Trade Union entry Australasian Coal & Shale Employees Federation (1916 - 1990)

Summary

Registered federally in 1913 as the Australasian Coal Miners' Association this union was buoyed significantly in 1914 by the inclusion of members from the defunct Victorian Coal Miners' Association. In 1916 the Australasian Coal Miners' Association changed its name to the Australasian Coal & Shale Employees' Federation which operated until 1990 when it amalgamated with the Federated Mining Mechanics' Association of Australasia to form the United Mineworkers' Federation of Australia. Another amalgamation with the ATAIU & BWIU Amalgamated Union in 1992 and later that year with the Federated Engine Drivers' & Firemen's Association of Australasia and the Operative Plasterers' & Plaster Workers' Federation of Australia instigated the formation initially of the Construction Forestry & Mining Employees' Union and later the Construction Forestry Mining & Energy Union. This union was reregistered as the Construction Forestry Mining & Energy Union in 1993 following amalgamations with the Federated Furnishing Trade Society of Australasia and the Operative Painters' & Decorators' Union of Australia.

Related entries

Timeline

 ? - 1874 Sandhurst Miners Association
 ? - 1874 Buninyong Miners Association
 ? - 1874 Blackwood Miners Association
 ? - 1874 Clunes Miners Association
 ? - 1874 St Arnaud Miners Association
 ? - 1874 Malmsbury Miners Association
 ? - 1874 Stawell Miners Association
 ? - 1874 Maldon Miners Association
 ? - 1874 Haddon Miners Association
 1870s - c. 1883 Creswick Miners Association
       1874 - c. 1884 Amalgamated Miners Association of Victoria
       1907 - 1914 Victorian Coal Miners Association
             c. 1884 - 1916 Amalgamated Miners Association of Australasia
             1913 - 1916 Australasian Coal Miners Association
                   1916 - 1990 Australasian Coal & Shale Employees Federation
                         1990 - 1992 United Mineworkers Federation of Australia
                               1992 Construction Forestry & Mining Employees Union
                                     1992 - 1993 Construction Forestry Mining & Energy Union (i)
                                           1993 - Construction Forestry Mining & Energy Union (ii)

Archival resources

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

• Aberdare Extended Miners' Lodge Collection, 1910 - 1927, A5607; Archives Rare Books and Special Collections Unit, Auchmuty Library, University of Newcastle. Details
• Jane Morgan Honours Thesis, 1981, B10368; Archives Rare Books and Special Collections Unit, Auchmuty Library, University of Newcastle. Details
• Richmond Main Colliery Archive - Correspondence relating to Miners Federation, 1937 - 1938, A5510(xiii); Archives Rare Books and Special Collections Unit, Auchmuty Library, University of Newcastle. Details

National Library of Australia Oral History Collection

• Edgar Ross interviewed by Richard Raxworthy in the Labor Council of New South Wales oral history project, 1988, ORAL TRC 1948/34; National Library of Australia Oral History Collection. Details

Newcastle Region Library

• Australasian Coal and Shale Employees' Federation, NSW District Branch - Records, 1913-1923, 1913 - 1923, AB 3676; Newcastle Region Library. Details

The Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU Archives Program

• Australasian Coal & Shale Employees Federation - Records, 1909 - 1967, E164; The Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU Archives Program. Details
• Australasian Coal & Shale Employees Federation - Records, 1889 - 1959, T3; T31; The Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU Archives Program. Details
• Australasian Coal & Shale Employees Federation - Records, 1928 - 1988, Z586; The Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU Archives Program. Details
• Australasian Coal & Shale Employees Federation - Records, 1874 - 1979, E165; E204; N144; The Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU Archives Program. Details

The University of Melbourne Archives

• Australian Coal and Shale Employees' Federation (Miners' Federation), Victorian District/Powlett River Branch - Records, 1909 - 1968, 1975.0071; The University of Melbourne Archives. Details
• Bill Rankin Papers, 1927 - 1965, 1973.0082; The University of Melbourne Archives. Details

University of Wollongong Archives

• 'The 35 hour week and multi shift production' by R. Kelly, c. 1970, A765; University of Wollongong Archives. Details
• Australian Coal and Shale Employees' Federation - Bulli Lodge Records, 1920 - 1955, D114; University of Wollongong Archives. Details
• Australian Coal and Shale Employees' Federation (Miners' Federation) Southern District, NSW - Records, 1901 - 1966, D12; University of Wollongong Archives. Details
• Australian Coal and Shale Employees' Federation, Southern District Branch - Rules and constitution, 1962, A82; University of Wollongong Archives. Details
• The Coal front: an account of the 1949 Coal Strike and the issues it raised, 1949, A667; University of Wollongong Archives. Details
• Miners' Women's Auxiliaries of Australia, Southern District, New South Wales - Records, 1949 - 1973, D20; University of Wollongong Archives. Details
• Southern District Miners Federation - Rules and constitution, 1936, A685; University of Wollongong Archives. Details

Published resources

Books

• Comerford, Jim, Coal and Colonials: The Founding of the Australian Coal Mining Industry, NSW Northern District of the CFMEU Mining and Energy Division, Sydney, 1997, 176 pp. Details
• Fisher, Chris, Coal and the State, Methuen, Sydney, 1987, 406 pp. Details
• Gollan, R., The Coalminers of New South Wales: A History of the Union 1860-1960, Melbourne University Press in association with the Australian National University, Parkville, Victoria, 1963, 249 pp. Details
• Metcalfe, Andrew, For Freedom and Dignity: Historical Agency and Class Structures in the Coalfields of NSW, Allen and Unwin, Sydney, 1988, 268 pp. Details
• Ross, E., Miners Federation of Australia: 50th Anniversary, Australasian Coal and Shale Employees' Federation of Australia, Sydney, 1965, 47 pp. Details
• Ross, E., A History of the Miners' Federation of Australia: The Australasian Coal and Shale Employees' Federation, Halstead Press, Sydney, 1970, 528 pp. Details
• Thomas, Pete, Miners in the 1970s: A Narrative History of the Miners' Federation, Miners Federation, Sydney, 1983, 552 pp. Details
• Thomas, Pete, The Coalminers of Queensland: A Narrative History of the Queensland Colliery Employees Union, QCEU, Ipswich, Queensland, 1986, 679 pp. Details

Edited Books

• Deery, P. (ed.), Labour in Conflict, the 1949 Coal Strike, Hale and Iremonger, Sydney, 1978, 106 pp. Details

Journal Articles

• Cochrane, P., 'The Wonthaggi Coal Strike, 1934', Labour History, vol. 27, Australian Society for the Study of Labour History, Sydney, 1974, pp. 12-30. Details
• Coward, D., 'Crime and Punishment', Labour History, vol. 24, Australian Society for the Study of Labour History, Sydney, 1973, pp. 51-80. Details

Online Resources

• 'Chart 7: Trade Unions - Building, Construction, Mining and Timber Industries', in Parties to the Award, 2002, http://www.atua.org.au/ptta/028.html. Details

See also

• Robertson, Mavis, 'Sally Bowen: Political and Social Experiences of a Working Class Women', in Windschuttle, Elizabeth (ed.), Women, Class and History : Feminist Perspectives on Australia, 1788-1978, Australian Society for the Study of Labour History, Sydney, 1980, pp. 405-422. Details