Federated Ship Painters and Dockers Union

Last updated

FSPDU
Federated Ship Painters and Dockers Union of Australia
DeregisteredMembers joined MUA and AMWU
Founded1900
Dissolved1 December 1993 (1993-12-01)
Headquarters Balmain, New South Wales
Location

The Federated Ship Painters and Dockers Union (FSPDU) was an Australian trade union which existed between 1900 and 1993. It represented labourers in the shipbuilding industry, covering "mostly work associated with chipping, painting, scrubbing [and] cleaning [ships], working in every size of tanks, cleaning boilers, docking and undocking vessels, and rigging work". [1]

Contents

History

Establishment

The Painters and Dockers' Union had its origins in the New South Wales Associated Laborers Union, also known as the Balmain Labourers Union, which was established in Balmain in May 1883. [2] The new union was formed to represent all unskilled workers or labourers in the area, but was focussed mainly on shipbuilding and ship repair, the main industry in Balmain. The union gradually grew in stature over the next decade, affiliating with the Trades and Labor Council of Sydney in 1889 and establishing the Balmain Trades and Labor Hall in 1890. [2] The union was involved in the unsuccessful 1890 Maritime Strike. The union was also heavily involved in the formation of the first branch of the Labor Electoral League of New South Wales, the forerunner to the Australian Labor Party, in Balmain in April 1891. [2] The union's finances suffered during the depression of the 1890s and in January 1898 the union's members unanimously voted for its dissolution.

Following the dissolution of the Balmain Labourers' Union its members were reorganised along industrial lines, with the broad coverage of unskilled and semi-skilled workers in the shipbuilding industry split mainly between the Federated Ironworkers' Association and the Federated Ship Painters and Dockers' Union of Port Jackson, the latter being formally established in 1900. [2] The union conducted two successful strikes in the same year, establishing closed shop arrangements in the industry. [3] The union soon expanded out of Balmain to represent painters and dockers working throughout Sydney Harbour, growing rapidly from 449 members in 1902 to 1,954 in 1907. The union achieved its first industrial award in 1903, a collective agreement with employers, registered by consent, before amalgamating with similar unions in other states to form the Federated Ship Painters and Dockers Union of Australia in 1909. [3] The union achieved federal registration in 1916, giving it access to the federal system of arbitration and conciliation courts. [4]

Growth

Members in protest march, Sydney, 1969 Federated Ship Painters and Dockers Union members in protest march, Sydney, 1969.jpg
Members in protest march, Sydney, 1969

Working conditions and pay for ship painters and dockers in the early 20th century were poor, with 80 percent of the union's membership in 1939 earning less than the basic wage. [5] Ninety percent of painters and dockers were employed as casuals, under the free selection of labour system. This meant workers had to wait outside shipyards and port workshops, where foremen would choose different men to work each day, depending on the requirements of the employer. The union made significant efforts to regulate this system of hiring, including introducing limits on the minimum length of employment and the number of hours workers would wait each day, but with little success.

Conditions changed dramatically during World War II, as increased demand in the shipbuilding industry led to a labour shortage. The membership of the union grew rapidly, increasing in Sydney from 880 in 1939 to 2792 in 1945. [5] During 1945 the union began operating a roster for painters and dockers, dispatching workers to the various employers as needed. This development was resisted by employers, who launched a lockout of all painters and dockers in the Port of Newcastle, but agreement was reached in the Commonwealth Arbitration Court in 1946 allowing the practice to continue. [5]

The roster was operated out of the branch office of the union in each port, which acted as a hiring hall. Members were allocated jobs each morning based on how long they had been waiting for work. Refusal to accept a job meant the member would lose his position in the allocation order. Employers retained the right to determine the number of workers required, and to reject any workers they thought unsuitable. [5]

The dangerous and difficult nature of the work, as well as the small and close-knit nature of the workforce, encouraged strong union organisation amongst the painters and dockers and the FSPDU developed a reputation for militancy. [6] For example, despite representing only 15 percent of the workforce in the shipbuilding and ship repair industry the FSPDU was involved in 40 percent of all industrial disputes between 1975 and 1978. The FSPDU was also notable for being the only union in Australia after 1976 to have more than 5 percent of its members in the shipbuilding and ship repair industry. [6]

Decline

The FSPDU faced a decline in membership during the late 20th century as mechanisation (including sandblasting and spray painting) and the decline of Australian commercial shipbuilding reduced the number of jobs available. [6] By the late 1970s membership of the union had fallen to approximately 2000, although the union actively defended the work of its members through competition with other unions over coverage, being involved in a high proportion of all demarcation disputes in the shipbuilding industry. [6] As work declined in the industry, employers began to seek the removal of the union roster system, provoking an eleven-week strike at the Garden Island dockyard in Sydney in 1976 and a sixteen-week dispute in Newcastle in 1978. Both disputes ended with the union retaining the right to operate the roster. [5]

Alleged criminality and deregistration

In the 1960s and 1970s the union was alleged to have criminal connections. [7]

In 1980 the union was subject to the Costigan Commission (officially entitled the Royal Commission on the activities of the Federated Ship Painters and Dockers Union), enquiring into its involvement with organised crime and tax evasion. [8]

The union was de-registered in 1993. Despite widespread allegations of criminality, the reason the union was de-registered was because it had fewer than 1,000 members. After the Industrial Relations Act 1988 was passed by the Hawke Government unions with fewer than 1,000 members had to show why, in the public interest, their existence should continue. Whilst the Dockers opposed the de-registration on principle it could not advance an argument to continue its existence, taking the Act into account. [9] Before de-registration members of the Dockers had been transferred to what are now the Maritime Union of Australia and the AMWU. [10]

Several prominent former members were involved in the Melbourne gangland killings. Lewis Moran and Graham Kinniburgh were both former members and met on the Melbourne waterfront. [11] Five persons who were members or associated with the Union were connected with the attempted robbery of Trans Australia Airlines Flight 454.[ citation needed ]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dockworker</span> Occupation of loading and unloading ships

A dockworker is a waterfront manual laborer who loads and unloads ships.

Australian industrial relations law maintains a system of compulsory arbitration in the settlement of industrial disputes between employers, employees, and their respective registered industrial associations. Associations of employers or employees must be registered by the relevant Industrial Relations Commission in order to have disputes heard before that commission. However, in the Fair Work Commission individuals may appoint an unregistered/deregistered industrial organisation to represent them in any disputes.

The Transport Workers Act 1928 (Cth), more widely known as the Dog Collar Act, was a law passed by the Australian Parliament. It achieved royal assent on 24 September 1928, after being instigated and introduced to Parliament by the Bruce government. It was ostensibly "relating to employment in relation to trade and commerce with other countries and among the states", which mirrors the wording of Section 51(i) of the Constitution of Australia.

The Australian labour movement began in the early 19th century and since the late 19th century has included industrial and political wings. Trade unions in Australia may be organised on the basis of craft unionism, general unionism, or industrial unionism. Almost all unions in Australia are affiliated with the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), many of which have undergone a significant process of amalgamations, especially in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The leadership and membership of unions hold and have at other times held a wide range of political views, including socialist, democratic and right-wing views.

The Australian Maritime Officers Union (AMOU) is an Australian trade union that is registered with the Australian Industrial Relations Commission and affiliated with the Australian Council of Trade Unions. Its membership covers mariners as well as professional, administrative, supervisory and technical employees in the maritime industry and dependent services. The AMOU uses the services model of trade unionism.

The Australian Workers' Union (AWU) is one of Australia's largest and oldest trade unions. It traces its origins to unions founded in the pastoral and mining industries in the late 1880s and it currently has approximately 80,000 members.

The Sydney Twelve were members of the Industrial Workers of the World arrested on 23 September 1916 in Sydney, Australia, and charged with treason under the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) which incorporated the Treason Felony Act 1848 (Imp). They were John Hamilton, Peter Larkin, Joseph Fagin, William Teen, Donald Grant, Benjamin King, Thomas Glynn, Donald McPherson, Thomas Moore, Charles Reeve, William Beattie, and Bob Besant. The treason charges were dropped prior to trial and replaced with three conspiracy charges: (1) conspiracy to commit arson (2) conspiracy to procure the release of Tom Barker from gaol by unlawful means and (3) conspiracy to excite sedition.

The 1890 Australian maritime dispute was an industrial dispute that began on 15 August 1890 when the Mercantile Marine Officers' Association directed its members to give 24 hours notice to their employers after negotiations broke down with the Steamship Owners' Association of Victoria over longstanding pay and conditions claims. Industrial action quickly spread to seamen, wharf labourers, then gas stockers. Coal miners from Newcastle, Broken Hill, and even New Zealand were locked out after refusing to dig coal for non-union operated vessels. By September 1890, 28,500 workers were on strike.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maritime Union of Australia</span> Maritime union organisation in Australia

The Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) was a union which covered waterside workers, seafarers, port workers, professional divers, and office workers associated with Australian ports. The MUA was formed in 1993 with merger of the Seamen's Union of Australia and the Waterside Workers' Federation of Australia.


The Seamen's Union of Australia (SUA) was the principal trade union for merchant seamen in Australia from 1876 to 1991. The SUA developed a reputation as one of the most militant trade unions in Australia and was closely associated with the communist movement in Australia. The SUA merged in 1993 with the Waterside Workers' Federation to become the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1929 Australian timber workers' strike</span>

The 1929 Timber Workers strike was a labour dispute in Australia caused by Justice Lukin of the Arbitration Court handing down an industrial award decision on 23 December 1928 to reduce the wages and increase the hours for 20,000 timber workers from a 44-hour week to a 48-hour week. It was the first strike in Australia after the onset of the Great Depression.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Oak Hotel</span> Australian pub in New South Wales, Australia

The Royal Oak Hotel is a pub located in Balmain, a suburb in the inner west region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The pub has historical links with the union movement and is one of a number of buildings which formed an integral part of the shipbuilding and industrial history of the local area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mort's Dock</span> Historic site in New South Wales, Australia

Mort's Dock is a former dry dock, slipway, and shipyard in Balmain, New South Wales, Australia. It was the first dry dock in Australia, opening for business in 1855 and closing more than a century later in 1959. The site is now parkland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Federated Ironworkers' Association of Australia</span>

The Federated Ironworkers' Association of Australia (FIA) was an Australian trade union which existed between 1911 and 1991. It represented labourers and semi-skilled workers employed in the steel industry and ironworking, and later also the chemical industry.

The Federated Shipwrights' and Ship Constructors' Association of Australia was an Australian trade union which existed between 1916 and 1976. It represented shipwrights and boatbuilders in the shipbuilding and ship repair industries, as well as sea-going shipwrights aboard vessels in the merchant navy.

The Federated Moulders' (Metals) Union of Australia (FMMUA) was an Australian trade union which existed between 1899 and 1983. It represented moulders – skilled tradesmen who fabricated the moulds for casting metal products in foundries. In spite of only organising within a single skilled occupation, which kept total membership low, the vital position of moulders in major industries such as mining, manufacturing and the railways, ensured that the union remained industrially powerful with a reputation for being highly militant.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Waterside Workers' Federation of Australia</span> Former maritime trade union in Australia

The Waterside Workers' Federation of Australia (WWF) was an Australian trade union that existed from 1902 to 1993. After a period of negotiations between other Australian maritime unions, it was federated in 1902 and first federally registered in 1907; its first general president was Billy Hughes.

Robert Mahony was an Irish-born Australian politician.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Waterview Wharf Workshops</span> Maritime workshops in Sydney

Waterview Wharf Workshops is a heritage-listed former shipping company workshops at 37 Nicholson Street, Balmain, Inner West Council, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was built from 1880 to 1941. It is also known as Adelaide Steamship Company wharf and Burns timber yard. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.

References

  1. ↑ Wynner, Issy (2003). "Chapter One: BALMAIN AND THE UNION'S SECOND LAUNCHING". My Union Right or Wrong: A history of the Ship Painters and Dockers Union 1900-1932. Takver. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Wynner, Issy (1983). With Banner Unfurled: The early years of the Ship Painters and Dockers Union. Sydney: Hale and Iremonger. ISBN   0-86806-081-X.
  3. 1 2 Sheldon, Peter (1998). "Compulsory Arbitration and Union Recovery: Maritime-Related Union 1900-1912". Journal of Industrial Relations. 40 (3). Sage Publications: 422–440. doi:10.1177/002218569804000308. S2CID   154652399 . Retrieved 22 December 2013.
  4. ↑ Bruce A. Smith (6 August 2010). "Federated Ship Painters & Dockers Union of Australia (1916 - 1993)". Australian Trade Union Archives . Retrieved 7 January 2013.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Morris, Richard (1981). "The Employer's Free Choice and the Waterfront Closed Shop". Journal of Industrial Relations. 23 (1). Sage Publications: 49–62. doi:10.1177/002218568102300104. S2CID   153895136 . Retrieved 17 December 2013.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Taylor, Victor (1980). "Sectionalism, Solidarity and Action in Shipbuilding and Ship repair". In Frenkel, Stephen J. (ed.). Industrial Action: Patterns of Labour Conflict. North Sydney: George Allen & Unwin Australia. pp. 64–85.
  7. ↑ https://www.9news.com.au/national/dockers-a-union-outside-the-law/79337ffe-b721-411b-8058-3bb824570b7e Dockers, a union outside the law - 9News
  8. ↑ https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/sites/default/files/original/00005436.pdf
  9. ↑ "Industrial Relations Commission Decision 1484/1993 [1993] AIRC 1507; (1 December 1993)".
  10. ↑ "Maritime Union of Australia |". www.mua.org.au.
  11. ↑ Silvester, John (24 May 2012). "Killin' on the dock of the bay". The Age.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.