Maritime strike
The Maritime Strike ( English : Maritime Strike ) took place between August 16 and November 6, 1890 in Australia and New Zealand. This strike was called the Great Strike at the time because it involved around 50,000 strikers and it spanned South Australia , New South Wales , Victoria and New Zealand . The Maritime Strike is considered the largest strike in Australia's history. This strike began the politicization of the early labor movement in Australia, which was implemented in the course of another strike, the Sheep Shearers Strike in 1891, when the Australian Labor Party was formed from this strike movement in 1891.
This strike is part of the strike movements in the Australian economic depression from 1889 to 1894 with the Sheep Shearers Strike (1891) , Broken Hill Strike (1892) and Sheep Shearers Strike (1894) .
prehistory
When a gold rush began in Victoria in 1851, the so-called Golden Age developed , the economic prosperity of which extended into 1890. Economic stagnation occurred in 1890, the colonial governments of Victoria and New South Wales were overwhelmed by this situation, banks collapsed and unemployment rose.
When the Mercantile Marine Officers 'Association failed in negotiations with the Steamship Owners' Association of Victoria on August 15, 1890, to secure long-term financial and social rights, the union began on August 16 on strike.
Course of the strike
The maritime strike was joined by seafarers and dock workers from Australia, as well as later the miners from Newcastle , Broken Hill and trade unionists in New Zealand . In July 1890, the sheep shearers union decided at a congress that they would go on strike to protect their members from sheep farmers who employ non-unionized sheep shearers. To enforce this demand, they needed the dock workers who could block the loading of the sheep's wool. Hence a connection with the striking seamen was established. The maritime strike quickly developed into a mass movement: thousands of strikers moved to a meeting in Sydney and on August 31, 40,000 people took part in a strike rally in Flinders Park, Melbourne . Other sources speak of 60,000 protesters. On September 15 the transport workers union and on September 24 the sheep shearers union went on strike. The oil and gas deliveries were on strike by the unions, so there were no street lights and the oil for lights in the houses was running out. It was a novelty in Australia that several unions fought together for their financial income.
The earlier distribution struggles before 1890 ended relatively quickly because the struck jobs were filled with other workers or because the strikers had insufficient funds. In the Maritime Strike it was possible for the first time to motivate workers and employees to join the existing trade unions or not to act as strike breakers.
Before the rally in Flinders Park in Melbourne with tens of thousands of strikers, the colonial government of Victoria panicked so much that it ordered military personnel and had machine gun nests built behind Parliament. Furthermore, police units were not used against strikers, as was previously the case, but the military. Military units were in Sydney , Melbourne, Newcastle and other ports of Australia by colonial governments of Victoria and New South Wales during the strike dislocated .
As the strike continued, the strikers came under pressure, their financial resources were limited, the working-class families could no longer pay their rent and were demented, and they could not buy medicine for their sick children. Employers aggravated the situation and closed factories that were experiencing difficulties in selling and unemployment rose. The strikers were demoralized and the strike ended unsuccessfully in November 1890 when the Maritime Officiers returned to their work. However, the miners did not return to their jobs until January 1891. After the strike, employers in the stricken sectors pushed through a wage cut of up to 30 percent.
The strike experience and the associated politicization came to bear in the following sheep shearers strike in 1891.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Melissa Bellanta: August 16, 1890. The Maritime Strike begins. On Utupia and 'Class War'. P. 75. In: Martin Crotty, David Roberts, David Andrew (Eds.): Turning Points in Australian History. University Of New South Wales Press 2009. ISBN 9781921410567 Online on Google Books
- ↑ Bellanta: The Maritime Strike p. 74
- ↑ a b c Australian Maritime Strik 1890 on eurekacouncil.com.au ( memento of the original from October 13, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed March 11, 2010
- ↑ a b Bellanta: The Maritime Strike. P. 76
- ↑ Bellanta: The Maritime Strike. P. 78
- ↑ a b 1890s Class Conflict in Australia on muntedmedia.com ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed March 11, 2010
- ↑ Bellanta: The Maritime Strike. P. 78 f.
