New South Wales Fire Brigade Senior Officers Association (1949 - 1975)

Formed in 1910 and registered just a year later, the Fire Brigade Employees' Union of New South Wales was the first known trade union of firefighters in the world. By 1922 the Union had changed names to the Fire Brigades Association of New South Wales, but officers remained excluded. In 1948, however, the Officers' and Firefighters' Associations formally amalgamated and were registered under the new (and current) title of the New South Wales Fire Brigade Employees' Union [FBEU]. Officers joined firefighters on strike for the first time, over pay. Just a year later, in 1949, a splinter group of senior officers emerged from the ranks of the FBEU to form a Senior Officers' Association, independent of the FBEU. By 1975, the Senior Officers' Association and the FBEU formally amalgamated, finally making the FBEU the one industrial union for all New South Wales firefighters.

 1949 - 1975 New South Wales Fire Brigade Senior Officers Association
       1948 - New South Wales Fire Brigade Employees Union