press, Brisbane, Queensland, 1983, 303 pp. Details

Journal Articles

  • Alcorta, F.A., 'The Origins of Trade Unionism in the Northern Territory', Labour History, vol. 43, Australian Society for the Study of Labour History, Sydney, 1982, pp. 23-35. Details
  • Beasley, Margo, 'Soldiers of the Federation: The Women's Committees of the Waterside Workers' Federation of Australia', Labour History, vol. 81, 2001, pp. 109-127. Details
  • Brown, W. J., 'The Strike of the Australian Waterside Workers: A Review', The Economic Record (Sydney), vol. 5, no. 8, 1929, pp. 22-33. Details
  • Kerr, John R., 'Industrial Relations 1963-1964', Journal of Industrial Relations, vol. 6, no. 3, 1964, pp. 173-188. Details
  • Lockwood, Rupert, 'Maritime Worker'. Details
  • McConville, C., 'Waterfront Unionism in Three Ports: Buenos Aires, Melbourne and San Francisco 1919-1934', Australian Labour History Reconsidered, Australian Humanities Press, Adelaide, 1999, pp. 75-88. Details
  • Mitchell, Winifred, 'Home Life at the Hungry Mile: Sydney Wharf Labourers and their Families, 1900-1914', Labour History, vol. 33, Australian Society for the Study of Labour History, Sydney, 1977, pp. 86-97. Details
  • Sheridan, Tom, 'Regulating the Waterfront Industry 1950-1968', Journal of Industrial Relations, vol. 40, no. 3, Australian Society for the Study of Labour History, Sydney, 1998, pp. 441-460. Details
  • Tull, Malcolm, 'Blood on the Cargo: Cargo-Handling and Working Conditions on the Waterfront at Fremantle, 1900-1939', Labour History, vol. 52, 1987, pp. 15-29. Details
  • White, J., 'The Port Kembla Pig Iron Strike of 1938', Labour History, vol. 37, Australian Society for the Study of Labour History, Sydney, 1979, pp. 63-77. Details

Online Resources

Digital resources

Title
Chart 16: Trade Unions - Maritime and Stevedoring
Type
Image

Details

Bruce A. Smith