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BLF - DOCUMENTS - TIMELINE |
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Timeline Timeline
from We Built This Country –
Builders’ Labourers and their Unions, by Humphrey McQueen,
Ginninderra Press, Port Adelaide, 2011. 1780s
to 1850 Unions 1829
‘Free’ workers are controlled by Master and Servant Acts;
labourers are sent to prison if they do not work hard enough. 1830s
Sydney workers form unions. 1843
Mutual Protection Society in Sydney defends wages and demands work. 1845
Friendly Society of Carpenters and Joiners in Sydney. Britain 1834
Half a million workers join the Grand Consolidated Trades Union. 1834
Six farm labourers – the ‘Tolpuddle Martyrs’ – are transported
for resisting a wage cut. Irish
navvies build roads and 2,000km of railways. Economy 1829-
Free settlers at Perth, Melbourne and Adelaide. 1830s
Wool overtakes whaling products as largest export earner. 1841
End of transportation of convicts to the east coast, and to Hobart in
1854. Building
of towns as ports provides work for labourers. Politics 1808
Military coup against Governor Bligh; wealthy rebels give each other
more land. 1820s
A prison moves towards self-government. Freedom
of the press is won by editors going to prison. 1842
elections for local councils in Sydney and Melbourne. Protests
against squatters who are grabbing more land. 1851
to 1880 Unions Building
unions 1854
UK-based Progressive Society of Carpenters and Joiners forms a branch in
Sydney. 1860s
First unions for labourers, for example, United Hodcarriers Society and
the United Labourers Protection Society in NSW, and a United Labourers’
Friendly Society in Melbourne. 1872
Builders’ Labourers’ Society in Adelaide. 1870s
UK-based Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners has branches
here. EIGHT-HOUR
DAY 8-8-8 21
April 1856 Melbourne stonemasons march through city to demand shorter
hours. They will win by ‘physical force if necessary’, says their
leader James Stephens. Employers
hit back with piece rates to get as much value as possible in the eight
hours. They also import German masons, but the newcomers strike to get
the same conditions as the locals. 1859
Eight-Hour Day Committee in Melbourne. 1860
UK building workers are locked out for demanding a nine-hour day. 1860s
Labourers in Brisbane are among the first unskilled to win the
eight-hour day because of the heat and glare. 1871-2
Eight-hour parades begin in Melbourne and Sydney. Labourers
is still on a six-day week, if they are lucky enough to find a week’s
work. Most lose about a fifth of their time ‘following the job’, or
being stood down in bad weather or waiting for materials. Other
unions 1860
Melbourne Trades Council in its own Hall. 1871
Sydney Trades and Labor Council. 1874
Amalgamated Miners’ Association in Victoria. 1879
first Inter-colonial Trades and Labor Congress, Sydney. Economy Sydney
population goes from 54,000 to 225,000. Melbourne from 29,000 to
270,000. Building
industry Australia
adds 400,000 dwellings. Almost half are weatherboard. Demand
for skilled labour is higher than the supply of men who have served
apprenticeships; labourers therefore ‘jump up’ to work in the craft
areas. Railway
building in rural districts means work for navvies. Politics 1856-
Adult male suffrage for Legislative Assemblies, and secret ballot. Anti-democratic
Legislative Councils protect capitalists. 1859
Stonemason Charles Don elected to Victorian parliament. 1878-80
Failure to divide the land feeds into the Kelly rebellion in central
Victoria. 1880
to 1900 Unions Building
unions 1886
Sydney Building Trades’ Federation excludes labourers. 1888
Builders’ Labourers’ Union in Melbourne.
1897
Builders’ Labourers’ Society loses strike in Perth for ten shillings
a day. 1900
Builders’ Labourers’ Union in Sydney breaks from ULPS after it takes
in navvies. Builders’
and Contractors Associations and Master Builders’ Associations form. Other
unions Weak
moves towards making employers liable for workplace injuries. 1882-3
Strike by 4,000 tailoresses in
Melbourne prevents cut in piece-rates. 1884
Intercolonial Trades and Labor Congress in Melbourne. 1884-5
Melbourne boot-makers act against outwork and sweating. 1886
Amalgamated Shearers’ Union. 1889
Australian unions send £30,000 to striking London dockers. 1890
70,000 union members in six colonies. 1890
Capitalists organise Employers’ Unions and Pastoralists’ Union. August
1890 Maritime strike defeated. 1891
shearers’ strike in Queensland. Troops sent against shearers; union
leaders to prison. 1892
Broken Hill strike. 1894
Shearers’ strike in NSW. The
union movement is crippled. Economy 1880s
Railway boom across Melbourne suburbs. Tariffs
support manufacturing in Victoria. Pacific
Islanders work sugarcane fields. 1888
Broken Hill Pty established. 1880-90
Government debts double. 1890s
Bust is worst in Melbourne where banks and land sharks control
parliament. Collapse
leads to one in three being jobless in Victoria. Wages are cut from six
shillings a day down to one or two shillings for labourers. 1890s
Gold rushes in West Australia. Politics 1883
Queensland makes a grab for Papua. ‘White
Australia’ as national ideal. 1891
Labor parties form. 1899
World’s first Labor government in Queensland. 1901
The six colonies federate to strengthen British empire. Radicals oppose
undemocratic Constitution; they want an independent republic. 1901
to 1910 Unions Building
unions 1908
Perth labourers start a new union, with 29 members. 1910
Melbourne drive for 44-hour week. 9
September 1910 Queensland, NSW, Victoria and South Australia Labourers’
Unions sign on to Australian Builders’ Labourers’ Federation (ABLF);
25 November, Tasmania joins. 22
January 1911 ABLF registers with Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and
Arbitration. Henry
Hannah, Victorian and Federal secretary, brings navvies and labourers’
assistants into the one union. Building
indu A
slow revival of building and construction. Price-fixing
by brick-makers and contractors. Other
unions State
governments limit their success through Wages Boards and Industrial
Courts. 1904
Australian Workers Union is formed. 1906
Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration set up. 1907
Its second President, Justice Higgins, awards basic wage for a family of
five. Arbitration
draws more workers into unions; numbers increase fivefold until a third
of workers are members. Economy 1902
Seven-year drought at its worst. Sheep numbers fall by a third and the
wheat crop is only one-tenth of usual. Therefore,
government income is cut and fewer public works, despite higher jobless
rates. 1906-
Commonwealth tariffs for manufacturers. Politics 1904
Minority Commonwealth Labor government. 1902-8
‘White Australia’ enforced by mass deportations. 1902-
Votes for European women. 1906-
Victorian Socialist Party spreads Marxist ideas of class struggle and
international solidarity. 1907-
Industrial Workers of the World agitates among navvies. 1911
to 1919 Unions ABLF 1912-
Ben Mulvogue as Victorian Secretary. 1912-32
Percy J Smith as Federal and Victorian secretary. 1912
Building Trades’ Federations in Victoria and Queensland. October
1913 Perth labourers register with the State Court of Arbitration as the
Metropolitan Builders’ Labourers’ Union of Workers; February 1914,
its 81 members get an award. December
1913 ABLF federal award with a common rate for all grades of labourers
and a 20 percent loading for lost time. 1914 High Court strikes down the
compensation clauses. 1917 Privy Council in London throws out appeal
from the Masters against any award. 1912
to 1916 membership up from 3,000 to 8,000. Conflicts
with United Labourers’ Union of navvies influenced by the IWW. 1915
Fails to merge with the AWU. 1916
Beats back lock-out in Hobart. 1916
Licensing of scaffolders in Queensland. 1916
BLNews in Victoria banned for
its Anti-Slavery issue against conscription. 16
November 1917 Queensland branch registers with State Court, John William
Abbiss as secretary. Building
industry 1914-15
Work for labourers in building camps for troops. Other
unions Disputes
in mines and on wharves. 1912
Brisbane general strike and repressive Industrial Peace Act. 1917
Opposition to time-and-motion studies in NSW railways leads to a general
strike. 1919
Maritime and meat-workers stop. 1919-20
Broken Hill miners locked out for 18 months. Economy 1914-
War disrupts shipping. 1915
BHP steel works opens at Newcastle. 1915
Inflation reaches 17 percent, and again in 1919; wages fall behind. 1916-
Unemployed up to 11 percent. Politics 1910-13
a Labor majority in both houses of Federal Parliament, but unable to
alter the Constitution through referenda. 1911-
Workers resist compulsory military training for all young males. 1914
Labor Party leaders support the war to the ‘last man and the last
shilling’. 400,000
volunteers for Australian Imperial Force, with 60,000 dead and as many
seriously wounded. 1915-
Progressive legislation in Queensland. 1916
Labor Party splits over conscription for overseas service. 1916
and 1917 plebiscites reject conscription but voters back win-the-war
parties. Political
repression under War Precautions Act puts 100 militants in prison. 1920
to 1929 Unions ABLF 1919
Strikes in Adelaide and Melbourne. BLs
very keen on a single industry union. 1925
Queensland gets permission to leave the Federation to join an industrial
union, but never happens. 1926
Barwon bridge case (Vic.) gives coverage of some bridges against AWU. 1927
Queensland joins three other building unions to stop for a 40-hour week;
after defeat, branch is de-registered and punished by losing coverage
north of Mackay to the AWU. SA
very militant while Tasmania stagnates. Victoria
and New South decline, as does the Federal body. 1928
WA BL union has 750 members but still limited to Perth and Fremantle. Other
unions 1921
Half of the workforce is in a union. Rolling
disputes in mining, maritime and railways. 1926
Crimes Act attacks union rights. Stacking
of Commonwealth Arbitration Court with bosses’ men. 1927
Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) formed. 1928
‘Dog Collar’ on the wharves to protect scabs. 1928-29
Police kill workers on Melbourne wharf and at Rothbury in Hunter Valley.
Economy Chronic
balance-of-payments problems and war debts. Governments
borrow under slogan of ‘Men, Money and Markets’. 1928
Depression begins. Building
Industry 1926-32
Sydney Harbour bridge. 1927-
‘Picture Palaces’ for talkies provide work, as do insurance
offices and hospitals; inner-city
department stores are rebuilt. Concrete
becomes a structural material. Politics Country
Parties form. 1920
Communist Party established but divided, and even weaker during the late
1920s. 1925-
State Labor government in Queensland turns reactionary. 1926
NSW Compensation Act brings benefits through Government Insurance
Offices in Labor States. 1929
to 1940 Unions ABLF 1930-32
Huge drop in membership; Queensland falls from 2,375 to 859; WA
is down from 752 to 64, but back up to 570 in 1939. 1932-
Victoria under petty corruption of secretary Dick Loughnan. 1934-35
Queensland taken over by AWU low lifes. ‘The
Plan’ from the Communists for a single industrial union, which only
Queensland supports. 1937
New Federal Award brings very little change from 1913; it moves from a
common rate to two classifications, and provides a 15 percent loading
for casuals. 1938
WA building trade award after a strike. 1938-9
Federal Council fails to meet. Other
unions By
1937, Communist leadership in mining, maritime and manufacturing unions. 1938
‘Dole-queue patriots’ at Port Kembla (NSW) block export of pig iron
to Japanese militarists. Economy ‘Equality
of sacrifice’ means that a judge on the Arbitration Court loses only
as much as a labourer earns. Wage
cuts and lower government spending make the depression worse. 1932
A third of workforce is out of a job. Jobless
figures never below 10 percent. Building
industry Late
1930s Public works such as hospitals provide work. Banks
will not lend to manufacturers, hence, little factory construction. Politics 1930-
Local fascists in secret armies such as the New and Old Guards in NSW. 1932
Governor Game sacks NSW Labor premier Jack Lang. Strengthening
of Communist Party. Movements
against fascism, whether here or abroad. 1941
to 1949 Unions ABLF 1941
SA membership up to 1,000. 1941
Communist Paddy Malone secretary in Victoria. 1941
NSW under control of the gangster Fred Thomas, who is also federal
secretary from 1942. 1942
Bill Tryrell as right-wing Queensland secretary. Western
Australia still going it alone with 1,450 members. 1948
Right-wing takeover in SA with Fred Shaw as secretary. Building
industry 1945
Shortage of 300,000 houses. Rationing of building materials. 1949
Snowy Mountains hydro-electricity and irrigation schemes. Other
unions To
break Red control, Industrial Groups are directed by the pro-fascist B A
Santamaria, and supported by Roman Catholic church, the security police
and the US embassy. 1942
Building Workers Industrial Union (BWIU) formed from carpenters and
bricklayers. 1945
Australian unionists help Indonesians to drive out Dutch. 1948-64
Federal deregistration of BWIU. 1948
Forty-hour week. 1949
Troops break coal strike. Economy Post-war
fears of return to depression. Dollar
shortages restrict revival after 1945. Policy
of ‘full employment’, usually under two percent. 1947
Immigration scheme contracts newcomers to work for two years as
directed. Manufacturing
expands, for example, the first Holden in 1948. Politics 1941-49
Federal Labor government. Labor
governments in several States. December
1949 Reactionary coalition under R G Menzies. 1950
to 1960 Unions ABLF 1951
Right sends ‘Speed’ Morgan to Tasmania as secretary. 1956
Victoria wins a Building Industry Agreement, setting pattern for deals
outside the Arbitration system. 1957
Left wins NSW leadership, but loses in 1958 to no-hopers. Building
industry 1947
to 1954 Building and construction workforce grows by 40 percent, but by
only 12 percent between 1954 and 1961. Vast
increase in labour productivity. US
contractors here (Utah, Braun and Kaiser). Southern
Europeans labour in construction and on building sites. 1956
Melbourne ICI building above 40m. 1957
First shopping centre, Chermside (Brisbane). 1957
Work starts on Sydney Opera House. High-rises
begin, for example, Torbreck apartments in Brisbane. 1959
Altona petro-chemical plants under construction. Housing Many
built by owners and their friends. By
1954, 115,000 war-service homes have been constructed since 1920. 1958
Housing shortage down to 80,000. 1960-61
Construction peaks at 94,500. By
1961, 2.5m. dwellings, nine out of twenty are weatherboard. Flats
and apartments more popular, from a mere 46 new ones in 1946 to 15,600
in 1963-4, and then to 28,200 in 1964-5. Other
unions 1950
Commonwealth government prepares to intern Red union leaders under
‘Operation Alien’. Right-wing
controls ACTU. 1952
Return of the ASC&J as right-wing opponent of de-registered BWIU. 1958
New Act divides Arbitration Commission from Industrial Court to enforce
penal clauses. Economy 1952-55
Freeze on the Federal basic wage hurts labourers most. Assisted
immigration brings half a million, one-third British. US
investments increase in every corner of the economy. Politics Fears
of national independence in Asia, of communism, and of Japan. Unions
involved in peace movements and in opposition to the bomb: ‘Peace is
union business’. 1951
Formal alliance with the US of A. 1951
Peace treaty with Japan. 1951
Defeat of ban on Communist Party in a September referendum. 1954-55
Petrov Royal Commission looks for a Red spy ring. 1954
and 1957 Labor Party splits, and the Catholic Right forms DLP. 1961
to 1970 Unions ABLF The
Federation comes back to life after forty years of being little more
than a name. 1961
Splits in world Communism affect the building unions and conflicts
inside the ABLF. 1961
Left wins most positions in NSW; Mick McNamara as secretary with 720
votes out of 1,326. 1962
A new style of federal Award built on classifications. 1962
Queensland secretary Farrell forced to resign. New generation of
officials with Jim Delaney as secretary. Queensland
branch transformed by resource projects in the central coal basin and by
high-rises in Brisbane and on the Gold Coast. By
1964, NSW still unable to pay its own way; its officials want to merge
with the BWIU. 1965-66
West Australia joins the Federation; of 922 ballot papers, 288 are
returned with 216 of in favour; the branch is still pretty helpless. New
methods and materials, mostly around concrete, challenge carpenters over
form- work and plasterers about finishing-off. 1966-
Unable to register new name to match these changes. 1967
Les Robinson replaces no-hoper secretary in South Australia; by 1971,
membership up to 3,000. 1968
Jack Mundey as NSW secretary. 1968-
Breaking concrete pours as a tactic. 1970
Labourers’ margins up to 90% of carpenters. Improvements
in Victorian Building Industry Agreement. Building
industry 1961
Two percent of building and construction workforce are women. 1967
Australia Square tower in Sydney completed. 1968
Building Owners’ and Managers’ Association established. Other
unions 1954-71
Only one new worker in three joins a union. Loss
of jobs in mines and on wharves. 1964
Southern Europeans as factory fodder sparks mass action at
General-Motors. 1966-
Rising tide of militancy among manufacturing unions against merging of
margins into basic wage. By
1968 Penal powers see twenty-nine unions fined 800 times. May
1969 Secretary of Victorian Tramways, Clarrie O’Shea, gaoled for not
paying fines; one million stop in support. 1969
US embassy backs R J Hawke for ACTU presidency. 1969-
Slow moves towards equal pay for women. Economy 1963-
Growth fairly steady until 1974. The
affluent society arrives, at last, thanks to hire purchase and mining
exports. Urban
sprawl and high-rises in CBDs. US
investments boom. Japan
as major trading partner for raw materials. Mineral
exports drive up the Australian dollar to leave manufacturing and
agriculture less competitive. Politics 1965
A lottery of death to conscript twenty-year olds. 1966
Labor wiped out at the federal elections for opposing Vietnam war. 1967
Gough Whitlam takes over federal labor leader with policies for urban
life. 1966-
Surge of radical actions, sparked by student protests. Aboriginal
black power as Gurindji walk off and demand land rights. 1967
Ninety percent vote for Commonwealth powers over Aborigines. ‘White
Australia’ fades. 1970
to 1982 Unions ABCE&BLF 1970
Struggle for higher margins leads to conflict with tradesmen. 1970
Gallagher takes over as Victorian secretary on death of Paddy Malone. 1970
‘Green bans’ begin in Melbourne with gaoling of Gallagher. 1970-
Employers use civil law to replace penal powers; December 1972, SA
branch secretary Robinson and organiser Ron Owens gaoled for contempt. Battles
with Plasterers’ who are backed by the BWIU. New
methods and materials re-define skills. 1971
Federation Reports 16,609 members to ACTU. ‘No-ticket,
No start’ lifts membership while most unions shrink. 1971
NSW strike by building trades boosts injury pay. Campaign
for permanent employment for all building workers fails, yet secures
many of the conditions attached to it, such as long-service leave. Worker
control strongest around inner Sydney. 1973
Change of name to Australian Building and Construction Employees and
Builders’ Labourers’ Federation. 1973
Gallagher elected to ACTU executive as the building industry
representative; a sign that the labourers are challenging tradesmen on
the jobs. 1974
Western Australia re-organised with Kevin Reynolds as secretary. 21
June 1974 Federation de-registered. October
1974 Federal intervention in NSW; branch under secretary Les Robinson,
and Steve Black from 1977. 16
June 1976 BLF re-registered. Direct
action speeds up compensation pay-outs. 1980
Tasmanian secretary ‘Speed’ Morgan dies and replaced by Jim Bacon
from Victoria. 1980
Loy Yang power house and Omega disputes. 22
June 1981 High Court Omega decision favours Federation. Gallagher
and Black push for coverage of all metal towers. 1982
Scissors-lift dispute sees branch expelled from Melbourne Trades Hall
Council. Building
industry October
1973 Opera House opens. 1974
Mainline goes bust, followed by other builders, e.g., K D Morris in
Queensland. 1976
Fifty-two (177m) floors of Nauru House, tallest building in Melbourne 1980
Centrepoint Tower in Sydney. 1979
The second oil-price increase leads to infrastructure projects with
power stations and aluminum smelters. 1982
Construction slumps. Other
unions Rise
of white-collar militants as teachers and nurses strike. 1973
Immigrant workers take mass action at Ford plant, Broadmeadows (Vic.) 1974
Four times as many days lost from disputes as in 1967. 1976-
Secondary boycott legislation and Trade Practices Act used against
workers. Fight
against uranium mining and for Aboriginal land rights. Economy Two
oil price shocks in 1973 and 1979. Rise
in the exchange rate removes much of the effect of tariff protection.
Huge job losses. Wages
share up in the first half of the 1970s. Four
weeks annual leave and holiday loading. 1975
Unemployment at 5 percent. Era
of stagflation – combining unemployment with inflation. Politics 1972-
Whitlam government is progressive on health, education and urban
development. 1974-75
Government plans to control of minerals and energy with petro-dollar
loans. 1975
Independence for Papua New Guinea. 11
November 1975 CIA agent and governor-general John Kerr sacks Whitlam. 1975-
Fraser government. 1976
Fraser destroys Medibank. 1983
to 1993 Unions ABCE&BLF 1985-
Federation leads opposition to the later Accords. 1991-92
Gallagher removed as Victorian and Federal secretary. 1991-92
John Cummins as Victorian secretary. 1992
Victorian branch down to 120 members. De-reg. 1
July 1982 RC report tabled. 21
October 1982 Criminal proceedings begin. February
1983 Developers plead guilty and get fined. May
1983 Federation promises to behave and de-reg. is shelved. June
1985 Gallagher found guilty and sentenced to thirteen years. 1985
NSW branch de-registered. 14
April 1986 Federation, Victorian and ACT branches deregistered and
derecognised. Queensland,
Tasmania, South Australia and Western Australia retain State
registrations. 1990
De-registrations extended for five years. Building
industry Marked
improvement in health and safety laws. Tourist
boom adds building jobs. 1990
Property boom collapses. Vast
expansion of subbies – so-called independent contractors and labour-hire
firms. 1991-2
NSW Royal Commission exposes more corruption among Master Builders. Other
unions 1984
New Right with H R Nicholls Society to destroy collective bargaining. 1983
Business Council of Australia. 1984-
Attacks on electricity linesmen, meat workers and plumbers. 1987
ACTU Congress swallows Australia
Reconstructed and ‘Strategic Unionism’. Loss
of fight among most unions under the Accords. Economy 1983-
Accord process. Middle 80 percent of workers lose real wages. 1983
ALP floats dollar and de-regulates the financial sector to encourage
schemes to make money out of money. Financial
scandals from ALP administrations in WA, SA and Victoria. 1986
Fears of a banana republic. Collapse
of manufacturing. Spread
of casualisation for women and loss of full-time jobs for males. Endless
re-training schemes. Long-term unemployed put on disability pensions. October
1987 stock-market collapse. 1990
Recession. Politics 1985
Medicare begins. ALP
sells Commonwealth Bank and QANTAS. Communist
Parties implode; decline of class politics generally. 1994
to future Unions CFMEU
Construction Division March
1994 BLF joins Construction Division. ‘BLF’
continues in Queensland within the Construction Division. BL
officials take leadership in WA, SA and Victoria. NSW
dominated by the tradesmen from the BWIU. 2001
Cole Royal Commission into Building and Construction Industry reports in
2003. 2005
Building and Construction Industry Improvement Act turns union action
into a criminal offence. Australian
Building and Construction Commission get police-state powers, maintained
under the ALP’s Gillard. Asbestos
scandal around Hardie Bros in mass murder for profit. 2009-10
Ark Tribe’s acquittal in SA is a fitting close to a century of
struggle for health and safety. Other
Unions 1996
IR Act under Howard leaves only twenty allowable matters and limits
organising on sites. 1998
Construction workers play leading role in defeating waterfront
conspiracy,. 2000
Percentage of workforce in unions down to one in four, mostly in
government sector; half are women. 2005
Frontal attack to abolish unionism by WorkChoices. 2008
Gillard’s FairWork Australia Act retains much of WorkChoices, almost
no right to strike and violates other ILO standards. 2009-
Gillard’s ALP undermines OH&S and Workers’ Compensation with
threats of ‘harmonisation’ between State laws. Economy Housing
demand outruns supply. Wind-back
of public housing for all except some welfare tenants. 2007-
Job losses in building and construction from economic crisis warded off
by government spending on energy-saving, schools and first-home loans. Politics Loss
of socialist ideals and Marxian analysis. 1996
Howard becomes prime minister. 2007
‘Your Rights at Work’ campaign defeats Coalition. 2010
ALP scrapes back. |