Category Archives: Conference paper non-refereed

2011 ASSLH conference – ‘A not unimportant role’: industry peak unions and inter-­union organising

 

‘A not unimportant role’: industry peak unions and inter-­union organising

Cathy Brigden

Abstract

Since the mid 1990s, there has been a significant expansion in the literature analysing peak unions. However, most of the research has focused on national, state and regional peak unions, with little attention given industry-scale peak unions. Just as peak bodies have long been part of the union landscape in many towns and cities, so too industry peak bodies have similar deep historical roots, evidenced by discussion by the Webbs. Continue reading

2011 ASSLH conference – The Aftermath of the 1951 Waterfront Lockout

 

‘We never recovered from that strike’: The Aftermath of the 1951 Waterfront Lockout and Supporting Strikes

 Grace Millar

 

Abstract

The 1951 waterfront lockout and supporting strikes lasted five months and involved 20,000 workers.  As one of New Zealand’s largest industrial disputes it has received considerable historical attention, but the main focus of research has been on the beginning of the dispute. The limited historical work on the end of the dispute and the aftermath has focused on union structures, rather than the people of labour history.   Continue reading

2011 ASSLH conference – Harry Atkinson and the Socialist Church, 1896-­1906

 

Harry Atkinson and the Socialist Church, 1896-­1906

 James Taylor

Abstract

In the early 1890s Harry Atkinson, the subject of this paper, travelled to England and spent a year as foundation secretary of the Manchester and Salford Labour Church. In Manchester Atkinson worked closely with the Church’s founder John Trevor and experienced the colour and symbolism of protest and demonstration, and the ritual and rhetoric of Labour Church services. Continue reading

2011 ASSLH conference – The Political Cultures of the Irish Diaspora: Some Comparative Reflections, 1800-­1920

 

The Political Cultures of the Irish Diaspora: Some Comparative Reflections, 1800-­1920

 Donald M. MacRaild

 Abstract

Whilst Irish people clearly were highly active in trade unions and labour organisations in the English-speaking world, there is disagreement as to the extent of their participation. The weakness in Ireland of organisations, such as Chartism, and the endemic sectarian conflict between a plethora of nationalist and loyalist organisations, has obscured the role of class in Irish identity formation. Continue reading

2011 ASSLH conference – Raphael Samuel: A Biography in Development

 

Raphael Samuel: A Biography in Development

 Sophie Scott-­Brown

Abstract

Raphael Samuel constitutes a fantastic candidate for an intellectual biography. He had a working life of endless activity, covering a vast array of different interests. He was first and foremost a socialist and an historian, but he was also a tireless educator, energetic facilitator, prolific editor, enthusiastic writer, and shrewd social critic.  Continue reading

2001 ASSLH conference – But who’ll get Ted’s lunch?

Julie Tolley
Honours Student, University of South Australia

Abstract

I have identified three focal points for my honours research: an historical examination of munition sites in South Australia, interviews with women who were munitions workers during World War II, and a textual analysis of wartime and postwar issues of the Australian Women’s Weekly. Continue reading

2001 ASSLH conference: Misunderstanding Australian labour: Samuel Gompers, Billy Hughes, and the debate over compulsory arbitration

David Palmer
Senior Lecturer, American Studies, Department Social Sciences Flinders University

Abstract

The compulsory arbitration and award system served as the foundation of Australian industrial relations and trade unionism throughout most of the twentieth century. In the United States, however, the American Federation of Labor (AFL) opposed compulsory arbitration. Continue reading

2001 ASSLH conference: The introduction of the chain system: An ‘Heroic Defeat’ for the AMIEU (Vic)

Marjorie A Jerrard
Monash University

Abstract

Much has been written from the labour process perspective about the chain system of slaughtering and its deskilling of the slaughtermen’s trade. This paper explores the technological change and work reorganisation necessitated by the chain system, from the trade union strategy perspective, using the rational choice framework of the “heroic defeat” developed by Golden. Continue reading

2001 ASSLH conference – The life and times of the Barrier Industrial Council: A study in local peak union origins, purpose, power and decline

Bradon Ellem & John Shields
Work & Organisational Studies, School of Business, University of Sydney

Abstract

The Barrier Industrial Council (BIC) is one of the best known examples of a powerful union peak body in Australia. Upon its establishment in the early 1920s, it oversaw a particular form of working class mobilisation and, for many years, exercised something like a hegemony both for and over its affiliates. Continue reading