Trade Union entry Australasian Institute of Marine & Power Engineers (1922 - 1925)

Summary

The Australasian Institute of Marine & Power Engineers [AIMPE] has its origins in the formation, on the 1 January 1881, of the Australasian Institution of Marine Engineers. With the stated purpose of guarding the interests, promoting further welfare, elevating and improving the conditions of all members, these aims were not a total departure from those that the various pre-existing colonial and New Zealand branches had expounded prior to this juncture. However, it was only through the unification and federation of these branches that these aims became more attainable. Gains were made after 1881 but they were based moreso on 'gentlemen's agreements' with the steamship owners than anything else.

In 1906, after drawn out objections from the Amalgamated Engineers, the AIME gained federal registration under the Commonwealth's Conciliation and Arbitration Act. Registered as the Australasian Institute of Marine Engineers (Employes), the Union was now subject to all the advantages and constraints implicit in the Act.

Operating as the Australasian Institute of Marine Engineers (Employes) until 1922, the Union sought to encourage an influx of members by including hydraulic and electrical engineers under the amended title Australasian Institute of Marine & Power Engineers [AIMPE]. Beset by internal problems and isolated by other unions (caused in part by the poaching of hydraulic and electrical engineers) the AIMPE was dealt a further blow in 1925 when the New Zealand branch seceded from the main body. Losing this trans-Tasman connection, the Union was forced to rename itself the Australian Institute of Marine & Power Engineers (Employes). This new AIMPE operated until 1967 when a restructuring was deemed necessary to reignite the effectiveness of the Union. Part of the restructure involved a change of name to the Australian Institute of Marine & Power Engineers, the addendum '(Employes)' was dropped as it had long since fallen out of use. The Australian Institute of Marine & Power Engineers operates to this day.

Related entries

Timeline

 1881 - 1906 Australasian Institution of Marine Engineers
       1906 - 1922 Australasian Institute of Marine Engineers (Employes)
             1922 - 1925 Australasian Institute of Marine & Power Engineers
                   1925 - 1967 Australian Institute of Marine & Power Engineers (Employes)
                         1967 - Australian Institute of Marine & Power Engineers

Archival resources

The Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU Archives Program

• Australian Institute of Marine & Power Engineers - Records, 1880 - 1992, E153; E202; N35(pt); Z211(pt); Z124; The Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU Archives Program. Details
• Australian Institute of Marine & Power Engineers - Records, 1881 - 1993, T19; E150; E202; E224; N13; N35; Z123; Z211(pt); The Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU Archives Program. Details

State Library of South Australia, Mortlock Library of South Australiana

• Australian Institute of Marine and Power Engineers - Records, 1877 - 1979, SRG 201; State Library of South Australia, Mortlock Library of South Australiana. Details

The University of Melbourne Archives

• Australian Institute of Marine and Power Engineers, Victorian District - Records, 1883 - 1979, 1980.0107; The University of Melbourne Archives. Details

Published resources

Books

• Broomham, Rosemary G., Steady Revolutions: The Australian Institute of Marine and Power Engineers 1881-1990, New South Wales University Press, Kensington, New South Wales, 1991, 244 pp. Details

Online Resources

• 'Chart 16: Trade Unions - Maritime and Stevedoring', in Parties to the Award, 2002, http://www.atua.org.au/ptta/037.html. Details