Serial S20 - Labor Monthly

The Labor Council was formed by six unions in 1871. Originally it was called the Trades and Labor Council because it covered the craft unions or unions of skilled workers as well as the newly emerging unions for bush labourers. In 1894, the Trades and Labor Council of Sydney became the Sydney District of Australasian Labour Federation, only to change names again six years later in 1900 to the Sydney Labor Council. In 1908, the name was changed to the Labor Council of New South Wales. In those early days the role of the Labor Council was to stimulate the growth of trade unions. During the first thirty years, the Labor Council was dominated by two major questions: how it could help influence government and what was the best means to settle industrial disputes. Post World War II, as a result of Labor Council initiatives, the state Labor government, legislated for the 40 hour week to apply to state awards. In the 1950s the Labor Council, with the ACTU, led a campaign for equal wages to be paid to women in the workforce.