Sheep shearers strike (1891)
The sheep shearers strike ( English Shearer's Strike or also called Great Shearer's Strike ) in Queensland , Australia took place in 1891. This strike is considered to be one of the most significant events in the early Australian labor movement and lasted four months. The strike gave rise to the founding of the Australian Labor Party , which continues to this day. In the course of the strike, the first two May Day demonstrations in Australia took place on May 1st in the towns of Barcaldine with 1,340 and in Charleville with around 600 striking sheep shearers .
This strike is part of the strike movements in the Australian economic depression from 1889 to 1894 with the Maritime Strike (1890), Broken Hill Strike (1892) and the Second Sheep Shearers Strike (1894).
Strike preparations
The strike took place at the end of nearly 40 years of economic prosperity in Australia, which was characterized by gold discoveries, heavy immigration, successful reclamation of agricultural land and increasing exports of agricultural goods. This epoch is known in Australia as the "Golden Age", which culminated in a prolonged economic depression.
The shearers 'strike was preceded by the so-called maritime strike of the Mercantile Marine Officers' Association from August to November 1890, in which the unionists of the seamen and the dockworkers as well as the miners in coal mines had participated. This strike, also known as the Great Strike in Australia, did not end in success for the unions despite the participation of tens of thousands of strikers.
The Sheep Shearers Union was founded in 1886 and in the following years around ten thousand sheep shearers had organized themselves. The poor working conditions and low wages of the sheep shearers who were ever paid to sheared sheep prompted a strike in Australia in the 19th century. Although wool production was one of the most important and prosperous industries in early Australia with good yields for the sheep farmers, the sheep farmers wanted to push through a wage cut. The sheep farmers, in addition to the unionized sheep shearers, had employed immigrants, Aborigines and Chinese who worked at considerably lower wages. The union , the Australian Shearers' Union , decided at a congress in Bourke in 1890 to protect its members that they should not cooperate with wage suppressors. For this reason the unionists decided to stop working at the Jondaryan sheep breeding station in Darling Downs because non-union workers were also employed there as sheep shearers. In order to enforce their demand, the unionists called on the dock workers in Rockhampton not to load the sheep wool from this sheep breeding station. The dock workers followed this call. The sheep farmers responded by forming the Pastoralists' Federal Council to fight back. When unionized shearers at the Logan Downs Sheep Breeding Station were asked to sign low-wage contracts , it was the immediate cause of the strike.
strike
On January 5, 1891, the sheep shearers demanded the acceptance of the following demands: recognition of the existing wage tariff, protection of the existing rights and property, immediate and honest agreements and non-employment of the Chinese sheep shearers who are paid under tariff. They announced that they would strike until their demands were met. The strike movement spread quickly and around 30 sheep farmer stations were on strike. There was a military intervention, because the government assigned 1,000 soldiers to protect the strike breakers . For example, 400 soldiers rode into the village of Clermont . Unionists set up fortified camps outside the towns of Barcaldine on Lagoon Creek, Clermont and Hughenden , armed themselves, ransacked the shearers' sheds, picketed , harassed and sabotaged the strikers, but there were few examples of violence between strikers and scabs. Around 4,500 strikers had gathered in Barcaldine in mid-March. On March 28, 1891, numerous sheep shearers were arrested in the places near the camps and imprisoned in the respective places. A week later, police in Barcaldine arrested five union leaders at the union office there, marching through an angry crowd of armed sheep shearers. Among those arrested were the future Queensland Prime Minister Thomas Joseph Ryan and other unionists such as Michael Murphy, William Fothergill, Hugh Blackwell and William Bennett. Actively involved in the strike was John Robert Howe , who set the first world record in sheep shearing in 1892 when he sheared 237 sheep in one day.
On May 1, 1891, one of Australia's first May demonstrations with around 1,340 demonstrators took place in Barcaldine, which was escorted by 618 armed cavalry riders with bayonets attached. At this demonstration, calls for an eight-hour day for freedom, peace and friendship were loud. In addition to the banners with the inscription Australian Labor Federation , The Shearers and Carriers 'Unions and Young Australia , the Eureka flag was carried on the demonstration, which commemorates the Australian miners' strike in Ballarat in 1854 , on which, in addition to an improvement in wages, also political reforms were called for. Furthermore, there were international expressions of solidarity to other countries at the demonstration.
In order to break the strike, 12 union leaders were arrested, convicted on May 20 for conspiracy and incitement to three years in prison and the notorious island prison St. Helena in Brisbane imprisoned at hard labor.
The weather during the strike was unusually extremely wet, food was scarce in the camps and the will to strike waned as the time for sheep shearing passed. After that, the sheep shearers were no longer needed. The strikers were unable to continue their resistance after a long strike of four months and announced the end of the strike on June 20.
Nevertheless, this strike is a historic event for Australia , because the strike led to the founding of the Australian Labor Party by those involved in the strike . Thomas Joseph Ryan nominated eight leading members of the strike to his cabinet in his later first term .
Strike culture
Henry Lawson wrote the song Freedom on the Wallaby during the strike. After the strike, William Lane wrote the novella The workingman's paradise . The song by Banjo Paterson Waltzing Matilda was written in 1895 and is about a sheep shearer who would rather drown himself than lose his freedom after being arrested by the police. This song is the secret national anthem to this day .
Allegedly, strike meetings took place in Barcaldine in the shade of a tree, the so-called Tree of Knowledge . According to the latest historical research, there were no meetings under the tree, but it is still considered a historical symbol and the square is maintained as a memorial. This tree was damaged by herbicides in an act of political vandalism in May 2006 and died five months later.
Second sheep shearers strike
When the sheep farmers wanted to reduce wages again from 20 to 17 shillings for 100 sheep, there was a second shearers strike on June 17, 1894 , which led to a much tougher confrontation with violence and arson. This strike ended on September 7, 1894 when the sheep farmers gave in.
literature
- Svensen Stuart (2008): The shearers 'war: The story of the 1891 shearers' strike , Hesperian Press ISBN 978-0-85905-434-8
- Svensen Stuart (1995): Industrial War - The Great Strikes 1890-1894 , ISBN 0-646-22797-1
Web links
- The Second Eureka Rebellion on eurekacouncil.com.au
- Image of the 13 strike leaders arrested after their release on blackwellps.com.au
- Sydney Morning Herald Article
- William Hamilton - William Hamilton, one of the strike leaders
Individual evidence
- ^ Philip Sheldon Foner: May day: a short history of the international workers' holiday, 1886-1986 , p. 62, New York 1986, International Publishers, ISBN 0717806243 . Available online on Google Books , accessed February 28, 2010
- ↑ a b The Great Shearer's Strike of 1891 at australianworkersheritagecentre.com.au (PDF file; 73 kB), accessed on February 26, 2010
- ^ Clermont: Quiet and attractive rural township near the beautiful Peak Ranges The Age, February 8, 2010 at smh.com.au , accessed February 27, 2010
- ^ Brief History - Shearer's strike 1891 - Australia's is one of Australia's first and most important industrial disputes on gattonmurders.com (PDF file; 134 kB), accessed on February 27, 2010
- ↑ The Shearers Strike - 1891 on eurekacouncil.com ( 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 February 28, 2010
- ↑ Barcaldine. Interesting town famous for its role in the development of the Australian labor movement auf The Age, November 10, 2008 at www.theage.com.au , accessed February 26, 2010
- ↑ Text and sheet music for the song Freedom on the Wallaby on unionsong.com , accessed February 26, 2010
- ↑ Mindless vandals kill Tree of Knowledge on timesonline October 4, 2006 , accessed February 26, 2010
- ↑ The Second Shearers Strike - 1894 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 5, 2010
