Australian labor history Special to the World As we enter the second week of the Sydney Olympics, we conclude our series of facts and figures on Australia with this one on its labor history. Australian working-class history is rich in struggle and has had an impact on many international movements and campaigns. A small industrial and rural working class emerged with British colonization of Australia after 1788. Slave labor accurately describes early working-class conditions in Australia as convicts (prisoners transported to Australia) from Britain and its colonies made up Australia's early work force. >From these beginnings, the harsh cruelties inflicted on the convict work force and the experience of working-class struggles in England and Ireland helped to build a culture of defiance and militancy in the early working-class movement. The first of many uprisings by convicts was the Battle of Castle Hill in 1804. The 200 Irish convicts, who had been sent to Australia for "seditious practices" and 30 poor tenant farmers staged an armed insurrection against the British colonial authorities. Eureka Stockade 1854 In December 1854, gold miners rebelled against the colonial administration's imposition of a tax on gold. During the armed uprising that followed, the miners were brutally put down by the army. The diggers succeeded in getting the tax withdrawn and, in later years, in winning other concessions including universal adult male suffrage. The Eureka uprising led to the formation of many new working-class organizations. The eight-hour day Trade unions were formed in Australia as early as 1845 with the Friendly Society of Carpenters and Joiners. This was followed by the Operative Masons Society in 1850, the Amalgamated Society of Engineers in 1852 and the Amalgamated Miners Association in 1874. Unions in Australia were among the first to campaign for and win the eight-hour day. Stone masons won an eight-hour working day in 1865. Many other craft and trade workers won an eight-hour day during the late 19th century. Strikes in the 1890s The first major confrontation between workers and employers in Australia occurred in the pastoral (sheep) and maritime industries in the 1890s. The strikers were savagely suppressed with the full force of the state. Police and army were used to smash the strikes. This confrontation led to the establishment, by workers, of the Australian Labor Party. It was argued that workers must elect their own representatives to parliament to pass laws in the interests the working people. During World War I, opposition to the war took the form of opposition to conscription for military service. Conscription was rejected in two national referenda. Attempts to introduce conscription during the Vietnam War were again strongly rejected. Penal powers In 1949 a general strike of miners was broken by a Labor government using the armed forces against mine workers. This was followed by the use of penal powers through the 1950s and 1960s to keep unions in line. In 1969 the penal powers were finally broken following the jailing of Clarrie O'Shea, a union official, and the subsequent strike of 400,000 across the country. Aboriginal land rights Australian unions have often supported the struggle of the Aboriginal people of Australia for land and democratic rights. Aboriginal stockmen in the Northern Territory went on strike in the early 1970s, demanding higher wages and better conditions. Their strike, backed by the union movement, developed into a struggle for return of their traditional land and inspired an Australia-wide land rights campaign. The Gurindji people finally won 1,250 square miles of land. Australian workers held their first May Day demonstration in 1891 in Barcaldine, Queensland. Workers sent thousands of pounds to British strikers during the great dockers strike in the late 1890s. Australian wharfies banned ships taking iron ore to Japan before World War II. For two years Dutch warships were prevented from leaving Australian ports to invade newly independent Indonesia. Unions played a major role in the campaign to force an end to Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War. More recently, Australian trade unions acted in solidarity with the struggling people of Bougainville, East Timor, Fiji and other countries and in international campaigns for striking British miners and against Rio Tinto. Many acts of internationalism are woven through the working class history of Australia.
