Australian labour movement

The British Master and Servant Act 1823, and subsequent updates, were generally regarded as heavily biased towards employers, and designed to discipline employees and repress the "combination" of workers in trade unions.

In the Melbourne jurisdiction, between 1835 and 1845, when labour shortages were acute, over 20% of prison inmates were convicted under the New South Wales Master and Servant Act for offences including leaving place of work without permission and being found in hotels.

[7] On 18 August 1855 the Stonemasons Society in Sydney issued an ultimatum to employers that in six months time, masons would only work an eight-hour day.

Their direct action protest was a success, and they are noted as being among the first organised workers in the world to achieve the eight-hour day with no loss of pay.

Others in the labour movement, demoralised with direct action, turned to a political solution and sought election to colonial parliaments, and led to the formation of the Australian Labor Party.

In Sydney alone, by the early 20th century, thousands of unionists representing up to seventy different unions would take part in such parades, marching behind the banner emblematic of their trade.

Shortages of labour led to high wages for a prosperous skilled working class, whose unions demanded and got an eight-hour day and other benefits unheard of in Europe.

Industrial unionists sought to organise all workers into One Big Union which could then conduct a strike across the entire society and peacefully usher in socialism.

Some unionists, demoralised with direct action, turned to a political solution and sought election to colonial parliaments, and led to the formation of the Australian Labor Party.

So successful, John Verran led Labor to form the state's first of many majority governments at the 1910 South Australian election.

[12] The movement gave support to the White Australia policy following federation, which involved the expulsion of the Kanakas (South Pacific islanders) and stopping all immigration of non-white people.

The Fisher government carried out many reforms dear to the labour movement in defence, constitutional matters, finance, transport and communications, and social security, such as establishing old-age and disability pensions, a maternity allowance and workers compensation, issuing Australia's first paper currency, forming the Royal Australian Navy, the commencement of construction for the Trans-Australian Railway, expanding the bench of the High Court of Australia, founding Canberra and establishing the government-owned Commonwealth Bank.

The Labor governments of Hughes in the Federal sphere, and William Holman in New South Wales, were held in low regard by much of the labour movement due to their policies on military conscription.

In return the IWW ran a 'free speech movement' campaign in which over 80 members in Sydney were sentenced to 6 months hard labour (the maximum) for simply proclaiming their membership, which was enough to scare many others away from open defiance.

The New South Wales General Strike of 1917 started on 2 August 1917, by railway workers over the introduction of the Taylor system of determining where work could be speeded-up.

As Australia approached the Second World War, the Dalfram dispute of 1938 in Port Kembla showed that trade unions and workers were not afraid to take strike action on political issues, in this case the export of pig iron to a military aggressive Japan invading China.

Attorney General Robert Menzies earned his nickname of Pig Iron Bob during this dispute as a result of significant union protest.

At the same time, agitation by Catholic organisations such as the National Civic Council (or Groupers) started setting up Industrial Groups within unions to counter the influence of communists.

The general strike over Clarrie O'Shea's imprisonment broke the government law and ushered in a period of rising union demands.

This was first pursued by the Keating Labor government in 1991, through the Enterprise Bargaining Agreements introduced into Australia under the Prices and Incomes Accord in 1991 (Mark VII).

One of the first targets of the conservative Government was to undermine the power of the Maritime Union of Australia, through breaking its closed shop on waterfront labour.

After the Howard Liberal government's 2004 election victory, and with a majority in the Senate from 1 July 2005, changes to industrial laws to further reduce the collective bargaining power of trade unions continued.

This legislation received widespread criticism from the Australian union movement, many religious and community groups and, significantly (but not widely reported), the International Labour Organization, of which Australia is a member.

On 30 June 2005, up to 100,000 people marched through Melbourne in opposition to the proposed industrial relations changes, with meetings also held in capital cities and regional towns around Australia.

WorkChoices legislation was superseded by the Fair Work Act 2009 on 1 July 2009 which, whilst seen as an improvement for workers, has attracted criticism from industry experts, the Australian Greens and organised labour, especially the Victorian Branch of the Electrical Trades Union.

In 2012 the Australian government introduced a seasonal worker scheme under the 416 and 403 visas to bring in Pacific Islander labour to work in the agricultural industry performing tasks such as picking fruit.

[29] After 1,181 seasonal workers ran away from their employers amidst allegations of inhumane conditions, the Australian government launched a campaign in 2021 warning the pickers that they would bring shame to their families if they absconded.

Poorly regulated migration agents entice many of these people to Australia on invalid visas and then in conjunction with farmers, force them to work off their debts in regional agricultural districts.

Some are paid only around $30 a day for back-breaking work, forced to rent substandard housing, have poor access to health care, and are subject to abuse and sexual harassment.

This exploitative labour system is openly acknowledged to be propping up many aspects of the Australian farm sector, and there appears to be little desire to implement any meaningful government regulation.