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Trade Union entry Amalgamated Shearers Union of Australasia (1887 - 1894)

From
1887
To
1894
Functions
Trade Union (Federal)

Summary

The Amalgamated Shearers' Union of Australia was formed in 1887 by the amalgamation of the Australian Shearers' Union, the Bourke Shearers' Union and the Wagga Shearers' Union. It quickly grew to represent shearers across New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. By the early 1890s, the Amalgamated Shearers' Union [ASU] was fighting a battle of survival in strikes that spread across the colonies. Economic depression and severe drought savaged the wool industry and further impeded the effectiveness of the ASU. By 1894 the ASU, in order to maintain a strong union front in the rural sector, was forced to merge with other rural-based unions to form the Australian Workers' Union. The Australian Workers' Union grew throughout the colonies to become one of the largest, most influential unions in Australia.

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Timeline

 1886 - 1887 Wagga Shearers Union
 1886 - 1887 Bourke Shearers Union
 1886 - 1887 Australian Shearers Union
 1886 - 1888 Moree Shearers Union
 1886 - 1888 South Australian Shearers Union
       1887 - 1894 Amalgamated Shearers Union of Australasia
             1905 - 1976 Australian Workers Union (i)
                   1976 - 1988 Australian Workers Union (ii)
                         1988 - 1993 Australian Workers Union (iii)
                               1993 - AWU-FIME Amalgamated Union

Archival resources

Fryer Library and Department of Special Collections, University of Queensland

  • Diary of Shearer's Strike, 1891, by Charles Thomas Wyatt, 1891, F337; Fryer Library and Department of Special Collections, University of Queensland. Details

National Library of Australia Oral History Collection

  • Mel Pratt Collection - Clyde Cameron interviewed by Mel Pratt, 1971 - 1988, ORAL TRC 121/24; National Library of Australia Oral History Collection. Details

The Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU Archives Program

Published resources

Books

  • Merritt, John, The Making of the AWU, Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 1986, 432 pp. Details
  • Spence, W.G., History of the AWU, The Worker Trustees, Sydney, 1961, 125 pp. Details

Edited Books

  • Murphy, D.J. (ed.), The Big Strikes, Queensland 1889-1965, University of Queensland Press, Brisbane, Queensland, 1983, 303 pp. Details

Journal Articles

  • Bolton, Geoffrey and Gregory, Helen, '1891 Shearers Strike leaders: railroaded?', Labour History, vol. 62, 1992, pp. 116-126. Details
  • Burke, Janine, 'Culture Shock at Barcaldine', Australian Society, vol. 91, 1991, pp. 35-36. Details
  • Buxton, G.L., 'An Incident at Barcaldine 1891', Labour History, vol. 7, Australian Society for the Study of Labour History, Sydney, 1964, p. 22. Details
  • Cameron, Clyde, 'A Man is Never Dead Until He Is Forgotten: David Temple, Founder of the ASU', Labour History, vol. 60, Australian Society for the Study of Labour History, Sydney, 1991, pp. 93-108. Details
  • Markus, Andrew, 'Talka Longa Mouth', Labour History, vol. 35, Australian Society for the Study of Labour History, Sydney, 1978, pp. 138-157. Details

Online Resources

See also

  • Markey, Ray, 'Women and Labour, 1880-1900', in Windschuttle, Elizabeth (ed.), Women, Class and History : Feminist Perspectives on Australia, 1788-1978, Australian Humanities Press, Adelaide, 1980, pp. 83-111. Details
  • Merritt, J.A., 'W.G. Spence and the 1890 Maritime Strike', Historical Studies: Australia and New Zealand, vol. 15, no. 60, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 1973, pp. 594-609. Details
  • Piggin, F.S., 'New South Wales Pastoralists and the Strikes of 1890 and 1891', Historical Studies: Australia and New Zealand, vol. 14, no. 56, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 1971, pp. 546-560. Details

Bruce A. Smith

Created: 28 June 2001, Last modified: 12 December 2002