Peak Union body entry Melbourne Trades Hall Council (1884 - 1970)

Summary

The Melbourne Trades Hall Council grew from the historic winning of the eight-hour day by the Melbourne building trades in 1856. In that year the Melbourne Trades Hall Committee was formed to receive a grant of land on which the world's first Trades Hall, or "Workers' Parliament", was built in 1859. Initially the Trades Hall's industrial role was limited, but a resurgence of industrial activity in the 1880s resulted in it collecting evidence for the Shops and Factories Royal Commission and taking control of major strikes. In 1884 the Committee became a Council to better reflect this expanding industrial role. The title Victorian Trades Hall Council was eventually adopted in 1968.

Related entries

Timeline

 1856 - 1884 Melbourne Trades Hall Committee
       1884 - 1970 Melbourne Trades Hall Council
             1970 - Victorian Trades Hall Council

Archival resources

Flinders University, University Library

• National Institute of Labour Studies Collection - Records of the Victorian Trades Hall Council, 1877 - 1953, http://www.lib.flinders.edu.au/resources/collection/special/nils/index.html; Flinders University, University Library. Details

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

• Records, 1955 - 1962, ML MS 9377; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details
• Trades Hall, Melbourne records, 1848-1915, 1848 - 1915, MLMSS 308; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details

National Archives of Australia, Melbourne Office

• Papers of A.E. Monk, 1920 - 1975, M1171; National Archives of Australia, Melbourne Office. Details

National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection

• Industrial Workers of the World - Correspondence 1897-1919, 1897 - 1919, MS 3516; National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection. Details
• Michael Patrick Considine - Newspaper cuttings, [19--], 1900? - 1950?, MS 2221; National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection. Details

The Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU Archives Program

• Victorian Trades Hall Council - Records, 1877 - 1953, M14; M64; The Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU Archives Program. Details

State Library of Victoria, Australian Manuscripts Collection

• Trades Hall Council (Melbourne, Vic.) - Records, 1877 - 1943, MS 7825; State Library of Victoria, Australian Manuscripts Collection. Details
• Trades Hall Council (Melbourne, Vic.). Executive Committee - Minute books, 1904-1927, 1904 - 1927, MS 10760; State Library of Victoria, Australian Manuscripts Collection. Details
• Trades Hall Council (Melbourne, Vic.). Executive Committee - Minute books, 1904-1927, 1904 - 1927, MS 10760; State Library of Victoria, Australian Manuscripts Collection. Details

The University of Melbourne Archives

• Carr, Kenneth Francis - Records, 1965 - 1981, 2003.00106; The University of Melbourne Archives. Details
• Melbourne Eight Hour Day Anniversary Committee - Records, c. 1916 - , 1979.0092; The University of Melbourne Archives. Details
• Melbourne May Day Committee - Records, 1968 - , 1990.0066; The University of Melbourne Archives. Details
• Melbourne May Day Committee - Records, 1925 - 1974, 1989.0154; The University of Melbourne Archives. Details
• Melbourne Trades Hall and Literary Institute - Records, 1857 - 1934, 2002.0024; The University of Melbourne Archives. Details
• Melbourne Trades Hall Council Information and Research Bureau - Records, 1870 - 1970, 1978.0106; The University of Melbourne Archives. Details
• Melbourne Trades Hall Equal Pay Committee - Records, 1940 - 1967, 1978.0110; The University of Melbourne Archives. Details
• Pioneers of The Eight-hour Day Association - Records, 1885 - 1892, 1977.0114; The University of Melbourne Archives. Details
• Trade Union Equal Pay Committee - Records, 1940 - 1967, 1984.0145; The University of Melbourne Archives. Details
• Victorian Trades Hall Council - Records, 1867 - 1977, 1991.0013; The University of Melbourne Archives. Details
• Victorian Trades Hall Council - Records, 1957 - 1983, 2001.0020; The University of Melbourne Archives. Details
• Victorian Trades Hall Council - Records, 1874 - 1976, 1986.0098; The University of Melbourne Archives. Details
• Victorian Trades Hall Council - Records, 1877 - 1927, 1986.0156; The University of Melbourne Archives. Details
• Victorian Trades Hall Council - Records, c. 1910 - 1975, 1988.0062; The University of Melbourne Archives. Details
• Victorian Trades Hall Council - Records, 1930 - 1931, 1979.0107; The University of Melbourne Archives. Details
• Victorian Trades Hall Council - Records, 1867 - 1914, 1991.0028; The University of Melbourne Archives. Details
• Victorian Trades Hall Council - Records, 1950 - 1975, 1991.0030; The University of Melbourne Archives. Details
• Victorian Trades Hall Council - Records, c. 1950 - c. 1980, 1994.0055; The University of Melbourne Archives. Details
• Victorian Trades Hall Council - Records, 1903 - 1939, 1978.0082; The University of Melbourne Archives. Details
• Victorian Trades Hall Council - Records, 1910 - 1932, 1999.0066; The University of Melbourne Archives. Details
• Victorian Trades Hall Council - Records, 1891 - , 1998.0025; The University of Melbourne Archives. Details

University of Wollongong Archives

• Melbourne Trades Hall Council - Records, 1877 - 1943, D5; University of Wollongong Archives. Details

Published resources

Books

• Kellaway, Carlotta, Melbourne Trades Hall Lygon Street Carlton: The Workingman's Parliament, Department of Public Works, Melbourne, 1988, 11 pp. Details
• Pearce, Marcella, Melbourne Trades Hall Memories, VTHC/LHMU (Victorian Branch), Carlton South, Victoria, 1997, 136 pp. Details

Book Sections

• Hagan, James, 'Unions: Context and Perspective 1850-1980', in Ford, Bill and Plowman, David (eds), Australian Unions: an Industrial Perspective, 1983, pp. 30-58. Details

Journal Articles

• Chan, K., 'Origins of Compulsion in Australia: case of Victoria, 1888-1894', Journal of Industrial Relations, vol. 13, no. 2, 1971, pp. 155-163. Details
• 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
• Rose, David J., 'A History of the Labor Anti-War Committee, 1934 - 1938', Labour History, vol. 43, Australian Society for the Study of Labour History, Sydney, 1982, pp. 53-63. Details

Online Resources

• 'Chart 4: State and Territory Trades and Labor Councils', in Parties to the Award, 2002, http://www.atua.org.au/ptta/024.html. Details

See also

• Hagan, J., 'The Rehabiliation of the Graves of Charles Jardine Don and William Emmet Murphy', Recorder, no. 125, 1983, pp. 4-6. Details
• Macarthy, P.G., 'Wage Determination in New South Wales - 1890-1921', Journal of Industrial Relations, vol. 10, no. 3, 1968, pp. 189-205. Details
• Macarthy, P.G., 'Victorian Wages Boards: Their Origins and the Doctrine of the Living Wage', Journal of Industrial Relations, vol. 10, no. 2, 1968, pp. 116-134. Details
• Matthews, T.V., 'Business Associations and the State, 1850-1979', State and Economy in Australia, 1983, pp. 115-149. Details
• Parsons, T.G., 'Outline of Employer Organisation in the Victorian Manufacturing Industries 1879-1890', Journal of Industrial Relations, vol. 14, no. 1, 1972, pp. 23-38. Details
• Tanner, Lindsay, 'A Protracted Evolution: Labor in Victorian Politics, 1882-1898', Labour History, vol. 42, Australian Society for the Study of Labour History, Sydney, 1982, pp. 40-53. Details