The 1891 Shearers Strike is one of Australia's oldest and most important industrial disputes. Working conditions for shearers in 19th century Australia were atrocious. In 1891 wool was one of Australia's largest industries. But as the wool industry grew, so did the number and influence of shearers. A sheep shearer is a worker who uses blade or machine shears to remove the wool from sheep. ... 1891 (MDCCCXCI) was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... See Alpaca wool, Angora wool (of rabbits) and Cashmere wool (of goats) for information about other wools. ... See Alpaca wool, Angora wool (of rabbits) and Cashmere wool (of goats) for information about other wools. ...

By 1890, the Australian Shearers’ Union boasted tens of thousands of members, and had unionised thousands of sheds. At their annual conference in Bourke in 1890, the Union laid down a new rule, which prohibited members from working with non-union workers. Soon after, shearers at Jondaryan Station on the Darling Downs went on strike over this issue. As non-union labour was still able to process the wool, the Jondaryan shearers called for help. The Rockhampton wharfies responded and refused to touch the Jondaryan wool. The unionists won the battle. This galvanised the squatters, and they formed the Pastoralists’ Federal Council, to counter the strength of the unions. The battle lines were drawn, conflict was not far away, the only question was where and when. Bourke is a town and Local Government Area in the north of New South Wales, Australia. ... The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ... The Darling Downs is a farming region on the western slopes of the Great Dividing Range in southern Queensland, Australia. ... Mayor Margaret Strelow Area 187 km² Population 59,120 (2003) (ABS) Time zone UTC + 10 Latitude Longitude Rockhampton (or Rocky as it is known by the locals) is a small city and Local Government Area in Central Queensland, Australia, located 42 km inland from the Capricorn coast on the Bruce... Wharfie is an Australian and New Zealand colloquial term for a wharf labourer or stevedore. ... To squat is to occupy an unoccupied or abandoned space or building that the individual does not own, rent, or otherwise have permission to use. ...

Many union shearers were outraged when Logan Downs Station Manager Charles Fairbain asked the shearers to sign a contract that would reduce the power of their union. On January 5, 1891 the shearers announced a strike until their demands for a contract ensuring the following: The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ... January 5 is the 5th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1891 (MDCCCXCI) was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ...

• continuation of existing rates of pay
• protection of workers rights and privledges
• just and equitable agreements
• exclusion of low-cost chinese labour (which manifest itself later as Labor Party policy - the Immigration Restriction Act, also known as the White Australia Policy)

The strike started and quickly spread. From February through until May, central Queensland was on the brink of civil war. Striking shearers formed armed camps outside of towns. Thousands of armed soldiers protected non-union labour and arrested strike leaders. The unionists retaliated by raiding shearing sheds, harassing non-union labour and committing acts of sabotage, although the incidents of actual violence or arson were few. The Australian Labor Party (ALP) is Australias oldest political party. ... The Immigration Restriction Act 1901 was an Act of the Parliament of Australia which limited immigration to Australia and formed the basis of the White Australia policy. ... This badge from 1906 shows the use of the expression White Australia at that time The White Australia Policy is the prevailing term used to describe a collection of racist Australian policies which restricted non-white immigration and promoted white, European immigration from 1830 to 1973 with related policies enduring... Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening an enemy through subversion, obstruction, disruption, and/or destruction. ...

One of the first Mayday marches in the world took place during the strike on May 1, 1891 in Barcaldine. The Sydney Morning Herald reported that 1340 men took part of whom 618 were mounted on horse. Banners carried included those of the Australian Labor Federation, the Shearers' and Carriers' Unions, and one inscribed 'Young Australia'. The leaders wore blue sashes and the Eureka Flag was carried. The "Labor Bulletin" reported that cheers were given for "the Union", "the Eight-hour day", "the Strike Committee" and "the boys in gaol". It reported the march: Barcaldine is a small town located in Western Queensland, Australia, approximately 520 kilometres by road west of the city of Rockhampton. ... The Eureka Flag The Eureka Flag was flown for the first time on Bakery Hill, Ballarat, Australia as a symbol of the resistance of the gold miners during the Eureka Stockade rebellion. ... The Eight-hour day movement, also known as the Short-time movement, had its origins in the Industrial Revolution in Britain, where industrial production in large factories transformed working life and imposed long hours and poor working conditions. ...

"In the procession every civilised country was represented doing duty for the Russian, Swede, French, Dane etc, who are germane to him in other climes, showing that Labor's cause is one the world over, foreshadowing the time when the swords shall be turned into ploughshares and Liberty, Peace and Friendship will knit together the nations of the earth."

But the shearers were unable to hold out. The summer had been unseasonable wet, and the strike was poorly timed for maximum effect on the shearing season (winter). By May the union camps were full of hungry penniless shearers. The strike had been broken. The squatters had won this time, but it had proved a costly exercise.

Thirteen union leaders were charged with sedition and conspiracy, taken to Rockhampton for the trial, convicted, and sentenced to three years in gaol on St Helena Island Prison. The 1891 Shearers Strike is credited as being one of the factors for the formation of the Australian Labor Party. Australian sedition law is the area of the criminal law of Australia relating to the crime of sedition. ... St Helena Island is a national park in Queensland (Australia), 21 km east of Brisbane in Moreton Bay. ... The Australian Labor Party (ALP) is Australias oldest political party. ...

Henry Lawson's well known poem, Freedom on the Wallaby, was written as a comment on the strike and published by William Lane in the Worker in Brisbane, May 16 1891. Henry Lawson, circa 1902 Henry Lawson (17 June 1867 - 2 September 1922) was an Australian writer and poet. ... Henry Lawsons well known poem, Freedom on the Wallaby, was written as a comment on the 1891 Australian shearers strike and published by William Lane in the Worker in Brisbane, May 16, 1891. ... William Lane (1861-1917) was a pioneer of the Australian labour movement. ...

Banjo Paterson's song Waltzing Matilda an unoffical Australian anthem, was also written about this era of Shearer's industrial disputes in Queensland. Andrew Barton Banjo Paterson (February 17, 1864 - February 5, 1941) was a famous Australian bush poet, journalist and author. ... Waltzing Matilda is usually sung in informal settings, but it was played with a 90 piece orchestra and the 100 voice Melbourne Chorale at the 2005 Classical Spectacular Waltzing Matilda is Australias most widely known folk song, and one that has been popularly suggested as a potential national anthem...

See also

• Australian labour movement
• Eureka Stockade

Eight-hour day banner, Melbourne, 1856 University of Melbourne site where Stonemasons won the 8 hour day in 1856 The history of the Australian labour movement reaches back to the 19th century and the movement has a long tradition of organised unions of workers and links to political activity. ... The Eureka Flag The Eureka Stockade was a miners revolt in 1854 in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia, against the officials supervising the gold-mining region of Ballarat due to many reasons, including heavily priced mining items, the expense of a digging license, and unfair treatment. ...

References

• The shearers' war : the story of the 1891 shearers' strike (1989) Stuart Svenson, UOQ Press.
• Industrial War - The Great Strikes 1890 - 1894 (1995) Stuart Svensen ISBN 0-646-22797-1

External links

• The Shearers Strike
• Striking Shearers burn boat
• Sydney Morning Herald Article
• The Ballard of 1891 - Lyrics to the famous Australian trade union song about the strike