Australia
Anatomy of an Industrial Struggle: Chrysler Factory at Tonsley Park in Adelaide 1976-1978
An account of two years of struggle at an Australian Chrysler plant by one of the workers, including a detailed look at the role of the union.
Introduction
This article by Garry Hill, a worker at the Tonsley Park Chrysler plant near Adelaide in Australia, describes a series of struggles in which he was actively involved.
Sydney bus drivers defy union and take wildcat action
A six-hour strike by 130 bus drivers in western Sydney on Monday morning, carried out in defiance of their union, has produced furious denunciations in the media and from an industrial court judge. The drivers walked out at the Busways Blacktown depot at 3.30 a.m. against the imposition of new timetables that would impose shorter times for routes.
Drivers said that the timetables, due to commence in October, would be impossible to meet, forcing them to run late, which would not only inconvenience and anger passengers but cut short the drivers’ break periods. The workers said they would be under enormous pressure to drive over the speed limit.
Baggage handlers take wildcat action at Melbourne Airport
Thousands of travellers faced delays at Melbourne Airport yesterday (14th February) after 45 Qantas baggage handlers went on strike mid-morning.
All of the airline's flights into and out of Tullamarine were affected by the six-hour walkout, which began at 10.30am, in a dispute centring on the length of workers' lunch breaks.
However, after a federal sitting of the Industrial Relations Commission, all the staff were ordered back to work about 4.30pm. A Qantas spokesman said the strike was illegal.
Australia: Journalists to strike against job cuts
After the announcement that 550 jobs would be cut by Fairfax Media in Australia and New Zealand on August 26th, journalists at The Age (Melbourne, Australia) and Sydney Morning Herald newspapers have decided to go on strike until Monday.
A Fairfax spokeswoman announced that both papers would come out on Friday, but refused to comment on whether weekend papers would be affected.
Melbourne postal workers in wildcat strike
Postal workers in Melbourne returned to work today after taking unofficial action yesterday (June 12th) against a bonus cut.
Mail into and out of Victoria was also be affected by the snap strike by mail workers at the Dandenong letters processing centre, which normally is staffed by up to 1200 people. The workers walked off the job yesterday afternoon over the loss of special Sunday shifts that took about $160 out of their pay packets.
The Industrial Workers of the World in Australia - Ian Bedford
A short critical, but generally sympathetic, assessment of the Australian Wobblies.
From; Labour History no. 13, (Journal of the Australian Society for the Study of Labour History), Nov. 1967.
THE INDUSTRIAL WORKERS OF THE WORLD IN AUSTRALIA
IAN BEDFORD
Memoirs of the I.W.W. [Australia] - Bill Beattie
Recollections of struggles in the years around the First World War - by a former Australian Wobbly.
From; Labour History no. 13, (Journal of the Australian Society for the Study of Labour History), Nov. 1967.
MEMOIRS OF THE I.W.W. [Australia]
Bill Beattie
Mount Isa: the great Queensland strike - Solidarity
Pamphlet by the UK Solidarity group on the 1964-1965 strike and lockout at the Mount Isa copper mine in Queensland, Australia, which placed miners in direct opposition to their union, employer and the Queensland State Government for almost seven months.
New Zealand: International solidarity as miners launch indefinite strike
Australian miners refused to cross a picket line yesterday at the Spring Creek coal mine as indefinite industrial action there entered its fourth day.
About 140 Reefton and Dunollie miners were due to meet in Runanga at 1pm to decide their next step.
In an escalation of previous action, the Spring Creek miners walked off the job on Friday morning.
Strike Across The Empire, 1925 - Baruch Hirson and Lorraine Vivian
A fascinating and detailed account of a little known international seamens' strike in 1925, lasting over 100 days and spreading from Britain to Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.
The strikers confronted the shared hostility of governments, employers and union leaders alike. The text also deals with how the racism prevalent in the labour movement affected the conduct and outcome of the strike.
"THIS IS A STRIKE that has vanished from history. In August 1925, the seamen of Britain, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand walked off their ships in protest against a ten per cent wage cut. It was one of the few genuinely international strikes, directed against a powerful international cartel. One would have expected it to be widely debated. Yet, newspaper coverage apart, history has largely been silent.
