Peak Union body entry Victorian Trades Hall Council (1970 - )

Summary

The Victorian Trades Hall Council grew from the historic winning of the eight-hour day by the Melbourne building trades in 1856. In that year a 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 1970.

Related entries

Timeline

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

Archival resources

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

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

National Library of Australia Oral History Collection

• Interview with John Halfpenny, trade union leader - interviewer, Barry York, 1988, ORAL TRC 3781; National Library of Australia Oral History 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

The University of Melbourne Archives

• Carr, Kenneth Francis - Records, 1965 - 1981, 2003.00106; The University of Melbourne Archives. Details
• Melbourne May Day Committee - Records, 1990.0063; The University of Melbourne Archives. Details
• Melbourne May Day Committee - Records, 1990.0033; The University of Melbourne Archives. Details
• Melbourne May Day Committee - Records, 1925 - 1974, 1989.0154; The University of Melbourne Archives. Details
• Trade Union Labour Day Committee - Records, 1990 - , 1990.0064; 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, c. 1910 - 1975, 1988.0062; The University of Melbourne Archives. Details
• Victorian Trades Hall Council - Records, 1986 - 1988, 1989.0053; The University of Melbourne Archives. Details
• Victorian Trades Hall Council - Records, c. 1912 - 1929, 1990.0067; 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, 1950 - 1975, 1991.0030; 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, 1994.0066; The University of Melbourne Archives. Details
• Victorian Trades Hall Council - Records, c. 1950 - c. 1980, 1994.0055; The University of Melbourne Archives. Details
• Wilcock Family Papers, 1905? - 1957?, 1981.0083; The University of Melbourne 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
• McCubbin, Maryanne and Forell, Andrew, The Records of the Victorian Trades Hall Council: First Accession (1857-1988): Lists and Indexes, University of Melbourne Archives/Victorian Trades Hall Council, Parkville, Victoria, 1989, 187 pp. Details
• Pearce, Marcella, Melbourne Trades Hall Memories, VTHC/LHMU (Victorian Branch), Carlton South, Victoria, 1997, 136 pp. Details

Book Sections

• Plowman, David, 'Victorian Trades Hall Split', in Ford, Bill and Plowman, David (eds), Australian Unions: an Industrial Perspective, Australian Society for the Study of Labour History, Sydney, 1983, pp. 303-324. Details

Journal Articles

• Alexander, Gary, 'Trades Hall Trades Up', The Bulletin, vol. 28, 1997, p. 30. Details
• Brown, Sarah, 'A library of material advantage to the working classes: a case study of the Victorian Trades Hall Council Historic Library collection', Australian Special Libraries, vol. 27, 1994, pp. 125-129. Details
• Plowman, D. H., 'Unions in Conflict: The Victorian Trades Hall Split 1967-1973', Labour History, vol. 36, 1979, pp. 47-69. Details
• Woodward, A.E., 'Industrial Relations 1966-1967', Journal of Industrial Relations, vol. 9, no. 2, 1967, pp. 97-106. 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