1912 Brisbane general strike
The 1912 Brisbane General Strike in Queensland, Australia, began when members of the Australian Tramway and Motor Omnibus Employees' Association were dismissed when they wore union badges to work on 18 January 1912.
The trade unionists of Brisbane went out on a general strike on 30 January 1912, not just for the right to wear a badge but for the basic right to join a union.
Red ribbons were generally worn as a mark of solidarity, not only by people but also on pet dogs and horses pulling carts.
[citation needed] On the second day of the strike, over 25,000 workers marched from the Brisbane Trades Hall to Fortitude Valley and back with over 50,000 supporters watching from the sidelines.
[citation needed] William McCormack and the Amalgamated Workers' Association of North Queensland (AWA) initially lent their support to the strike.
[citation needed] An application by the strike committee for a permit for a march on 2 February 1912 was refused by Police Commissioner William Geoffrey Cahill.
Meanwhile, Emma Miller, a pioneer trade unionist and suffragist, led a group of women and girls to parliament house.
While returning along Queen Street, members of the group were batoned and arrested by a large contingent of foot and mounted police.
Emma Miller, a frail woman in her 70s barely weighing 35 kilograms, stood her ground, pulled out her hat pin and stabbed the rump of the Police Commissioner's horse.
When he attempted to enlist support of the Federal Government in the use of the military, he was rebuffed by the Labor Prime Minister, Andrew Fisher, member for the Queensland seat of Gympie.
Higgins in the Federal Arbitration Court ruled that the precipitating event was a lockout rather than a strike, and that the regulation refusing tramwaymen the right to wear their union badges on duty was both unauthorised and unreasonable.
The Denham government immediately won an ensuing election on a "Law and Order" platform and passed the Industrial Peace Act of 1912 ushering in compulsory arbitration specifically to deter strikes in essential services.
