Trade Union entry Transport Workers Union of Australia (i) (1938 - 1987)

Summary

The growth in the transport sector at the turn of the last century provided a stimulus for carters' unions to reorganise themselves to make them a stronger force. This led to the Federal registration of the Federated Carters and Drivers' Industrial Union in 1906. However it was not until 1925, that representatives of the Federated Carters' & Drivers' Industrial Union, the Trolley Draymen & Carters' Union and the Motor Transport & Chauffeurs' Association met to plan the establishment of a new union capable of representing all persons employed in connection with the transport of people or goods by road. This led to the Amalgamated Road Transport Workers' Union becoming federally registered in 1928. Ten years later it changed its name to the Transport Workers' Union [TWU] of Australia. In 1947 members of the deregistered Federated Carters' and Drivers' Industrial Union of Australia joined the ranks of the TWU. By the end of 1987 the Transport Workers' Union had amalgamated with the Motor Transport & Chauffeurs' Association and although having to reregister it retained the same name.

Related entries

Timeline

 1928 - 1938 Amalgamated Road Transport Workers Union of Australia
       1938 - 1987 Transport Workers Union of Australia (i)
             1987 - Transport Workers Union of Australia (ii)

Archival resources

Central Queensland University, Capricornia Central Queensland Collection

• Transport Workers' Union of Australia, Rockhampton Sub-Branch - Records, 1911 - 1971, MS P16/1952-1958; Central Queensland University, Capricornia Central Queensland Collection. Details

National Library of Australia Oral History Collection

• 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

The Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU Archives Program

• Transport Workers Union of Australia - Records, 1890 - 1961, E103; The Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU Archives Program. Details
• Transport Workers Union of Australia - Records, 1915 - 1963, E120; The Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU Archives Program. Details
• Transport Workers Union of Australia - Records, 1928 - 1963, E132; The Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU Archives Program. Details
• Transport Workers Union of Australia - Records, 1914 - 1985, Z476; The Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU Archives Program. Details
• Transport Workers Union of Australia - Records, 1917 - 1987, T29; Z277; The Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU Archives Program. Details
• Transport Workers Union of Australia - Records, 1929 - 1990, T33; Z269; The Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU Archives Program. Details
• Transport Workers Union of Australia - Records, 1915 - 1987, Z181; The Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU Archives Program. Details

The University of Melbourne Archives

• Transport Workers' Union of Australia - Federal Office - Records, 1970 - 1979, 1984.0095; The University of Melbourne Archives. Details

Published resources

Books

• Bowden, Bradley, Driving Force: The History of the Transport Workers' Union of Australia 1883-1992, Allen and Unwin, St. Leonards, New South Wales, 1993, 248 pp. Details
• Bray, Mark and Rimmer, Malcolm, Delivering the goods: A History of the Transport Workers' Union in New South Wales 1888-1986, Allen and Unwin, Sydney, 1987, 297 pp. Details
• Transport Workers Union of Australia, New South Wales Branch, Proud to be a TWU Member: Transport Workers Tell Their Stories, Transport Workers Union, Cammeray, New South Wales, 1999, 27 pp. Details

Theses

• Bowden, Bradley, 'The Origins and History of the Transport Workers Union of Australia 1883-1975', PhD thesis, Department of History and Politics, University of Wollongong, 1991. Details

Online Resources

• 'Chart 23: Trade Unions - Transport - Road and Air', in Parties to the Award, 2002, http://www.atua.org.au/ptta/044.html. Details