The Australian Workers Union Office (Mount Isa, North West Queensland)
The Australian Workers’ Union (AWU) is a federation of state, regional, and industry based branches. It represents approximately 75,000 members across Australia in a diverse range of industries.
The AWU was formed in 1886 as the Amalgamated Shearers Union, and quickly grew to represent shearers across New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia. The Queensland Shearers Union formed in 1887. By 1894 the Australian Workers' Union was formed and advanced the struggle to cope with the conditions of the 1890s.
Federation in 1901 brought a Commonwealth Industrial Relations system. The AWU was the first union to secure a federal award under the newly formed conciliation and arbitration system the Pastoral Industry Award, with this award, the AWU was able to ensure that workers, not just bosses, had a say in setting pay rates and workplace conditions.
The Australian Workers’ Union is the nation’s oldest general union. It was also the platform from where the Australian Labor Party was born in Barcaldine, Queensland 1892.
The union is a blue-collar union. It represents workers in many industries, just some of them include aviation, civil construction, oil and gas, mining and manufacturing.
Mount Isa Strikes:
From August 1964 - March 1965, the Mount Isa Strikes was an eight-month industrial dispute between miners and management at Mount Isa Mines over a rejected award rate increase, dividing members, organisers and the union’s leaders, and a state of emergency was declared. The dispute ended six months later with most demands met. The complaints of workers were initially over the issue of adequate showers for men at the end of their shift.
A strike at Mount Isa Mines in 1961 was precipitated by legislation that threatened employees' contract bonuses. It ended with an uneasy truce when State Premier Frank Nicklin proclaimed a state of emergency, ordering unions back to work, and MIM back to the negotiating table.
Premier Sir Frank Nicklin declared another state of emergency on 27 January 1965, permitting police to cordon off Mount Isa, enter houses without a warrant, and seize strike materials. This order-in-council was met with widespread disapproval and was withdrawn four days later. The dispute petered out through February and March, as enough miners returned to work to resume production. A large number of workers' demands were eventually met in the MIM Award of June 1965, however according to local Kath Swift "a terrible lot left here and there were quite a few suicides over it as well."
The MIM strikes were predominately lead by New Zealand born Pat Mackie. As he wore a baseball cap of the Boston Red Sox, and spoke with an apparent American accent, he was often portrayed as an "American gangster" and foreign communist. He led the strike, inspiring the miners to keep going despite Nicklin's authoritarian stance on maintaining the strikers. Mackie went to sea as a teenager because he wanted to see America. In his own account of his life, he said he was a stowaway and that he complained to the captain about the unsatisfactory state of his accommodation. For 15 years, as a seaman, he traveled the world.
According to Mackie's autobiography titled 'Many Ships to Mt Isa', Mackie spent time in several Montreal prisons on charges indirectly related to union activities, clashed with Brisbane police for "having the cheek" - in police eyes - to complain about their treatment of an Aboriginal man, and learned a lot about union tactics in North America. During the MIM strikes Nicklin branded him a communist, and attempted to deport Mackie to New Zealand in which the Queensland government advised was not possible. Mackie was expelled by, at the then time, right wing Australian Workers Union who also branded him a communist.
Mackie was attracted to the left-wing Industrial Workers of the World (the Wobblies). He worked with communists and nearly joined a branch of the Communist Party in Canada. Labor historian Dr Greg Mallory said Mackie did not become a communist but vigorously opposed forces that tried to drive communists from the union movement.
Mackie's achievements were later celebrated in 2007 in a Queensland musical, Red Cap, and his legacy to Mount Isa was good working conditions and other community facilities.
Mackie passed away on the 19th of November 2009, aged 95.
Source: AWU (awu.net.au/our-union/about/), the Australian: Experiment in inclusion (July 30, 2007), Sydney Morning Herald: Rank and file hero who led Mt Isa miners' strike (December 5, 2009)
The Australian Workers Union Office (Mount Isa, North West Queensland)
The Australian Workers’ Union (AWU) is a federation of state, regional, and industry based branches. It represents approximately 75,000 members across Australia in a diverse range of industries.
The AWU was formed in 1886 as the Amalgamated Shearers Union, and quickly grew to represent shearers across New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia. The Queensland Shearers Union formed in 1887. By 1894 the Australian Workers' Union was formed and advanced the struggle to cope with the conditions of the 1890s.
Federation in 1901 brought a Commonwealth Industrial Relations system. The AWU was the first union to secure a federal award under the newly formed conciliation and arbitration system the Pastoral Industry Award, with this award, the AWU was able to ensure that workers, not just bosses, had a say in setting pay rates and workplace conditions.
The Australian Workers’ Union is the nation’s oldest general union. It was also the platform from where the Australian Labor Party was born in Barcaldine, Queensland 1892.
The union is a blue-collar union. It represents workers in many industries, just some of them include aviation, civil construction, oil and gas, mining and manufacturing.
Mount Isa Strikes:
From August 1964 - March 1965, the Mount Isa Strikes was an eight-month industrial dispute between miners and management at Mount Isa Mines over a rejected award rate increase, dividing members, organisers and the union’s leaders, and a state of emergency was declared. The dispute ended six months later with most demands met. The complaints of workers were initially over the issue of adequate showers for men at the end of their shift.
A strike at Mount Isa Mines in 1961 was precipitated by legislation that threatened employees' contract bonuses. It ended with an uneasy truce when State Premier Frank Nicklin proclaimed a state of emergency, ordering unions back to work, and MIM back to the negotiating table.
Premier Sir Frank Nicklin declared another state of emergency on 27 January 1965, permitting police to cordon off Mount Isa, enter houses without a warrant, and seize strike materials. This order-in-council was met with widespread disapproval and was withdrawn four days later. The dispute petered out through February and March, as enough miners returned to work to resume production. A large number of workers' demands were eventually met in the MIM Award of June 1965, however according to local Kath Swift "a terrible lot left here and there were quite a few suicides over it as well."
The MIM strikes were predominately lead by New Zealand born Pat Mackie. As he wore a baseball cap of the Boston Red Sox, and spoke with an apparent American accent, he was often portrayed as an "American gangster" and foreign communist. He led the strike, inspiring the miners to keep going despite Nicklin's authoritarian stance on maintaining the strikers. Mackie went to sea as a teenager because he wanted to see America. In his own account of his life, he said he was a stowaway and that he complained to the captain about the unsatisfactory state of his accommodation. For 15 years, as a seaman, he traveled the world.
According to Mackie's autobiography titled 'Many Ships to Mt Isa', Mackie spent time in several Montreal prisons on charges indirectly related to union activities, clashed with Brisbane police for "having the cheek" - in police eyes - to complain about their treatment of an Aboriginal man, and learned a lot about union tactics in North America. During the MIM strikes Nicklin branded him a communist, and attempted to deport Mackie to New Zealand in which the Queensland government advised was not possible. Mackie was expelled by, at the then time, right wing Australian Workers Union who also branded him a communist.
Mackie was attracted to the left-wing Industrial Workers of the World (the Wobblies). He worked with communists and nearly joined a branch of the Communist Party in Canada. Labor historian Dr Greg Mallory said Mackie did not become a communist but vigorously opposed forces that tried to drive communists from the union movement.
Mackie's achievements were later celebrated in 2007 in a Queensland musical, Red Cap, and his legacy to Mount Isa was good working conditions and other community facilities.
Mackie passed away on the 19th of November 2009, aged 95.
Source: AWU (awu.net.au/our-union/about/), the Australian: Experiment in inclusion (July 30, 2007), Sydney Morning Herald: Rank and file hero who led Mt Isa miners' strike (December 5, 2009)