Identity area
Type of entity
Trade union
Authorized form of name
Waterside Workers’ Federation of Australia
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
1890 - 1993
History
The first waterside workers' unions in Australia were formed in Port Adelaide, Sydney, and Sandridge (Port Melbourne) in 1872. By 1889 there were notable waterfront unions in New South Wales, South Australia, Victoria and Western Australia. Although the various unions federated in March 1890 the Waterside Workers' Federation was not established until 7 February 1902 with Mr William Morris Hughes (Prime Minister of Australia, 1915-1923) elected its first President. The Waterside Workers' Federation was registered under the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Act on 1 July 1907 and the first comprehensive Commonwealth award for waterside workers dates from 13 December 1915. In January 1914 an office of the Waterside Workers’ Federation was established in Melbourne. After 1939 the Federation was located in Sydney. In order to manage the Waterside Workers' Federation Branches the Federal Executive, in 1902, established a Committee of Management (COM). The COM comprised delegates from the Executive of each Branch, and each Branch was entitled to one member for every 500 financial members. Furthermore, any of the COM’s resolutions that were approved by less than a 3/5 majority had to be submitted to at least 500 financial members of the rank and file for endorsement. Although designed to ease interstate rivalries this method of decision-making often exacerbated tension. The structure of the Waterside Workers' Federation remained largely unchanged until 1950 when it absorbed the Permanent and Casual Wharf Labourers' Union of Australia. In 1991 the Waterside Workers' Federation amalgamated with the Australian Foremen Stevedore Association but retained the name Waterside Workers' Federation of Australia. In 1993 the Waterside Workers' Federation of Australia joined with the Seamen's Union of Australia to form the Maritime Union of Australia.
Places
Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia, Queensland, Western Australia, Tasmania
Legal status
Functions, occupations and activities
Representation for wharf labourers
Mandates/sources of authority
Internal structures/genealogy
General context
Relationships area
Related entity
Identifier of the related entity
Category of the relationship
Dates of the relationship
Description of relationship
Related entity
Identifier of the related entity
Category of the relationship
Dates of the relationship
Description of relationship
Related entity
Identifier of the related entity
Category of the relationship
Type of relationship
Dates of the relationship
Description of relationship
Access points area
Subject access points
Place access points
Occupations
Control area
Authority record identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation, revision and deletion
Entered from deposit description, November 2012
Language(s)
Script(s)
Sources
Australian Trade Union Archives website atua.org.au. For more comprehensive information see 'Wharfies: a history of the Waterside Workers’ Federation of Australia' / Margo Beasley. Rushcutters Bay, N.S.W. : Halstead Press in association with the Australian National Maritime Museum, 1996. ISBN 1875684182 and 'Ship to shore : a history of Melbourne's waterfront and its union struggles' / written by Rupert Lockwood for Melbourne Branch, Waterside Workers' Federation of Australia. Sydney : Hale & Iremonger, c1990. 0868064033 : 0868064041 (pbk.)