Browse Entries

Trade Union entry Queensland Locomotive Enginemen Firemen & Cleaners Association (c. 1891 - 1900)

From
c. 1891
Queensland
To
1900
Functions
Trade Union (State or Territory only)

Summary

The Queensland Locomotive Enginemen Firemen & Cleaners' Association was formed circa 1891. The idea of amalgamating Locomotive Enginemens' Associations from all states had already been suggested at a Victorian Conference in 1886. Federation, however, did not come to fruition until 1899-1900 when the Locomotive Engine Drivers' & Firemens' Association from Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia and Queensland met to form the Federated Railway Locomotive Enginemen's Association of Australasia. This body met yearly at Conference, but did not set up a Federal Division until 1920. In that year a decision of the High Court made it possible for unions covering employees in state instrumentalities to have access to the Federal Arbitration Court. In February 1921, the newly named Australian Federated Union of Locomotive Enginemen [AFULE] was the first such union to gain federal registration with the Court.

In 1922-1923, following Federal registration, successful steps were taken for the AFULE to gain coverage of Locomotive Enginemen working for Commonwealth railways, and the Union became truly Australia wide.

In 1924, the AFULE decided to file a separate log of claims on each of the state employers, but the decision of the Australian Railways Union to try to establish one federal award for all railwaymen precipitated the Locomotive Enginemen into a similar case before the Federal Arbitration Court. The AFULE presented a mass of detailed evidence resulting by April 1925 in its first Federal Award binding on State instrumentalities and bringing its four Union Divisions into line industrially.

By 1926 the union had changed its name to the Australian Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, only to change it back to the Australian Federated Union of Enginemen in 1927. After 1970, membership swelled as a result of the inclusion of members from the deregistered Australian Federated Union of Locomotive Enginemen, Commonwealth Division. In 1993 the AFULE merged with the Australian Tramway & Motor Omnibus Employees' Association, the National Union of Rail Workers of Australia and the Australian Railways Union to form the Australian Rail Tram & Bus Industry Union.

Timeline

 c. 1891 - 1900 Queensland Locomotive Enginemen Firemen & Cleaners Association
       1900 - 1921 Federated Railway Locomotive Enginemens Association of Australasia
             1921 - 1926 Australian Federated Union of Locomotive Enginemen (i)
                   1926 - 1927 Australian Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers
                         1927 - 1993 Australian Federated Union of Locomotive Enginemen (ii)
                               1993 - Australian Rail Tram & Bus Industry Union

Archival resources

Central Queensland University, Capricornia Central Queensland Collection

  • Records of the Rockhampton Branch of the Queensland Locomotive Enginemen, Firemen and Cleaners' Association, 1886 - 1921, MS A35/90-93; Central Queensland University, Capricornia Central Queensland Collection. Details

The Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU Archives Program

  • Australian Federated Union of Locomotive Enginemen - Records, 1891 - 1973, E212; The Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU Archives Program. Details

Ross G. Elford