South Australia - Industrial Relations
Miscellany
An Essay on the Trials of Workers in the Last Two Decades of the Nineteenth Century
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It is time that labour succeeded in holding its own in the affairs of life. This it cannot expect to do at once, but something may be gained first by combination against monopoly and the undue authority of capital, and then by cooperation.
(Register, 17 April 1886, page 4g)
Introduction
Economic recession and recurrent drought during the 1880s took its toll on the working class throughout South Australia - this was exacerbated by the failure of The Commercial Bank of South Australia in February 1886 when its manager, aptly named Mr Crooks, was found to have been lending recklessly and keeping directors uninformed of nefarious banking practices which eventually found him convicted of theft.
When his malpractice came to the notice of his superiors a hastily convened shareholders' meeting was held in the Adelaide Town Hall and one might be excused for concluding that the hapless events which followed have an uncanny resemblance to the recent "crash" of the State Bank of South Australia. A contributor to the Letters to the Editor column of the Advertiser of 18 February 1891 gave readers much to contemplate when he wrote of the 1886 meeting and later events:
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One director thought the manager a "vagabond" while the last director to speak finished by asking the shareholders "What shall we do with this man?" One disgruntled shareholder cried out: "Lynch the bastard."
The State Bank shareholders - the citizens of this State - may well be excused for sharing, with our friend of years gone by, a similar sentiment. While the royal commission is welcomed, much more needs to be done than, metaphorically speaking, lynching the bastards. It is time to correct, as Hugh Stretton puts it, "Labor's Mistake" and recognise the truth of B.A. Santamaria's observation that bank deregulation encouraged "greed"...
This local disaster was to be followed by similar events on a national scale. Australia had become exceptionally reliant upon British capital during the 1880s and this had, according to one historian, "disguised a large deficit in the balance of payments on current account". In effect, Australia's economic health remained dependent upon a capital inflow which represented about one half of all its imports. In 1891, as the result of recession in Britain and the United States, overseas markets were cut severely and foreign investment declined sharply. Without the prop of foreign investment colonial governments were unable to halt the slide into depression and a growing lack of confidence in the banking system.
In February 1890 the Premier Building Association in Melbourne crashed, followed by more than forty building and financial associations in Sydney and Melbourne in the next two years. In January 1893 the Federal Bank of Australia was the first bank to close; by mid-year eleven other trading banks followed. Few Australians remained unscathed by the bank crashes and the chronic unemployment that followed during the 1890s. Many small farmers lost their land as banks foreclosed on mortgages and working class people lost their life savings when banks were wound up.
These traumatic events had a profound impact on the economy, and in other areas, for they contributed to a hastening of the federation of Australian states, contributed to the origin of the political labour movement and undermined the "Victorian" optimism and, for many, faith in capitalist society.
The Trials of the Working Class
It was in the mid-1880s that the working class began to emerge as a political force and challenge the capitalist system and its inherent wealth, which the worker saw as a powerful enemy and all but invincible when supported by monopolies. They began to ask questions - Why should a miserable life of incessant toil ensure them nothing but an old age of dependency, whilst it added to the store of the wealthy man? Why should one man rolling in wealth never be obliged to do an hours work, whilst his neighbour had to work all his days for a bare pittance? Were not all men equal?
The answers to these questions were to be sought by the worker through organised trades unions which asserted three great principles - that all men are equal; that all men have a right to an equal share of the external resources of nature; that all men have equal requirements. Further, there was a firm conviction that all men were equal because all are alike born with an equal right to life and its blessings and that the capitalist and the worker was each endowed with gifts and possessions, varying indeed in quality and quantity, but similar in origin.
An ardent unionist put his case as follows:
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Trades Unions [are] the protest of the poor against the tyranny of capital. The opposition which would be absurd and ineffectual as coming from an individual operative becomes serious when it is undertaken by a large and powerful organization of operatives. It took years of struggle before the system was pronounced lawful in Great Britain, and before 1867 the members of any trades union were liable to prosecution for a conspiracy to restrain trade. Since then, however, trades unionism has grown and flourished, and it bids fair to be the most successful opponent of the rule of capital until an enlightened and true system of co-operation is introduced.
General Notes
"Mr Fisher's Pauper Laborers" is in the Register,
24 March 1838, page 1d,
7 April 1838, page 2d,
"Meddling With the Labour Market" on
12 and 26 December 1840, pages 2c and 2d.
A meeting of carpenters and joiners, called to object to the introduction of "any machine to supersede manual labour", is reported in the Register,
28 March 1851, page 3c; also see
29 March 1851, page 2d.
Formation of an "association" appears on
16 January 1865, page 3g.
Information on a Carpenters' and Joiners' Association is in the Express,
16 January 1865, page 2b,
Observer,
21 January 1865, page 3g,
4 February 1865, page 4b (supp.),
13 May 1865, page 3a (supp.); also see
Express,
18 February 1893, page 6c.
"An Exemplary Society - The Carpenters and Joiners" is in the Advertiser,
18 February 1893, page 5h.
A "Public Meeting of the Working Classes" is reported in the Register,
27 September 1851, page 3a; also see
29 September 1851, page 2b.
A letter from a "Female Wages Slave" is in the Observer,
4 March 1854, page 5d.
"The Wages of Labour" is in the Observer,
19 August 1854, page 8a.
A "Great Open Air Meeting of Working Classes" is reported in the Observer,
19 August 1854, page 9a.
Under the heading "The Strike" a correspondent to the Register on 15 September 1854, page 3d says:
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An element of antagonism has been introduced into the relations of masters and men, which is always highly objectionable. It has also been stated that the profit of capital, ie, the profit of the employers are not in just proportions to the general rate of wages.
"Political Association of Working Men" is in the Chronicle,
30 July 1859, page 1g (supp.).
"Capital" and "Labour" is discussed in the Chronicle,
6 August 1859, page 4c.
"The Labour Market" is in the Register, 19 June 1861, page 2f.
"Moderate Wages Best for Workers" is the cause for debate in the Advertiser,
27 January 1862, page 2g,
3 and 26 February 1862, pages 3a and 3c.
The stonemakers' strike is reported upon in the Express,
10 February 1864, page 3e.
The proposed formation of an "Operative Carpenters' Society" is discussed in the Chronicle,
21 January 1865, page 2e and
of a masons' and brickmakers' union in the Register,
6 and 7 February 1865, pages 3e and 2b.
"Co-operation Among Working Men" is in the Register,
7 February 1865, page 2b.
The first dinner of the Carters' Association is reported in the Express,
17 May 1865, page 2c.
"The Working Class Society Sixty Years Ago" is in the Observer, 16 September 1865, page 1e (supp.).
"Labor and Employment" is in the Chronicle,
9 June 1866, page 4a,
7 July 1866, page 3b (supp.),
18 August 1866, page 2b,
"Occupations of the People" on
10 November 1866, page 1e (supp.).
"Defrauding Workmen of Their Wages" is in the Register,
7 March 1867, page 2c; also see
4 April 1867, page 2c.
"The Protectionist and the Working Man" is in the Register,
12 April 1867, page 2e.
"Condition of the Working Classes" is in the Express,
22 June 1867, page 2b.
"A Labour Test for the Unemployed" is in the Register,
24 June 1867, page 2d,
"Work for the Unemployed" on
4 July 1867, page 2c.
"Education of the Working Classes" is in the Observer,
18 and 25 July 1868, pages 16e and 12d.
"The New Defenders of Trades Unionism" is in the Observer,
22 May 1869, page 12d.
"The Seven Shillings a Day Question" is raised in the Register,
18 August 1869, page 3a.
A meeting of painters is reported in the Observer,
23 and 30 October 1869, pages 6b and 8d.
An editorial re holidays is in the Register, 23 November 1869:
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That peculiarly South Australian institution - public holidays - has been provoking dissension in the drapery trade... His Honour [Judge Gwynne] condemns them in the abstract as a curse to the colony... The Hon John [Hodgkiss] professes to appreciate them... and [is] anxious that everybody should have his share...
For the aftermath in the ranks of the employees see Register,
23 November 1869, page 3f
for a meeting of drapers' assistants
10 December 1869, page 3g.
"The Drapers' Holidays" is in the Observer,
27 November 1869, page 3a,
"The Half-Holiday Movement" in the Express,
12 December 1870, page 3d.
"The Unemployed Disturbance" is in the Observer,
5 and 12 March 1870, pages 2g-13d and 10-11.
A sketch is in the Illustrated Adelaide Post,
24 March 1870, page 1.
Also see Adelaide - Destitution.
"The Labour Test" is in the Observer,
24 September 1870, page 8a,
22 October 1870, page 13c,
Express,
22 October 1870, page 2d.
"Early Days of Labor - Conditions in 1873" is in the Advertiser,
10 October 1923, page 9b.
"Labor Associations" is in the Chronicle,
15 July 1871, page 12b.
"Trades Unions" is in The Irish Harp,
6 and 13 September 1872, pages 4b and 3a,
"The Law Relating to Trade Unions" is in the Observer,
22 July 1876, page 20g,
"Strikes and Trades Unions" in the Chronicle,
22 July 1876, page 5f.
"The Kapunda Herald and Ourselves" is in The Irish Harp,
31 January 1873, page 4b.
A meeting of the Shearers' Union is reported in the Observer,
26 July 1873, page 5e.
"In Yesteryears - Hard Work; Low Pay", the reminiscences of Mr W.G. Bignell, is in The Mail,
17 March 1928, page 15c.
"Strikes and Lockouts" is in the Express,
30 April 1875, page 3b.
A prolonged tailors' strike is reported upon in the Register,
28, 29, 30 April 1875, pages 3g-4e, 5a, 6f,
4, 15, 18 19 May 1875, pages 6d-6g, 5e, 6g, 6c.
The Lantern,
15 May 1875, page 6.
A lecture on Trades Unions is reproduced in the Chronicle,
16 September 1876, page 11c; also see
23 September 1876, page 14f.
"The Trade Unions Bill" is in the Register,
8 and 13 September 1876, pages 4d and 4e-1a (supp.).
A complimentary dinner to Henry Taylor is reported in the Register,
26 January 1877, page 6c. Also see
20 October 1877, pages 4d-6c.
A proposal to form a Political Association and produce a newspaper "in the interests of labour" is in the Chronicle,
9 June 1877, page 8c.
"Working Men's Political Association" is in the Observer,
13 March 1886, page 33e.
"The Working Man and Taxation" is in the Observer,
31 August 1878, page 10c.
"Employers and Workmen" is in the Observer,
16 November 1878, page 13c.
"A Friendly Warning to the Working Class of SA" is in the Express,
28 December 1878, page 3e.
"Machinery and Labour" is in the Register,
20 May 1879, page 4e.
"The Labour Question" is discussed in the Register,
17 June 1879, page 5a-b,
17 June 1879 (supp.), page 1c,
18 June 1879 (supp.), page 2c.
A poem entitled "The Song of the Unemployed" is in The Lantern,
21 June 1879.
"Contractors and Workmen" is in the Register,
29 September 1879, page 4c.
Charges against the Labour League are expounded in the Register,
28 February 1880 (supp.), page 3b; also see
3 and 4 March 1880, pages 6f and 6e.
Information on Working Men's Clubs is in the Express,
24 June 1880, page 3c,
16 March 1886, page 4e,
Register,
2 and 31 January 1885, pages 7b and 7e,
17 and 18 March 1885, pages 6d and 7f,
Observer,
2 May 1885, page 39b,
20 November 1886, page 25d,
5 February 1887, page 40d.
Also see Adelaide.
"The Factories Bill" is in the Register,
2 August 1880, page 4d.
"Unions v Individuals" is in the Register,
28 February 1881, page 4c.
"Saturday Afternoon Holidays" is in the Register,
7 November 1881, page 4g.
"The Working Men of SA" is in the Register,
2 September 1882, page 4g,
"Working Men and Politics" on
11 December 1882, page 4f.
"The Labour Question in the Colony" is in the Observer,
10 February 1883, page 35c.
"Long Hours of Labour" is in the Register,
17 January 1883, page 4e.
"The Unemployed" is in the Chronicle,
25 August 1883, page 5d.
"The Dearth of Employment" is in the Register,
21 August 1883, pages 4f-5a-6f.
"Class Legislation" is in the Register,
7 November 1883, page 6b.
The first meeting of the Operative Bootmakers' Society is reported in the Register,
3 June 1884, page 7a.
"Australian Working Men" is in the Express,
15 May 1884, page 2b,
"Working Men and Homesteads" is in the Observer,
30 August 1884, page 24e.
A poem about the unemployed is in The Lantern,
5 July 1884, page 3.
"Trades Unions and Their Benefits" is in the Register,
5 December 1884, page 5b.
A Saddlers Society picnic and concert is reported in the Observer,
3 January 1885, page 34b.
"The Real Wants of the Working Classes" is in the Register,
29 January 1885, page 7e,
"The Depression in the Labour Trade" in the Observer,
28 February 1885, page 37c.
"Miners and the Labour Market" is in the Express,
14 May 1885, page 2c.
The "State of the Labour Market" is in the Register, 27 June 1885, page 5h.
"The Existing Depression; Its Causes and Remedy" is the subject of a letter in the Register,
17 July 1885, page 7e; also see
18 and 23 July 1885, pages 4e and 7g,
12, 13, 17, 21, 25 and 27 August 1885, pages 7h, 7h, 3c, 7f, 7g and 6h,
1 and 21 September 1885, pages 6f and 6h,
21 December 1885, page 6b,
2, 6 and 7 April 1886, pages 5g, 6a and 6a,
28 and 30 April 1886, pages 7e and 6h,
9 and 26 August 1886, pages 5a and 3h.
The establishment of a government labour office is discussed in the Register,
15 and 16 December 1885, pages 5a and 6e,
14 January 1886, page 5a.
Information on Hunt's Labour Office is in the Register,
28 March 1893, page 5a.
"Unionism and Strikes" is in the Register,
7 December 1885, page 7b; also see
12 June 1886, page 4h,
9 June 1891, page 4h.
Feature articles headed "The Rights of Labour and How to Obtain Them - To the Working Men of SA - By One of Them" are in the Register,
16, 21 and 22 January 1886, pages 6d, 6a and 5h; also see
28 January 1886, page 7c.
Information on the wages of stone-breakers is in the Register,
25 January 1886, page 6c.
"The Outlook in SA" is discussed in the Register,
4 May 1886, page 7b.
The rate of relief wages is the subject for comment in the Register,
12 May 1886, page 5a-c.
"A Sermon for the Times - To Working Men" is in the Express,
16 June 1886, page 6d.
A shearers' union is discussed in the Register,
5 and 12 July 1886, pages 5c and 5d,
7 and 9 September 1887, pages 7h and 7f,
Express,
5 July 1886, page 2c,
Advertiser,
13 July 1886, page 7f; also see
30 July 1887, page 7a,
1 August 1887, page 6d.
"Trade Unions and Non-union Men" is in the Register,
17 and 24 August 1886, pages 7e and 3g; also see
1 and 2 August 1887, pages 6d and 7c.
"Trade Unions and Non-union Men" is in the Register,
18 and 24 August 1886, pages 7e and 3g; also see
1 September 1886, page 7e.
Reports on an Inter-colonial Trades Union Congress are in the Register,
3, 4, 7, 8 and 9 September 1886, pages 7d, 4e-6a, 4g-7a, 4e-7c and 3e.
On 14 September 1886 at page 7g the Register has a letter written by G.W. Cotton, MLC headed "What Has Trade Unionism Accomplished", it says, inter alia:
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Some of us think we see the dawn of a Christian socialism, when the strong in brain and heavy in purse shall need no goading to induce them to share their superior endowments with their weaker brethren...
If [he] wishes his 300 to 400 pioneers on labourers' blocks to succeed he had better abstain from inflaming their zeal with misleading statements, but rather ought to preach to them uninterrupted industry (no eight-hours system), the structure of economy, an unlimited amount of self-denial.
(Register, 16 September 1886, page 7h.)
"A Strange Funeral [Burial of Local Industries]" is in the Register,
25 February 1887, page 6f.
"Better Work With Less Labour" is in the Observer,
7 May 1887, page 9b,
"Machinery Versus Manual Labour" on
23 July 1887, page 41a,
Register,
17 June 1895, page 4d.
The formation of an employers' union is reported in the Register,
17 June 1887, pages 4h-7f and
2 July 1887, page 7a; also see
11 July 1888, page 7g for a report of its first annual general meeting,
11 July 1889, page 6f,
1 August 1890, page 3d,
Express,
31 July 1891, page 3d,
Register,
30 October 1891, page 5g,
4 and 7 April 1905, pages 4c and 4e.
The 21st anniversary of the employers' federation is reported in the Register,
25 April 1911, page 8d,
Observer,
29 April 1911, page 46.
"Is a Man a Free Agent?" is in the Observer,
6 August 1887, page 25b.
"Unemployed Clerks" is in the Express,
2 September 1887, page 4b.
Interesting letters on labour and unionism are in the Register,
19 and 20 April 1888, pages 7f.
A farewell social to H. Taylor is reported in the Register,
28 March 1888, page 5c.
"Some Footprints of Unionism", with particular emphasis on Chinese labour, is discussed in the Register,
5 June 1888, page 7f.
"Disputes between Labour and Capital" is in the Register,
23 July 1888, pages 4h-7a.
"A Legal Day's Work" is discussed and debated in the Register,
11, 15, 17 and 18 October 1888, pages 4e-7h, 7c, 7d and 4f,
13, 15 and 16 November 1888, pages 4h, 7f and 3d.
"Amalgamation of Labour Organizations" is in the Register,
1 November 1888, page 3e.
"The Organisation of Labor" is in the Express,
20 March 1889, page 7d.
A letter headed "Non-union Men" is in the Register,
23 November 1889, page 7c.
"Some Dangers in the Factory System" is in the Observer,
1 February 1890, page 12c.
"Settling Trade Disputes" is in the Register,
18 February 1890, page 4h.
"Labour Disputes" is the subject of a letter to the Register, 14 May 1890, page 3h:
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I suggest a Free Labour Association for both employers and employed to counteract the evil effects of Union tyranny... The sole object of the Association should be to restore to labour the natural government of supply and demand. Now it is governed by physical force...
(Also see Register, 16 May 1890, page 3f.)
"The Old and New Unionism" is in the Register,
12 September 1890, page 4g,
"New Unionism - Proposed in 1890" is in the Register,
11 July 1912, page 8f.
"The Abuse of Unionism" is in the Register,
15 August 1890, page 4f.
"Maritime Board of Conciliation" is in the Register,
30 August 1890, page 6e.
"Unionism and Its Results" is in the Advertiser,
16 September 1890, page 7d.
"An Appeal to the Working Men of SA - Labor Manifesto" is in a supplement to the Chronicle, 27 September 1890.
The first meeting of the Master Painters' Association is reported in the Register,
7 October 1890, page 6h.
A review of the great shipping strike of 1890 is in the Register,
15 November 1890, page 5h; also see
18 and 22 November 1890, pages 6a and 6a.
"Industrial Unions" is in the Register,
15 December 1890, page 4e.
"Employers and Employed - Present Relations" is in the Register,
6 February 1891, page 5g; also see
19 February 1892, page 7e.
"Strikes, Past and Prospective" is in the Register,
7 February 1891, page 4f,
"The Cause and Cure of Strikes" on
9 June 1891, page 4h.
Information on a General Labourers' Union is in the Register,
10 February 1891, pages 4f-6a.
The trials and tribulations of journeyman butchers are explored in the Register,
10 March 1891, page 7h,
2 and 4 April 1891, pages 5c and 5b-6h,
1 and 31 October 1891, pages 6d and 5g and
their "baker" counterparts on
28 April 1891, page 6b,
1, 2, 4, 6, 9 and 14 May 1891, pages 5c-7c, 5a-7e, 6h, 7b, 7g and 5a,
3 June 1891, pages 3h-4a,
11 July 1891, page 6b,
18 and 20 October 1892, pages 7c,
20, 21 and 22 February 1893, pages 6f, 6g and 4h,
3, 10 and 13 March 1893, pages 3h, 5b and 7f,
3 June 1893, page 6c,
19 July 1893, page 6f.
Information on the Federated Employers' Council is in the Register,
27 March 1891, page 6b.
"The Settlement of Industrial Disputes" is in the Register,
2 November 1891, pages 4e-6g.
"The Bread Act" is in the Observer,
6 February 1892, page 25a.
"Freedom of Contract and Recognition of Unionism" is discussed in the Register,
11 and 27 April 1891, pages 7b and 3h; also see
29 August 1891, page 6c and
Advertiser,
29 November 1892, page 6h,
26 January 1893, page 6e.
Regulation of shops and factories is discussed in the Register,
1 and 12 May 1891, pages 5b-7e and 5a-d-6e,
25 July 1891, page 4f; also see
21 August 1901, page 6f,
9 October 1902, page 9c.
Unionists "moral suasion" is discussed in the Observer,
1 August 1891, page 30c.
"Unionism and Liberty" is in the Register,
4 August 1891, page 4h.
"Industrial Disputes" is in the Register,
12 August 1891, page 4f,
"Strikes and Labour Difficulties" on
15 August 1891, page 4f.
Under the heading "Change for the Worse" a correspondent to the Register on 20 October 1891 at page 7c says, using the vernacular:
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Unions have bin formed... for the purposes of securing the rites of the wage earners, but reely to giv kumfortable billets to men who prefer to poak their noses into other peeple's bisnes, to doin an onest day's work... Fellow workers bewair; unionism has already gone 2 far and if pushed much further will kill the guse that lays the golden eg.
(Also see Register, 3 and 9 November 1891, pages 7g and 3f.)
Alas! in these days an employer, with his almighty weapons of capital, and the help of "democratic" Government (save the mark), dare do anything, even from starving men to death on the "freedom of contract" racket, to throwing them into prison for demanding their rights... I believe with Lord Lytton that "The people, like the air, is rarely heard, save when it speaks in thunder."
(Advertiser, 28 September 1892, page 7e.)
"The Disturbance at Spry Bros" is in the Chronicle,
24 October 1891, pages 5c-20b.
A Wednesday "half-holiday" in the retail trade is discussed in the Register,
4 February 1892, page 5c.
"Trades Societies and Politics" is in the Observer,
5 and 12 September 1891, pages 37b and 20d,
24 October 1891, page 31d,
Register,
27 May 1892, page 6h.
An explanation of "butty-gang" principles of labour is in the Register,
27 February 1892, page 5b.
Information on labour bureaus is in the Register,
2 April 1892, page 4f.
Historical information on The Labour Bureau is in the Register,
25 March 1903, page 7h,
The Herald,
7 January 1899, pages 6d-7d,
22 July 1905, page 7b,
"The Government Labor Bureau - Like a Tattersall's Sweep" in the Advertiser,
19 March 1908, page 9h; also see
31 May 1909, page 10a,
10 December 1909, page 7f,
30 July 1910, page 15f.
"Factories and Shops Commission" is in the Register,
14 April 1892, page 4f.
A poem entitled "Strikes v Arbitration" is in the Observer,
3 September 1892, page 23e.
"Industry and Conciliation" is in the Register,
23 February 1893, page 4f.
"The Cause of Bad Times" is debated in the Register,
29 April 1893, page 6g,
2, 8, 11 and 19 May 1893, pages 6h, 3g, 7f and 3d,
2 June 1893, page 3c.
Information on a plumbers' society is in the Advertiser,
on 23 May 1893, page 7g.
Alleged differences with pastoralists are traversed in the Register,
24 June 1893, page 7g.
"Wage Earners and Wage Payers" is in the Register,
22 July 1893, page 4f.
A strike by tobacco twisters is reported in the Advertiser,
2 August 1893, page 5i.
The Retail Assistants Union is commented upon in the Register,
31 August 1893, page 6f.
"Protecting Workmen" is in the Register,
2 November 1893, page 4h.
"Among the Poor - The Corset Maker" is in the Weekly Herald,
2 November 1894, page 1a.
"The Factories Bill" is in the Register,
13 July 1894, page 4e,
24 October 1894, page 4g,
27 and 28 July 1900, pages 6d and 11a.
"The Factories Act and Industrial Disputes" is in the Observer,
30 March 1895, page 24e.
"Our Factory Laws" is in the Weekly Herald,
18 December 1896, page 4a.
"Factories and - More Laws!" is in the Register,
20 November 1899, pages 4d-6e.
"The Department of Industry and Conciliation" is in the Register,
11 January 1895, page 4e.
"A Living Wage and Government Contracts" is in the Register,
4 November 1895, page 4d,
"A Living Wage" is in the Weekly Herald,
8 November 1895, page 2c.
The working conditions of telegraph officials are discussed in the Register,
24 and 25 August 1896, pages 6e and 6h.
Comments on "Unskilled Labor" are in the Advertiser,
31 October 1896, page 6g,
2 November 1896, page 6d.
The Salvation Army Labor Yard is commented upon in the Advertiser,
13 May 1897, page 7e.
Also see Salvation Army
Biographical information on Alexander Dowie and J. Bradley, members of the Board of Conciliation, are in the Observer,
27 February 1897, page 16.
"Insurance for Workmen" is in the Register,
1 October 1898, page 6e.
"A Bill to Reduce Wages and Oppress the Poor" is in the Observer,
3 December 1898, page 24e.
"The Unemployed" is in the Weekly Herald,
28 January 1899, page 6c.
Biographical details of J.A. Cook, Secretary of the Shearers' and Workers' Union, are in the Register,
28 February 1900, page 5c.
"Fresh Factory Legislation" is in the Register,
4 July 1900, page 6c,
Observer,
7 July 1900, page 51a,
"Not Wanted - Boys and Girls" in the Register,
14 and 16 January 1901, pages 4c and 7e.
"Trouble in the Tobacco Trade" is in the Weekly Herald,
30 November 1900, page 8.
"The Weakest Go to the Wall" is in the Register,
12 December 1901, page 6f.
"Unionists, Workers and the Register" is in The Herald,
18 January 1902, page 6,
"Unemployment Relief Fund" on
21 June 1902, page 1a.
"Trade Unionism - Looking Back 23 Years" is in The News,
15 June 1925, page 6e.
"Our Food Supplies - Increase in Cost of Living" is in the Advertiser,
1 September 1902, page 5f.
Historical information on The Labour Bureau is in the Register,
25 March 1903, page 7h,
The Herald,
7 January 1899, pages 6d-7d, 22 July 1905, page 7b,
Register,
"The Government Labor Bureau - Like a Tattersall's Sweep" in the Advertiser,
19 March 1908, page 9h; also see
31 May 1909, page 10a,
10 December 1909, page 7f,
30 July 1910, page 15f.
A cartoon on conciliation and arbitration is in The Critic,
1 August 1903, page 19.
A charge against factory children for the use of shocking language and subsequent events is in the Register,
18 and 20 October 1905, pages 7b and 7a.
"Through Ways and Byways - Out of Work" is in the Register,
22 July 1905, page 7d,
5 August 1905, page 8e.
"Butchers and the Living-In System" is in the Register,
14 August 1906, page 4c.
An obituary of Henry Jenkin, a founder of the Trades and Labour Council, is in the Observer,
25 August 1906, page 38d
of A. Walker, president, in the Register,
14 August 1926, page 16d.
"Dangers of Capitalism" is in The Herald,
8 June 1907, page 1a.
"The Labour Market - All Surplus Absorbed" is in the Register,
15, 17 and 18 June 1907, pages 9e, 5a and 5b.
Observer,
22 June 1907, page 43a,
13, 20 and 27 July 1907, pages 50a, 50a and 49a.
Information on and a photographs of members of the executive are in The Herald,
9 May 1908, page 7,
of the Bootmakers' Union on
27 June 1908, page 5,
of Tramway Employees' Union on
27 June 1908, page 3,
of the Confectioners Employees' Union on
25 July 1908, page 5,
of the Candle, Soap, Soda and Starch Employees' Union on
25 July 1908, page 3,
of the Implement and Machinery Employees' Union on
26 December 1908, page 3,
of the Liquor Trades Employees' Union on
24 April 1909, page 11.
A photograph of members of the Drivers' Association is in the Chronicle,
28 March 1908, page 31.
"The Labour Lottery - A Morning at the Bureau" is in the Observer,
28 March 1908, page 51a,
"The Government Labour Exchange" in the Register,
21 July 1911, page 4f.
"Co-Partnership - Mr Lever's Scheme" is in the Observer,
6 March 1909, page 40d.
"Unionism" is the subject of a letter to the editor of the Register, 4 May 1909, page 7c:
-
Unionists and all right-thinking people despise the "scab", "blackleg" or non-unionist and rightly so, for he is a contemptible person. He participates in the benefits of unionism, receives higher net wages than unionists, and not only refuses to pay for the benefits he receives through the blood suffering and self-denial of unionists, but when the workers are struggling to preserve what unionism has won... takes sides against his mates...
"Labor Trouble in the Agricultural Implement Trade" is discussed in the Advertiser,
28 June 1909, page 7g.
"High Prices" is in the Register,
15 and 20 July 1910, pages 6c and 10e,
"The People's Food - Price Comparisons - Day in the Industrial Court" on
17 and 18 January 1911, pages 7a and 4e,
"Six Days Shalt Thou Labour" - a complaint against industry intruding upon the Sabbath - appears on
27 September 1913, page 14e.
"Six Hour Day - Setback For U.L.U." is in the Register,
4 October 1910, page 6c.
"Advances to Workers" is in the Register,
12 December 1910, page 10g,
4, 6, 11 and 18 January 1911, pages 6g, 4f, 6e and 4g.
"Labour Unions and State Socialism" is in the Register,
8 April 1911, page 12b,
Observer,
15 April 1911, page 33e.
An obituary of F.A. Brock is in the Observer,
9 September 1911, page 41a,
of W.P. Jackson on
17 November 1917, page 40a,
of F.C. Hahn on
30 June 1928, page 49d.
"The Industrial Bill" is in the Register,
29 September 1911, page 6c.
"Independent Workers and Intimidation" is in the Register,
17 February 1912, page 12g.
"Learning a Trade" is in the Register,
19 February 1912, pages 6c-10f.
"States' Industrial Powers" is in the Register,
5 September 1912, page 6c.
"Free Labourers" is in the Register, 5 April 1913, page 14f:
-
The systematic persecution of non-unionists by organised associations of fellow-workers throughout the world is a sinister development of the struggle between capital and labour and is alienating from the latter class the sympathies of many moderate friends.
"Educating Workers" is in the Register,
10 June 1914, page 12a; also see
Advertiser,
10 June 1914, page 14d.
"The Claim for Legalised Preference to Unionists" is in The Mail,
18 July 1914, page 9c.
"Preference and Privilege" is in the Observer,
25 July 1914, page 32c,
"A Poisonous Weed - Preference to Unionists" on
1 August 1914, page 40a.
"The Unemployed and Their Friends" is in the Register,
17 September 1914, page 6c.
"Employer and Employe - Their Relationships Outlined", by Mr W. Herbert Phillipps, is in the Advertiser,
22 April 1915, page 11a,
"Industrial Problems" on
19 April 1916, page 8e.
"Labour Unrest" is in the Register,
24 February 1916, page 4c,
19 April 1916, page 4c.
"Strikes and Lockouts - A Judge's View" is in the Advertiser,
20 June 1917, page 7a,
"The Future of the Workers" on
28 July 1917, page 7f.
"Wage Payer and Wage Earner - A Living Wage" is in the Register,
17 July 1916, page 7a,
15 August 1916, page 5a,
6 September 1916, page 7b,
"Wages of Women" on
1 November 1917, page 7f,
"Labour, Capital and the Community" on
24 June 1919, page 4b.
"The Reform of Unionism" is in the Register,
30 November 1916, page 4c.
"Capital and Labour" is in the Register,
1 February 1917, page 4c.
"Direct Action or Arbitration" is in the Advertiser,
15 and 22 July 1919, pages 6c-7c and 6e,
12 August 1919, page 8d,
9 February 1920, pages 6d-7b.
"Wage Earners' Trials" is in the Register,
11 April 1919, page 6c.
"Commissions and Tribunals" is in the Register,
9 April 1919, page 7d.
"New Industrial Code - Its Powers and Scope" is in the Register,
29 August 1919, page 7h.
"Industrial Peace and Progress" is in the Register,
17 September 1919, pages 6c-7b.
"Seamen's Strikes" is in The Critic,
20 August 1919, page 3.
"The Workers' Outlook" is in the Register,
16 January 1920, page 6d.
"The 40-Hour Week" is in the Register,
9 February 1920, page 9f,
15 April 1920, page 6c.
"Why I Advocate the 40-Hour Week" is in The News,
16 January 1936, page 8g.
"Work, Wages and Families" is in the Register,
26 June 1920, page 6f,
"Wages and Work" on
9 July 1920, page 6c,
"Commonsense and Wages" on
9 August 1920, page 4d.
"Living Wage to be Determined" is in the Register,
18 and 25 May 1921, pages 7c and 3c; also see
16 and 18 July 1921, pages 9f and 7b.
"Unemployment Doles" is in the Register,
8 August 1921, page 6f,
"Work or Beg?" on
15 August 1921, page 4e.
"Arbitration and the States" is in the Register,
23 November 1921, page 6d.
"Industrial Boards" is in the Register,
18 January 1922, page 6h.
"Compulsory Arbitration - Its Failure" is in the Register,
22, 24, 29 and 31 August 1922, pages 7e, 7b, 7g and 7g,
2, 9, 11, 15, 18 and 20 September 1922, pages 10f, 9b, 11f, 12h, 9b and 8b.
"The Industrial Court - Proposed Abolition" is in the Register,
22 and 27 September 1922, pages 7e and 9d,
Observer,
30 September 1922, page 51d,
2 December 1922, page 33c,
31 March 1923, page 33a.
"Industrial Arbitration" is in the Register,
7, 8, 15, 21 and 30 November 1922, pages 6b, 6c, 6c, 6c and 6d.
"Discrediting Arbitration" is in the Register,
10 December 1923, page 8d.
"Friday Night Shopping - Request for Abolition" is in the Register,
16 July 1924, page 9g.
Also see Adelaide - Shops
"Union Dictatorship" is in the Register,
3 December 1924, page 8d.
Biographical details of E.B. Cheary are in the Register,
27 December 1924, page 6g.
"Industrial Unrest" is in the Register,
30 March 1926, page 13a,
"The New Industrial Bill - Some Criticisms" on
9 November 1926, page 10f.
"Compulsory Unionism" is in the Register,
17 December 1925, page 8b.
"Shorter Working Week" is in The News,
20 April 1926, page 6e,
"Vocation of the Clerk" on
17 January 1927, page 6f,
"Entering Skilled Trades" on
18 January 1927, page 8e.
"Twenty-One - Perilous Age for Youth" is in The Mail,
12 February 1927, page 1g.
Biographical details of Noel A. Webb are in the Observer,
19 February 1927, page 59c,
of Dr Jethro Brown on
30 July 1927, page 39d.
"Unions and Piece Work" is in the Register,
8 March 1927, page 8e,
"Union Tyranny" on
24 August 1927, pages 8c-9a.
An obituary of W.A. Robinson is in the Observer,
30 July 1927, page 10a.
Biographical details of A. Walker, secretary of a clerks' union, are in the Register,
25 January 1928, page 10c.
"The Unemployed - Police Inspector Assaulted" is in the Register,
23 July 1927, page 9c; also see
25 and 30 July 1927, pages 9a and 10g,
1 August 1927, page 9c.
"The Worker in the Making - Vocational Guidance" is in the Register,
5 and 8 May 1928, pages 17d and 12a.
"The Living Wage - Should Awards be More Elastic" is discussed in the Register,
28 August 1928, page 14e.
"Futility of Strikes" is in The News,
5 October 1931, page 6d.
"Embryo Craftsmen [apprentices]" is in the Advertiser,
6 December 1935, page 18e.
"Why I Advocate the 40-Hour Week" is in The News,
16 January 1936, page 8g.
Also see SA - The Depression Years.
Industrial Relations - Choose again
