December 29, 2024 • 48 mins
In 1949, one of Australia’s largest industrial actions took place when coal miners staged a well-planned strike. Beginning in June and lasting nearly seven weeks, the strike involved more than 23,000 workers protesting poor wages and dangerous working conditions in the coal mines. Coal was a critical energy resource post-World War II, and the strike brought industries and households across the nation to a standstill, causing significant economic and social disruption.
Join Holly & Matthew as they unearth the tensions, key players, and ramifications of the 1949 Coal Miners’ Strike, exploring its profound legacy on Australian industrial relations.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/weird-crap-in-australia--2968350/support.
Join Holly & Matthew as they unearth the tensions, key players, and ramifications of the 1949 Coal Miners’ Strike, exploring its profound legacy on Australian industrial relations.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/weird-crap-in-australia--2968350/support.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
A strange, spiraling white light was spotted in the early
morning sky over Sydney, with even skeptical witnesses wondering if
it was a UFO. They were last seen on the
beach with the tall man. And that's the best description
plice have ever had of it.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
More than seventeen years after Harold Holt disappeared into raging
surf at Chevy a Beach, his widow has finally revealed
his last romantic words docky, terrifying, mesmerizing. That's the way
a number of Australians have described the alleged encounter with
the YOWI.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
It's time for the Weird Crap in Australia podcast. Welcome
to the Weak Crap in Australia Podcast. I'm your host
Matthew sol Journey me of course for another episode as
the researcher extraordinaire and fellow host Holly soul In New
(00:53):
Year's episode in a couple of days. It's going to
hit twenty twenty five, of course, which everyone a happy
New Year. I hope it doesn't really feel very hopeful,
does it. It feels more like that we're all on
a dinghy that has popped several holes. Our big ship
has sunk and.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
We're looking down the barrel of a hurricane.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
You know, I think people are just looking for I
don't know, a little bit stability, and every time we
seem to get close to it, it seems to be
pulled away from us just as quickly. And you know,
that really comes down to a lot of things, and
especially working conditions, which is the lead in for today's episode.
We're going to be talking about some of Australia's most
(01:41):
famous strike action. Trigger warning for New South Wales police
officers listening because you may hear the term strike that
doesn't involve you, guys, and you might want to go
out and break it, because that seems to be what
the New South Wales police love doing at the moment,
is a breaking up strike action, be it with the
(02:04):
supermarket warehouse strikes or just recently threatening the how should
I put it, threatening to cancel the New Year's Eve
fireworks if the transportation union members go on strike in Sydney.
So I'm sure when the nurses, when you guys decide
(02:25):
to go on strike as well to get a much
better pay raise than the one percent that's on offer,
I am sure the New South Wales police will be
happy to meet you in force to break up that
strike as well. But good news, you're all nurses, which
means you'll be able to treat your injuries afterwards. Now,
with all of that facetiousness out of the way, Holly,
let's go back to nineteen forty nine, where we're going
(02:49):
to see industrial action for the very first time in Australia.
Take it away.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
As World War II came to an end, Australia's steel
and heavy industries critical during the World War began to
slow down. Despite the lower demand for armaments and armor
for the war effort, the Australian appetite for coal continued unabated,
and with it came the need for the stuff to
be mined, refined and delivered. From fueling our heaters to
powering electricity plants across the country. Coal was integral to
(03:17):
the functioning of Australian industry and daily life.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
Coal production in New South Wales for the first twenty
four weeks of nineteen forty eight was maintained at the
nineteen forty seven level, a fall in underground production being
compensated by greater output from open cup mines. Total production
was of five million and fifty one thousand tons, which
included five hundred and thirty three thousand tons from open carts.
(03:41):
Quote from the Singleton August Wednesday, eighteenth of August nineteen
forty eight, Page one, Coal Statistics, Holly, that's quite a
lot of coal, it is.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
It's amazing how much dirt you can pull out of
the ground when you try. Much like during COVID, workers
in key manufacturing industries were depended on to keep the
country running and thus given exceptions to any enlistment efforts
undertaken like our doctors and other essential personnel. During the
twenty twenty twenty twenty two era, the minus producers and
manufacturers were called upon to increase production under strict rationing
(04:13):
and wage controls, often a great personal sacrifice. In exchange,
the government and corporations promised these workers compensation for their
efforts once the war ended.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
It's always interesting when they promise and promise and promise
while you're doing the job. Then once the job's finished,
all those promises seem to disappear, evaporate. I'm sure that's
not going to happen here.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
This compensation was to include better pay, shorter working hours
and improved working conditions. I'm sure you can guess where
this is going.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
They got everything they wanted. The government honored their promises,
as did big corporations. I mean, surely, surely they would.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
We all know how to say.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
These people are essential workers. We needed them for the
war effort. They're very important.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
Not like we have experience of this or anything.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
It's not like we've ever mistreated essential workers once the
crisis is over.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
When the war was over, the corporations that employed these
workers failed to meet these promises, citing hardships owing to
a lack of demand for their products as a reason
not to deliver pay rises or to give their workers
their promised time off.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
Gasp.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
Oh my god, I am so shocked.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
Oh no, won't someone please think of the CEOs.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
While the government aimed to rebuild and expand astray as infrastructure,
including railways, roads, ports, and power plants, workers found little
improvement in their conditions, which were hot, dark, smelly, and dangerous.
The nation's railways, which had been essential for military transport,
needed expansion to accommodate increased civilian and industrial demands, and
(05:48):
that meant that the iron works and by extension, the
coal mines were sorely needed. The country's coal plants, which
powered our major cities, required significant upgrades to keep pace
with growing energy needs. Remember there was a massive immigration
in flux after World War Two.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
Absolutely I'll be able to speak to that a little
bit after this paragraph.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
There were ambitious plans to develop hydro electric power plants
to diversify energy sources, such as the snowy hydro near Tumor.
Everything comes back to fucking Tumid.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
It was a look. It was a very big infrastructure
project and the idea was that the hydro electric dam
would be producing electricity for you know a substantial amount
of rural New South Wales as well as you know,
feeding into Sydney. So, for example, if you happen to
have someone knock on your door and ask you if
(06:39):
they want to switch over to red energy, they're actually
talking about switching you over to directly paying for energy
produced by the hydroelectric dam, which is the blaring jam
in Tumit. My grandfather was a powder monkey. He lied
about his age and it was his job to blow
up rocks and other objects that were obstructing pros on
(07:00):
the construction site. He also had a group of people
around him that you could easily, you know, class as
immigrant labor. There was a lot of Irish workers who
were there. People had come across from everywhere to work
on that particular scheme.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
Italy, Greece, I believe Turkey had a big influx as
well in that era. So there was lots of Mediterranean.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
Yeah, absolutely, and that's why growing up in Tcheumant we
were probably a little bit more multicultural than you would
expect for a town of seven thousand people because some
of those immigrants they stayed, So you ended up with,
you know, a couple of Italian families, and you had
some you know, families that could go all the way
back to their Irish ancestors and things like that. In Tuma,
(07:45):
because of the hydro scheme, it was very dangerous work.
Lots of people died.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
Steel production, particularly in Newcastle and Wala in New South Wales,
was prioritized to meet both domestic and international divans for
construction material, fueling Australia's export economy and leaving the cost
on the workers whose bodies were sacrificed for profits. I
don't know if you know this, but in order to
get a fire hot enough to melt iron into steel,
(08:11):
or to melt steel so you can work it. You
need coal. There is nothing else that burns hot enough.
The coal workers were not compensated for the increased workload.
In fact, they found their wages decreasing in real terms,
something that I've absolutely no experience in at all. The
demand for coal skyrocketed, but so did the physical toll
(08:31):
on the workers who endured longer hours in increasingly dangerous
and dirty conditions. Black lung is definitely one of the
biggest hazards that a coal miner can come up against,
closely followed by rock falls.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
Yeah. So black lung is what occurs when a bunch
of powdered coal gets into those very small fibrous canals
inside your lungs, and then you essentially choke to death
on coal dust or you end up with cancer.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
Cours aria aspestosis from some of the equipment that you're using. Meanwhile,
corporate profits soared, with companies making millions of pounds annually
from the very workers they ignored, seeing the more as
part of the process than as people that worked for them.
A lot of the miners involved in Newcastle's coal industry
were members of the Australian Coal and Shale Employees' Federation,
(09:21):
also known and as we'll call them, the Miners Federation,
continually stretched thin and forced to continue working for the
same pay they'd been receiving since the beginning of the
war in nineteen thirty nine. In nineteen forty eight, the
miners turned to their union to begin the process of
receiving their promised renuneration and rewards.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
In nineteen forty eight, the Miners Federation of Australia lodged
an application to the Coal Industry Tribunal for alterations in
minus conditions, two major issues being long service leave and
the thirty five hour week. The hearing was suspended and
so began the struggle. Quote from say subject the nineteen
forty nine coal Miners Strike and more in special collections
(10:01):
University of Newcastle.
Speaker 2 (10:04):
They were fighting against the big dogs here as the
corporations went crying to the Australian Government about their profits
and how they how could they possibly make any money
from government contracts. If they had to pay the workers more,
they would have to charge the government more in return,
and no one wanted that.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
So of course, unfortunately, what it's interesting isn't it right
now in our country. Like I alluded to at the start,
we talked about how the New South Wales police are
being used to disrupt strike action. The new South Wales
government just switched hands over to a labor government. The
Labor Party, I don't think, has been the party of
(10:44):
the laborers for quite some time.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
I'd say somewhere around eighteen ninety six roughly when they
signed their constitution.
Speaker 1 (10:51):
And maybe they never have been. You know, maybe it is.
It is just the same as, you know, the lesser
of two evils. And I think while our current government,
there is definitely some stuff they've done that's praiseworthy. I
also look, my loyalties will always belong to the working class.
I grew up in working class. I continue to be
(11:12):
working class, and aside from any political leaning that you
can have, I will continue to be working class. And
if you're a party in power and you can't help
those in the middle class, in the working class, then
you're against me. And that's just as simple as that.
So yeah, I guess when it comes to our two
(11:33):
political systems, our two party system effectively, you know, they've
always been guns.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
What a surprise, shocker, And we have a quote here.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
From the very beginning, the strength developed on the basis
of genuine industrial issues, that is, upon the basis of
economic claims there were advanced by the mind workers. But
it soon became clear that, so far as the ruling
class and the various governments were concerned, the struggle involved
much more profound issues than the economic claims for the miners.
For this reason also, the outcome of the struggle meant
(12:04):
much more for the workers than simply the satisfaction of
the economic claims of the mine workers. Quote from the
Great Coal Strike of nineteen forty nine. JD. Blake, Australian
Communist Party pamphlet, August nineteen forty nine.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
A stale may hit between the two parties as the
Miners' Union held firm on their demand for a thirty
five hour workweek, a thirty shilling rise on their eighteen
pound pay. The rise would have been ninety five dollars
in twenty twenty two, on top of their eleven hundred
and thirty eight dollars pay, an inclusion of long service
leaf provisions, which they needed because miners would move from
mine to mine and lose any chance of long service
(12:40):
leeve and better working conditions in the pits themselves.
Speaker 1 (12:43):
We still have some special exemptions for long service leeve.
If you happen to be working in the Act, for example,
you actually get two installments of long service leeve. Because
of the nature of the public service, there are a
lot of people that transition to different departments. So to
get your first allotment, which is about six weeks worth
(13:05):
of long service leave, it's half.
Speaker 2 (13:07):
It's the first half.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
Yeah, it's the first half, the first allotment. You only
have to work seven years for one company in the Act.
So that's an example of the modern day having special
exemptions for long service leaves.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
Cleaners also have it because cleaner's professional domestic industrial cleaners
will move around sites a lot, they're super their long
service leave will follow them. They have a very special
agency that's built for that.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
Oh there you go, another modern example. Yeah, and we
have another quote Missus Penglase. When they attended meetings, there
was no secret ballots. It was just to show of
hands and you had to vote. The men voted what
their mates were voting, not what their wives thought about
or anything. They didn't attend the meeting, they got fined
two six which was two pounds six shillings out of
(13:56):
their next pay. It's not much today, but it was
then quote from essay sub to the nineteen forty nine
coal minors strike.
Speaker 2 (14:03):
The MINUS Federation had an open secret that they were
openly associating with the Australian Communist Party, which is dangerous
in the post World War two era. This is the
same party as we mentioned in the August nineteen forty
nine Manly Ferry incident which was Episode one eleven and
the Petrov Affair which was Episode two hundred and eighty nine.
This association so early in the Cold War wasn't outright hated,
(14:26):
but it did offer a wedge for the opposition to
use when attacking the Minus Federation.
Speaker 1 (14:30):
It became known that the Collins House, Monopolis and the
Federal State labor governments had set themselves the deliberate aim
of securing the extinction of the Communist Party as an
effective organization in Australia. It was made known that labor
politicians in both the Federal and New South Wales Parliament
looked upon this struggle as an opportunity to destroy the
influence of the Communists in the trade union movement. They
(14:54):
openly acknowledged that most of the post war advances in wages,
hours and working conditions were snociated in the minds of
the workers with those key unions in which communists played
a prominent part in the leadership. Quote from the Great
Coal Strike of nineteen forty nine JD. Blake.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
Something of note to mention here is that the Labor
Party was in government at the time, with Ben Chiffley
sitting in the top chair. Chiffley was involved in the
nineteen seventeen Australian General Strike, which we'll cover in another
episode as one of the local leaders, and he was
dismissed from his job in the railway in response. Because
of that. He joined politics soon after and went on
(15:32):
to become the face of the labor movement while doing
his best to quash it.
Speaker 1 (15:37):
It's interesting, isn't it.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
People will always argue against their own interests once they
get enough power.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
Yeah. Absolutely, absolutely, because what happens is once they achieve
a certain point is that they then have to reconcile
with a bunch of different groups. And so you find
yourself in a position where I would assume that you
would have to have a wider perspective coupled with the
(16:06):
fact that all of these different interest groups would be
paying towards your wages, basically.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
The same reason Peter Garrett folded the way he did.
Speaker 1 (16:15):
Yeah, yep, we've talked about before. I think it's really
difficult to try and maintain your values and principles going
into our political system.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
And I actually found a copy of a picketing sign
found on the lines in nineteen forty.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
Nine Macquarie delegates. Is this labor, chiefly the nineteen seventeen striker,
chiefly the nineteen forty nine strike breaker. Don't let him
get away with it, demand that he end dispute.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
As one could imagine, Chiefley was not viewed well by
the average blue collar worker. On May eighteen, the Coal
Industry Tribunal chairman Frank Gallagher released a statement urging for
calm and civil negotiations and laying out for the public
exactly what the strike was in I.
Speaker 1 (17:01):
Have no objection whatever to the party's negotiating. In fact,
I think it is highly desirable that they should do so.
I think that if the parties reach agreement on industrial matters,
it is far better than being determined by arbitration. If
there is any agreement that needs ratification, I would be
only too pleased to do it. As far as the
present claim for the thirty five hour work week is concerned.
(17:24):
I do not see anything at all to prevent the
party's negotiating. If they reach an agreement, it will make
the matter much easier. Butte from the Great Coal Strike
of nineteen forty nine JD.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
Blake just like a politician walking down the middle of
the road. The day after this statement was released, the
Mining Federation's claims were examined by a conference for both
the coal mine owners and the unions got together to
discuss what was going on and to attempt to reach
a compromise.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
At this conference, the attitude of the coal owners was
soon made evident. In reply to the proposals of the
mining unions, the coal owners propose a system of incentive payments,
and so they were prepared to agree in principle with
long service leave if the unions waive their opposition to
mechanical extraction of pillars, agreed to set aside the compulsory
(18:12):
retirement at sixty provisions of the Pensions Act if they
undertook to accept an outside disciplinary authority with power to
impose penalties on mine workers. Quote from the Great Coal
Strike of nineteen forty nine. JD.
Speaker 2 (18:25):
Blake Basically, you can have your thirty five hour week
if you don't retire at sixty, if you allow us
to build a council who can force you to do
what we say, and if you allow the mechanical removal
of supports in the minds which needed more hands on intervention,
owing to more supports for mine shafts, which increased the
chances of a collapse. So we can put your body
(18:45):
in danger, we can put your brain in danger, and
we're not going to pay you anymore.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
Yeah, you w on the thirty five hoursuck dealeh.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
They would also have to give up pit top meetings,
which were usually used to raise issues in terms of
safety and operations, and allow the tribunal to set their
working hours, which could very well mean an increase in
the hours of their work week. To absolutely no one surprise,
this compromise was summarily rejected.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
In June when the miners feared their claims were about
to be rejected by the coal industry trope Uneral, which
had been set up by Chiefly's government in nineteen forty
six to deal with disputes. They began holding stop work meetings.
The Joint Coal Board, also established by Chiefly in nineteen
forty six to regulate and supervise the industry, claimed the
stop work meetings were illegal and withheld a draft proposal
(19:31):
for a new award addressing some of the union's claims.
Last minute meetings failed to avert strike action, the unionists
voting by a large mandure majority to go on strike.
Quote from nineteen forty nine coal strike left public out
and cold, Troy Lennon the Daily telegraphed June twenty six,
twenty nineteen.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
With neither side intending to move, the workers voted to strike,
with the vote passing seven nine hundred and ninety five
votes to eight hundred and twenty two. This wasn't an
un usual occurrence in those days. As The Life of
One striker said in nineteen.
Speaker 1 (20:03):
Eighty eight, Missus Penglaze, I suppose you could call them
good wages. Although they did not work all the time.
You didn't always receive full pays. They might have worked
for a week then have a week on strike. They
seemed to strike at the drop of a hat. Interviewer,
Do you think they the co workers were afraid of
the unions. Missus Penglaze, they were very union oriented, wrote
(20:25):
from essay subject nineteen forty nine Coal minor strike, Susan Morin.
Speaker 2 (20:30):
News of the latest strike began to circulate and the
public began to make their own voices known in regard
to the events, generally in the letter to the editor
sections as the local newspapers.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
How deliberate the long range planning and its present implementation
can be seen from the fact that despite the weekend
appeal of the Labor Minister for Works and Local Government
in New South Wales, mister Keyhill mining union leaders are
pushing on with their plans for a general coal strike
as from June twenty seven. From the August Tuesday, twenty
(21:01):
first of June nineteen forty nine, Page two Deliberate.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
On June twenty seven, the strike began with twenty three
thousand miners walking out of the pits. The miners had
striked before and there was no reason this strike wouldn't
end after a week when the miners family started to
go hungry.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
Interviewer, did the wives support their husbands or do you
think a lot of them were against it as they
were the ones who had to organize food and money
as as Panglas. Personally, I didn't support them, as I
felt it was not worth it. They didn't get anywhere
with these strikes, but a lot of women were supportive,
but a lot that did it as it was to
a big struggle in those days. Most people involved had
(21:42):
lived through the depression and were just starting to get
themselves established and get a home together. Quote from say
subject the nineteen forty nine coal miners strike, Susan Morin.
Speaker 2 (21:51):
Still better safe than sorry, right. The government, sick of
these constant strikes, took the first step in stopping the
unions from organizing. What the government didn't know at that
time was that the strikers had a plan. Two days
after the strike began, the government passed legislation making it
illegal to provide financial support or credit to striking miners.
Speaker 1 (22:11):
How can you do that?
Speaker 2 (22:12):
You stop the banks from giving credit, you stop the
shops from giving credit, And don't worry, the miners found
plenty of ways around it.
Speaker 1 (22:19):
I'm sure they did. But God, that's fucking disgusting, Like
it's just we're never going to break free from it,
are we.
Speaker 2 (22:24):
No, We're always going to be indentured servants. Whether it's
in name or not.
Speaker 1 (22:28):
And I mean, like, like right now, we're seeing that
there are unions now that are so corrupt that they're
absolutely in bed with the people that they're saying that
they're fighting against. And it's really tragic to see that
there are so many people out there who just want
a fair shake of the stick, who want their fair
share of the profit from their labor, and are constantly
being railroaded by bad unions. And not all unions are bad,
(22:54):
mind you. I belong to a different union now, the
RAFU down in Victoria, and you know, there are people
out there who are trying to do the best they
can for their workers, you know, the warehouse unions, the
dockers unions, things like that. But there are also a
lot of unions who have made a business being in
bed with big industry. And it's a damn shame. And
especially when you know the current government, which is called
(23:17):
the labor government more often than not terms it's back
on workers. I think it's an absolute disgrace and it's
so tragic to see that the people are in the
situation in nineteen forty nine are not that different from
where we are today.
Speaker 2 (23:31):
Eighty years when we haven't moved that far.
Speaker 1 (23:33):
No, In fact, I would argue I've gone backward. I
think there were more, there were better. There were more
riots in the ninety nineties for workers in the retail industry,
which is one of the few industries I can speak
to than there are today. You know, there were things
back in the old EBAs where you know, you worked
(23:55):
on a Saturday or a Sunday, because you know, when
I was growing up, not every business was open every
fucking day of the week. And because we weren't in
that seven day work week, if you did open up,
then you had to pay extra, you know, and that
amount of money that used to compensate people for missing
out on their social engagements on a Saturday Sunday. And
for all those people who turn around and go, oh,
(24:17):
you know, well, they still get paid a wage, so
what that they have days off on a Tuesday or Wednesday. Well,
as someone who does have a weekend in the middle
of the week, do you understand how much fucking pressure
is put on me to try and accommodate family gatherings
that I can't attend because I need to work those
hours so that I actually have a livable wage and
(24:39):
a lot of this also work under those conditions, you know.
And what makes it worse too, is like when you
explain that to family, they just don't get it. You know.
I've been accused many times of avoiding people because I
work on the weekends, and it's not a matter of avoidance.
I would love to attend everyone's functions and gatherings, but
(24:59):
just that's not on the cards for me. Nor is
it on the cards Folly, No, it hasn't mean for years.
Speaker 2 (25:05):
No, almost as long as I've been working. The hope
of the government's plan was if the unions couldn't access
their money or gain more money from supporters, they would
have to give up and go home. The union workers
were faster than that, though. By the time the legislation
went through, the unionists and the union officials had already
withdrawn all their money from banks and credit unions and
(25:26):
taken it home where the government couldn't stop them getting
to it. When the courts demanded to know where the
money was, they held their tongues.
Speaker 1 (25:33):
Why does the court get the right to know where
private citizens money is located at?
Speaker 2 (25:38):
Because it is now illegal to give credit to strike workers.
The strike workers were brought in to find out how
they were being funded because it was against the law
for someone to lend them credit. So they had to
find out where the money was and where it was
coming from.
Speaker 1 (25:51):
And that's why the court it's liquid cash.
Speaker 2 (25:53):
They had to find out whether it was credit or
liquid cash. And if you couldn't produce the cats, and
it was obviously credit, and someone was going to get
thrown under that bus.
Speaker 1 (26:00):
Yeah, fucking scumbags.
Speaker 2 (26:02):
Everything is aimed towards the corporations.
Speaker 1 (26:04):
Upon the bill being passed, officials of the Miners Federation
and Fed Iron Workers Association withdrew a summer of fifty
four thousand pounds from union funds in retaliation to the
new law. These funds were to be used for relief
for the duration of the stoppage. However, legislation was passed
retrospectively on June sixteen, thus making officials liable for prosecution.
(26:26):
All men involved were summons to appear in court before
the Arbitration Commission. JH. King, secretary of the Western District Federation,
was charged with the contempt of court when refusing to
answer questions regarding the whereabouts of the money. The sentence
was one month jail at Long Bay. King was again
brought before the courts and sentenced to a further year
for refusing to anceerr relevant questions. In the following days,
(26:48):
the King's jaileen of further six officials were given one
year sentences and others received fines of one hundred pounds each.
The National Emergency Bill was seen as an attempt to
starve miners back to wars. Quote from essay subject nineteen
forty nine coal miners strike Susan Moron.
Speaker 2 (27:05):
It feels like a bit of an overreach in the
modern world, but I wouldn't put a buston from doing
it again.
Speaker 1 (27:09):
I I mean, we're basically under these same conditions when
when unions and corporations and government are all in bed together,
we're basically dealing with the exact same thing.
Speaker 2 (27:21):
The miners' families work together to keep everyone fed and supplied.
Community soup kitchens were set up, along with rallies for
the women themselves to support their husbands.
Speaker 1 (27:30):
Depots were set up throughout the Hunter Valley where donations
of food grocery supplies were being accepted, often from storekeepers
who are unable to help through credit. This food was
distributed through the region, as most families were left completely penniless.
There's no income was coming in quote from essay subject
the nineteen forty nine coal miners strike Susan Moron.
Speaker 2 (27:51):
Despite this, the miners were actually winning because they worked
so only a small surplus was available for distribution. The
coal began to run out of so quickly, and the
public felt the consequences just as quickly as did the government.
Speaker 1 (28:05):
The introduction of this new legislation meant unions could not
access their funds, therefore could not provide relief for striking
minus families. Shopkeepers could be arrested and jailed if court
geising giving credit to miners and their families, and of
these were as high as one hundred pounds or six
months in jail. Vote from essay subject the nineteen forty
nine coal miners strike.
Speaker 2 (28:26):
Remember the average weekly wage was eighteen pounds, so they
were basically being fined a month and a half worth
of wages. The general public, who relied on the miners'
wages to keep solvent, found their own ways to keep
the families fed.
Speaker 1 (28:39):
Credit was available unofficially from some storekeepers after Prime Minister
chiefly froze the funds. Fortunately, the family had a good
credit account with their storekeeper, who chose to support the
struggling families. The credit given was non payable until after
the strike. Vote from say subject the nineteen forty nine
coal miners strike.
Speaker 2 (28:58):
There were some unforeseen consequences to the strike, as one
family found out when their main breadwinner, ister C. Thomas,
died in an accident on week five as a strike.
Speaker 1 (29:08):
As the family had lost the income earner, usually there
would have been some compensation or greacier payment. As mister
Thomas was killed during the strike, there was no access
to Federation funds. Therefore no payment was made at all.
The miners took a collection which was given to the
family and took four months before any payment of any
kind was made. Quote from essay subject the nineteen forty
(29:30):
nine coal minus strike, Susan Moron.
Speaker 2 (29:33):
But the campaign against the strikers was only just beginning.
On July third, two page size advertisements appeared in the
Sydney Telegraph.
Speaker 1 (29:40):
What a fucking shock, What a fucking shock. The Sydney Telegraph,
of course, to this day is still against the worker.
And you know what drives me absolutely fucking nuts, Holly,
when I'm in the tea room and I see people
reading that fucking newspaper.
Speaker 2 (29:56):
There's lots of things people do that account to their
own interests and will continue to to do.
Speaker 1 (30:00):
This is one I agree with you, and Australians need
to pull their fucking hands out of our asses and
this applies to all of us, and we need to
stop endorsing practices that fuck us over. During the strikes,
during the recent strikes, because I have connection to this industry,
there was a couple of people who said to me
(30:21):
that they would happily be scabs should the entire interests,
should the entire industry go on strike, right, which was
never going to happen, but you know, they were speculating,
and they sat there and told me that, and I
just couldn't believe what I was hearing, because this is
the problem. People are so fucking twisted up now because
(30:44):
of this bullshit that surrounds us all the time, that
they would gleefully help big multinational corporations who make billions
of dollars of profit every year and treat the Australian
public in the Australian workforce like a disposable commodity that
(31:05):
they can fuck whenever they fucking feel like it, and
some of the people that this would directly affect were
gleefully telling me that they themselves would walk past picket
lines to work. That's how fucked we are. When you
can convince people to go against their own self interest,
(31:25):
that's when you know you're fucked.
Speaker 2 (31:29):
The first advertisement, authorized by the Prime Minister of Australia,
offered alternative reasons for the strike.
Speaker 1 (31:36):
The following statement, issued by the Australian Council of Trade
Unions and endorsed by the New South Wales Labor Council,
put to the miners the attitude of the true leaders
of the Australian trades union movement. The dispute should be
settled either by conciliation or by arbitration and without the
continuance of the strike. The Australian Council of Trade Unions
is willing to exert every effort in its power towards
(31:58):
this end. This is the advice of the majority of
your fellow unionists who have the true interests of Australian
workers at heart. This is a Communist inspired strike against
arbitration and everything the trades union movement stands for. Do
not be misled, Do not be the dupes of communism.
(32:20):
Quote from the Daily Telegraph, Sunday, third of July nineteen
forty nine, page twelve, advertising We don't call it communism
these days, no, ladies and gentlemen. When I turn around
and stand up for workers and workers riots, I am
called a filthy socialist. There is always a word for
people who stand up against those in power. There is
(32:41):
always a word for people who advocate for our individuals
on far less money than the wealthy elite at the
very tippy top of the pyramid. And there is always
going to be a word for people that they want
to get rid of. And just like now, when you
refer to someone as a socialist, people start to roll
their eyes or maybe stick up their nose in the air.
(33:04):
Back then, you called someone a communist, and the exact
same thing would happen.
Speaker 2 (33:09):
I don't know if you picked it up during that advertisement,
but there was a little bit of a bias in
that particular open letter to the strikers.
Speaker 1 (33:16):
I mean, you look at the landscape of Australian media now,
whether it's Murdoch Press or Fairfax Media. Again, I've said
this before. I worked for Fairfacts back in the day
before they were purchased effectively by Murdoch Media via proxies,
so Fairfax is Murdoch Media US dot Com as Murdoch Media.
The ABC was infiltrated by a bunch of yuppie fuck
(33:38):
university cunts who have been established within that community for
most of their fucking lives, and most of them ditch
news corps because they usually get sexually harassed, so it's
easier to jump over to the ABC and then spout
all of their bullshit an anti workers sentiment. So trust me,
things really have not changed that much. In fact, it's
(33:59):
gotten much fucking worse, as I would think that this
day and age. If you look out over the media landscape,
assigned from maybe one or two articles, they're not going
to find a genuine piece of fucking truth out there.
And all of these media organizations are definitively anti labor,
their anti working class, and they are being run by
(34:23):
little preppy rich funks who went through university formed all
of their fucking friendships, so that way that the assholes
working for big business and the assholes working for the
fucking politicians and the assholes working for the fucking media
or fucking know each other. So that they can all
screw us collectively.
Speaker 2 (34:42):
On page twenty three, the miners had their say. Unlike
the government advertisement on page twelve, the miners answer was
almost an article of their own and was hidden away
from where most people would stumble across it.
Speaker 1 (34:54):
Mister Chiefly's declaration that arbitration had made grants to the
miners and that their present claims were to be considered
is to say the least a departure from fact minus
Federation will give to any approved charitable cause for some
of one hundred pounds for every swimming pool, community center,
or a public meeting hall. The miss Chiefly confined in
the mining communities. A joint Coal Board itself, in its
(35:17):
nineteen forty eight report, admitted that its efforts to date
had completed five bathrooms up to the required standard and
eighty one was still outstanding, installed one unit of surface
sanitation pit top of lavatories and eighty two were still outstanding,
built two surface crib rooms ninety six were required, and
installed underground sanitation in only four mines. In line with
(35:38):
mister Chiefly's other claims that arbitration in the Joint Coal
Board had acted in the miner's interests, is his statement
on the installation of machinery not only to increase production,
but to ease the strain on the miner. Co and
ten was made to install power borers until the miners
delivered an ultimatum to the effect that they would cease
work unless borers were installed by given date. Medical scheme, again,
(36:00):
contrary to Miss Chiefly's misleading claims, has not improved the
health of prevented a single miner from suffering illness, disease
or injury. This scheme is, in fact, simply a record
compiling machine listing statistics for reference. The chief League Government
could settle this dispute in five minutes. Under the Coal
Industry Act, the Government has final and exclusive responsibility for
(36:21):
the policy in the mining industry. Chiefly Government can add
any time issue directions to the Joint Coal Board and
the Coal Industry Tribunal under the Coal Industry Act. Quote
from the Daily Telegraph, Sunday, third of July nineteen forty nine,
Age twenty three. Advertising.
Speaker 2 (36:37):
I recommend you go and read it because that's about
a third of what was on the page. To put
it more succinctly, that advertisement summed up to get fucked.
Mister Prime Minister Yeah. The same advertisement from the Prime
Minister's office was repeated on July twelve, while the miner's
response was only ever published on July third. The war
(36:57):
was being fought on all fronts, both in the negotiation
room and in public, and eventually something had to give.
The coal supplies were dwindling to the point where a
few of the power stations were down to their last
few tons of fuel. There were threats of blackouts and
issues with power supplies, especially when it came to hospitals
and other emergency industries.
Speaker 1 (37:15):
As coal supplies ran low rapidly, in the emergency services
were finding it difficult to operate such stringent cuts. Biefly
made a decision to issue a request to the Land
Transport Group of New South Wales to agree to union
labor to shift coal from the northern and western coal fields,
wrote from essay subject the nineteen forty nine coal miners strike,
Susan Morin.
Speaker 2 (37:36):
On July fourteen, a meeting between the Railway Union and
the New South Wales State Council resulted in an agreement
that a small amount of coal be transported for use
by essential services. On July twenty nine, twenty thousand tons
of coal were shifted under police protection. On August fifth,
another sixteen thousand tons was moved. All this did seem
like a blow to the miners that others could just
(37:57):
walk in and take the coal. This didn't solved the
problem of what to do when the coal that was
already stored above ground ran out. On August first, another
attempt was made by the chiefly government to break the strike,
with thirteen hundred members of the Defense Force being sent
in to take the strikers places. They were mobilized in
passing over the picket line, and the Defense Force personnel
(38:18):
was sent into the pits to begin the process of
mining the coals that were sorely needed around the country.
Speaker 1 (38:23):
Production was so high the miners began to lose confidence
of the expected success of the stop work action, again
to doubt the federation. Realization that coal production was well
underwigh again instilled fear in the miners for the safety
of their jobs. The Federation offered the government a final
offered to meet and discuss the claims. The government refused
to meet the officials, saying it was a matter for
the Coal Tribune rule only that they were making plans
(38:46):
for a further eight mines to be reopened and worked
by troops unless a move was made by the miners
to return to work. Quote from essay subject the nineteen
forty nine coal Miners Strike Susan Moron.
Speaker 2 (38:57):
Unfortunately for the strikers, this attempt by the chiefly government
was enough to break the will of the unions. The
members met with officials across the fields and began their
own negotiations to return to work. The Musclebrook miners were
the first to break with the decision to return to
work Eatings.
Speaker 1 (39:12):
It's a shame though, because the military was not going
to be able to run the coal mines indefinitely.
Speaker 2 (39:17):
They wouldn't have been able to fill all late of
those mines.
Speaker 1 (39:20):
No, so whine give up that quickly.
Speaker 2 (39:22):
Because I guess they just thought the long game wasn't
there anymore. They lost heart.
Speaker 1 (39:27):
Yeah, I suppose so, I mean it, all it takes is,
I guess, the few of the mines to reopen, and
suddenly everyone loses their nerve.
Speaker 2 (39:34):
Eatings nationwide were held August tenth, resulting in a vote
to return to work by all. This was a major
defeat for the Miners Federation, being the first time since
nineteen twenty nine that workers lost enough confidence in their
unions to return to work. The final vote was six
nine hundred and seventy four to return to work, two
three hundred and seventy eight to remain unstrike. The Federation's
(39:56):
claims did later reach the Coal Tribunal and the Federation
was granted long service leave, with the stipulation that at
sixty five shifts, thirteen weeks would be awarded, with another
thirteen weeks granted after each sixty five shifts. This was
the only stipulation that the workers' union received in the negotiations.
Since nineteen seventeen, twenty six major strikes have taken place
(40:18):
in Australia as either a federal or a state issue.
Of these, thirteen have been under the Labor government, eight
under a National's Liberal government, three each under a Liberal
Country coalition country later becoming the Nationals, and the Nationalist
Party which was later absorbed into the United Australia Party,
which became the Liberals, so they basically split half and
half under the liberal labor governments. This meant that while
(40:40):
the Liberals and its past formations have also been subjected
to thirteen protests, the Labor Party has always been the
Labor Party and so takes its record with it. There
is a perception that the Labor Party will be nicer
to strikes, being you know, the Australian Labor Party, but
it's been noted quite a few times that the Labour
Party will resort to the strongest retaliation to the strikes,
(41:00):
with police and military called in, well, the Liberals are
better at actually negotiating.
Speaker 1 (41:05):
Yeah, we've actually seen the other year so twice the
New South Wales Police Force has been deployed effectively against
striking workers. They have threatened to quote unquote cancel the
New Year's Eve celebration if the transportation union decides to
go on strike because our transportation workers who get you
(41:28):
to work on time via buses via trains are not
being paid enough fucking money to keep up with inflation
and they are starting to become fucking destitute. But it's
okay because the New South Wales Police Commissioner can turn
around and say, well, ladies and gentlemen, if they don't
get back to work, or if they go on strike
(41:48):
on you is eve, we're just gonna have to shut
down the fireworks for everyone. Have we got another Strike
episode off the view.
Speaker 2 (41:55):
Well, there are a couple more Strike episodes, but not
next week. The rest rest.
Speaker 1 (42:02):
Look, I'm very passionate about the labor movement, and I
always have been. I'm very passionate about workers. I think,
you know, when we look at the nineteen eighties and
you're able to own a home and have two cars
and maybe a boat, or or maybe a property like
a hobby farm or you know, a little beach house
or something like that, you know, you watch the movie
(42:24):
The Castle and it's a fucking dream. But when The
Castle came out, that was a joke.
Speaker 2 (42:29):
That was normal.
Speaker 1 (42:30):
That was a fucking joke. To have a three bedroom
house and a little shitty place somewhere near Bateman's baby,
that was a fucking joke. They were making fun of
him in that fucking movie. Now you put that on
for someone and you're like, holy shit, they have a
fucking house.
Speaker 2 (42:45):
Oh my god, they're so rich.
Speaker 1 (42:48):
Look at that. They got a backyard and two fucking cars.
By Lord in heaven. So the disparity is worse right
than the nineteen nineties. And there are all these people,
all these elements convince us that we're wrong. Now, our
grandfathers and our grandmothers knew what their rights were and
they fought for them. This is what we're talking about.
(43:09):
They fought for them. We need to start being such
fucking pushovers and we need to start finding back a
little bit more. So. I'm very passionate about it. When
we do these episodes, obviously you can tell I'm very
passionate about it, and I get more and more frustrated
every year when I see so many people ascribe to
(43:29):
the you know, like listening to Australians fucking supporting people
like Elon Musk or Donald Trump. I'm like, these people
would not fucking spit on you if you're on fire.
And we have all these temporary, temporarily embarrassed millionaires out there,
people who think, oh, I don't want to do anything
nasty to the millionaire corporate fucking wheelers and dealers, because
(43:51):
one day I might be a millionaire and then I
want those protections for myself. They ain't gonna fucking happen.
It's gonna happen for me. It's not going to fucking
happen for you. Don't be on the side of people
who are actively hurting you.
Speaker 2 (44:05):
Protect what you have not what you want.
Speaker 1 (44:07):
It's almost like we're living in a society where everyone
is a fucking abuse victim, and then we keep going
back to our abuser again and again and again and again,
and then when someone like me step speaks up about it,
get labeled as a communist, as a socialist, as a
as a fucking left wing grifter, all this sort of bullshit.
Just because I'm turning around and I'm saying that people
(44:28):
who work thirty five to fucking forty hours a week
to be able to afford food, electricity, and a fucking
home to live in, That's all I'm fucking saying. You anarchist,
You Jesus fucking Christ.
Speaker 2 (44:42):
Know.
Speaker 1 (44:42):
The French during the French Revolution. The French during the
French Revolution, the wealth disparity between them and their leadership
was less than what ours is. Two day two day
arcs up at Zuckerberg, Elon mask Bezos, these fucking idiots,
their collective wealth just went over a trillion dollars. Four
(45:06):
people on this planet now collectively have over a trillion
dollars between them. Four people. Think about that right, support
the workers seriously and look to also be fair to Australians.
I think the way that they supported workers during some
of these strikes this year, I think look hands down
(45:28):
to a lot of Australians, a lot of Australians in
the make of FUSS. A lot of Australians supported the workers,
and some of these strikes have led to much better
conditions for people. But we are nowhere near to where
we need to be, and so we need to start
looking after each other. And that means supporting each other.
And I don't want to hear the term socialist or
(45:48):
communist or any of that sort of rubbish. Either you're
four workers or you're against them, and if you're against them,
get the fuck out of the way so we can
fix the problem. That would be my advice to most
people anyway. Hopefully have a better New Year twenty twenty five,
less rants than me fingers crossed. We'll see how we
go before we let you go. Maybe you disagree with
everything I said, Maybe you're seek of me going on rants.
(46:09):
If you'd like to yell at me on the internet,
you can find us on all the social media's just
tipe in week crap in Australia into the search bar.
You can also shoot me a good old fashioned email
with all of your death threats to week crap In
Australia at gmail dot com, who.
Speaker 2 (46:23):
Will forward those onto the relevant authority.
Speaker 1 (46:28):
You can also support the show if you believe in
the message that we spread and the histories we unearthed.
You can find us over at Patreon. Friendly five dollars
US a month. You get access to bonus episodes as
well as the mainline episodes. Release you completely add free.
You can also grab our book series Volume one to five,
dedicated to Australian social history, is available from our great
(46:50):
mates at Impactcomics dot com dot au if you're living
internationally and you'd like that paperback to Lulu dot com
if you'd like the Kindle version, You can grab the
on your electronic device of choice from the Kindle Shop.
Just type in we Crap In Australia into their search engine.
Can also grab our T shirts and merchandise from our
Tea Public and Red Bubble storefronts. Again, just type in
(47:14):
we Crapping Australia into the search engine, and as is
our custom, we give Holly the final words.
Speaker 2 (47:20):
A couple of strikes that we won't have time to cover,
but which would be interesting for you to go look
up on your own is things like the nineteen forty
eight Queensland Railway strike, nineteen seventy three kings Cross strippers
strike and why not head into the twenty eleven Quantus dispute.
Speaker 1 (47:35):
I'm sure we will probably cover all of those in
the long run. Anyway.
Speaker 2 (47:38):
Oh, like I said, there's been twenty six strikes, I
can't cover them all, so that go have a look
at a couple of them.
Speaker 1 (47:43):
Well that's it from us today. Hope you're doing well
out there. Please, best wishes for your twenty twenty five
and we will see you all next week for more
we Crap in Australia. Until then, Bye for now bye.
(48:08):
The Weird Crap In Australia podcast is produced by Holly
and Matthew Soul for the Modern Meltdown. If you've enjoyed
this podcast, please rate and review on your favorite podcatching app.
A strange, spiraling white light was spotted in the early
morning sky over Sydney, with even skeptical witnesses wondering if
it was a UFO. They were last seen on the
beach with the tall man. And that's the best description
plice have ever had of it.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
More than seventeen years after Harold Holt disappeared into raging
surf at Chevy a Beach, his widow has finally revealed
his last romantic words docky, terrifying, mesmerizing. That's the way
a number of Australians have described the alleged encounter with
the YOWI.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
It's time for the Weird Crap in Australia podcast. Welcome
to the Weak Crap in Australia Podcast. I'm your host
Matthew sol Journey me of course for another episode as
the researcher extraordinaire and fellow host Holly soul In New
(00:53):
Year's episode in a couple of days. It's going to
hit twenty twenty five, of course, which everyone a happy
New Year. I hope it doesn't really feel very hopeful,
does it. It feels more like that we're all on
a dinghy that has popped several holes. Our big ship
has sunk and.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
We're looking down the barrel of a hurricane.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
You know, I think people are just looking for I
don't know, a little bit stability, and every time we
seem to get close to it, it seems to be
pulled away from us just as quickly. And you know,
that really comes down to a lot of things, and
especially working conditions, which is the lead in for today's episode.
We're going to be talking about some of Australia's most
(01:41):
famous strike action. Trigger warning for New South Wales police
officers listening because you may hear the term strike that
doesn't involve you, guys, and you might want to go
out and break it, because that seems to be what
the New South Wales police love doing at the moment,
is a breaking up strike action, be it with the
(02:04):
supermarket warehouse strikes or just recently threatening the how should
I put it, threatening to cancel the New Year's Eve
fireworks if the transportation union members go on strike in Sydney.
So I'm sure when the nurses, when you guys decide
(02:25):
to go on strike as well to get a much
better pay raise than the one percent that's on offer,
I am sure the New South Wales police will be
happy to meet you in force to break up that
strike as well. But good news, you're all nurses, which
means you'll be able to treat your injuries afterwards. Now,
with all of that facetiousness out of the way, Holly,
let's go back to nineteen forty nine, where we're going
(02:49):
to see industrial action for the very first time in Australia.
Take it away.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
As World War II came to an end, Australia's steel
and heavy industries critical during the World War began to
slow down. Despite the lower demand for armaments and armor
for the war effort, the Australian appetite for coal continued unabated,
and with it came the need for the stuff to
be mined, refined and delivered. From fueling our heaters to
powering electricity plants across the country. Coal was integral to
(03:17):
the functioning of Australian industry and daily life.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
Coal production in New South Wales for the first twenty
four weeks of nineteen forty eight was maintained at the
nineteen forty seven level, a fall in underground production being
compensated by greater output from open cup mines. Total production
was of five million and fifty one thousand tons, which
included five hundred and thirty three thousand tons from open carts.
(03:41):
Quote from the Singleton August Wednesday, eighteenth of August nineteen
forty eight, Page one, Coal Statistics, Holly, that's quite a
lot of coal, it is.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
It's amazing how much dirt you can pull out of
the ground when you try. Much like during COVID, workers
in key manufacturing industries were depended on to keep the
country running and thus given exceptions to any enlistment efforts
undertaken like our doctors and other essential personnel. During the
twenty twenty twenty twenty two era, the minus producers and
manufacturers were called upon to increase production under strict rationing
(04:13):
and wage controls, often a great personal sacrifice. In exchange,
the government and corporations promised these workers compensation for their
efforts once the war ended.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
It's always interesting when they promise and promise and promise
while you're doing the job. Then once the job's finished,
all those promises seem to disappear, evaporate. I'm sure that's
not going to happen here.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
This compensation was to include better pay, shorter working hours
and improved working conditions. I'm sure you can guess where
this is going.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
They got everything they wanted. The government honored their promises,
as did big corporations. I mean, surely, surely they would.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
We all know how to say.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
These people are essential workers. We needed them for the
war effort. They're very important.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
Not like we have experience of this or anything.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
It's not like we've ever mistreated essential workers once the
crisis is over.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
When the war was over, the corporations that employed these
workers failed to meet these promises, citing hardships owing to
a lack of demand for their products as a reason
not to deliver pay rises or to give their workers
their promised time off.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
Gasp.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
Oh my god, I am so shocked.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
Oh no, won't someone please think of the CEOs.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
While the government aimed to rebuild and expand astray as infrastructure,
including railways, roads, ports, and power plants, workers found little
improvement in their conditions, which were hot, dark, smelly, and dangerous.
The nation's railways, which had been essential for military transport,
needed expansion to accommodate increased civilian and industrial demands, and
(05:48):
that meant that the iron works and by extension, the
coal mines were sorely needed. The country's coal plants, which
powered our major cities, required significant upgrades to keep pace
with growing energy needs. Remember there was a massive immigration
in flux after World War Two.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
Absolutely I'll be able to speak to that a little
bit after this paragraph.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
There were ambitious plans to develop hydro electric power plants
to diversify energy sources, such as the snowy hydro near Tumor.
Everything comes back to fucking Tumid.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
It was a look. It was a very big infrastructure
project and the idea was that the hydro electric dam
would be producing electricity for you know a substantial amount
of rural New South Wales as well as you know,
feeding into Sydney. So, for example, if you happen to
have someone knock on your door and ask you if
(06:39):
they want to switch over to red energy, they're actually
talking about switching you over to directly paying for energy
produced by the hydroelectric dam, which is the blaring jam
in Tumit. My grandfather was a powder monkey. He lied
about his age and it was his job to blow
up rocks and other objects that were obstructing pros on
(07:00):
the construction site. He also had a group of people
around him that you could easily, you know, class as
immigrant labor. There was a lot of Irish workers who
were there. People had come across from everywhere to work
on that particular scheme.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
Italy, Greece, I believe Turkey had a big influx as
well in that era. So there was lots of Mediterranean.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
Yeah, absolutely, and that's why growing up in Tcheumant we
were probably a little bit more multicultural than you would
expect for a town of seven thousand people because some
of those immigrants they stayed, So you ended up with,
you know, a couple of Italian families, and you had
some you know, families that could go all the way
back to their Irish ancestors and things like that. In Tuma,
(07:45):
because of the hydro scheme, it was very dangerous work.
Lots of people died.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
Steel production, particularly in Newcastle and Wala in New South Wales,
was prioritized to meet both domestic and international divans for
construction material, fueling Australia's export economy and leaving the cost
on the workers whose bodies were sacrificed for profits. I
don't know if you know this, but in order to
get a fire hot enough to melt iron into steel,
(08:11):
or to melt steel so you can work it. You
need coal. There is nothing else that burns hot enough.
The coal workers were not compensated for the increased workload.
In fact, they found their wages decreasing in real terms,
something that I've absolutely no experience in at all. The
demand for coal skyrocketed, but so did the physical toll
(08:31):
on the workers who endured longer hours in increasingly dangerous
and dirty conditions. Black lung is definitely one of the
biggest hazards that a coal miner can come up against,
closely followed by rock falls.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
Yeah. So black lung is what occurs when a bunch
of powdered coal gets into those very small fibrous canals
inside your lungs, and then you essentially choke to death
on coal dust or you end up with cancer.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
Cours aria aspestosis from some of the equipment that you're using. Meanwhile,
corporate profits soared, with companies making millions of pounds annually
from the very workers they ignored, seeing the more as
part of the process than as people that worked for them.
A lot of the miners involved in Newcastle's coal industry
were members of the Australian Coal and Shale Employees' Federation,
(09:21):
also known and as we'll call them, the Miners Federation,
continually stretched thin and forced to continue working for the
same pay they'd been receiving since the beginning of the
war in nineteen thirty nine. In nineteen forty eight, the
miners turned to their union to begin the process of
receiving their promised renuneration and rewards.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
In nineteen forty eight, the Miners Federation of Australia lodged
an application to the Coal Industry Tribunal for alterations in
minus conditions, two major issues being long service leave and
the thirty five hour week. The hearing was suspended and
so began the struggle. Quote from say subject the nineteen
forty nine coal Miners Strike and more in special collections
(10:01):
University of Newcastle.
Speaker 2 (10:04):
They were fighting against the big dogs here as the
corporations went crying to the Australian Government about their profits
and how they how could they possibly make any money
from government contracts. If they had to pay the workers more,
they would have to charge the government more in return,
and no one wanted that.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
So of course, unfortunately, what it's interesting isn't it right
now in our country. Like I alluded to at the start,
we talked about how the New South Wales police are
being used to disrupt strike action. The new South Wales
government just switched hands over to a labor government. The
Labor Party, I don't think, has been the party of
(10:44):
the laborers for quite some time.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
I'd say somewhere around eighteen ninety six roughly when they
signed their constitution.
Speaker 1 (10:51):
And maybe they never have been. You know, maybe it is.
It is just the same as, you know, the lesser
of two evils. And I think while our current government,
there is definitely some stuff they've done that's praiseworthy. I
also look, my loyalties will always belong to the working class.
I grew up in working class. I continue to be
(11:12):
working class, and aside from any political leaning that you
can have, I will continue to be working class. And
if you're a party in power and you can't help
those in the middle class, in the working class, then
you're against me. And that's just as simple as that.
So yeah, I guess when it comes to our two
(11:33):
political systems, our two party system effectively, you know, they've
always been guns.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
What a surprise, shocker, And we have a quote here.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
From the very beginning, the strength developed on the basis
of genuine industrial issues, that is, upon the basis of
economic claims there were advanced by the mind workers. But
it soon became clear that, so far as the ruling
class and the various governments were concerned, the struggle involved
much more profound issues than the economic claims for the miners.
For this reason also, the outcome of the struggle meant
(12:04):
much more for the workers than simply the satisfaction of
the economic claims of the mine workers. Quote from the
Great Coal Strike of nineteen forty nine. JD. Blake, Australian
Communist Party pamphlet, August nineteen forty nine.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
A stale may hit between the two parties as the
Miners' Union held firm on their demand for a thirty
five hour workweek, a thirty shilling rise on their eighteen
pound pay. The rise would have been ninety five dollars
in twenty twenty two, on top of their eleven hundred
and thirty eight dollars pay, an inclusion of long service
leaf provisions, which they needed because miners would move from
mine to mine and lose any chance of long service
(12:40):
leeve and better working conditions in the pits themselves.
Speaker 1 (12:43):
We still have some special exemptions for long service leeve.
If you happen to be working in the Act, for example,
you actually get two installments of long service leeve. Because
of the nature of the public service, there are a
lot of people that transition to different departments. So to
get your first allotment, which is about six weeks worth
(13:05):
of long service leave, it's half.
Speaker 2 (13:07):
It's the first half.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
Yeah, it's the first half, the first allotment. You only
have to work seven years for one company in the Act.
So that's an example of the modern day having special
exemptions for long service leaves.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
Cleaners also have it because cleaner's professional domestic industrial cleaners
will move around sites a lot, they're super their long
service leave will follow them. They have a very special
agency that's built for that.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
Oh there you go, another modern example. Yeah, and we
have another quote Missus Penglase. When they attended meetings, there
was no secret ballots. It was just to show of
hands and you had to vote. The men voted what
their mates were voting, not what their wives thought about
or anything. They didn't attend the meeting, they got fined
two six which was two pounds six shillings out of
(13:56):
their next pay. It's not much today, but it was
then quote from essay sub to the nineteen forty nine
coal minors strike.
Speaker 2 (14:03):
The MINUS Federation had an open secret that they were
openly associating with the Australian Communist Party, which is dangerous
in the post World War two era. This is the
same party as we mentioned in the August nineteen forty
nine Manly Ferry incident which was Episode one eleven and
the Petrov Affair which was Episode two hundred and eighty nine.
This association so early in the Cold War wasn't outright hated,
(14:26):
but it did offer a wedge for the opposition to
use when attacking the Minus Federation.
Speaker 1 (14:30):
It became known that the Collins House, Monopolis and the
Federal State labor governments had set themselves the deliberate aim
of securing the extinction of the Communist Party as an
effective organization in Australia. It was made known that labor
politicians in both the Federal and New South Wales Parliament
looked upon this struggle as an opportunity to destroy the
influence of the Communists in the trade union movement. They
(14:54):
openly acknowledged that most of the post war advances in wages,
hours and working conditions were snociated in the minds of
the workers with those key unions in which communists played
a prominent part in the leadership. Quote from the Great
Coal Strike of nineteen forty nine JD. Blake.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
Something of note to mention here is that the Labor
Party was in government at the time, with Ben Chiffley
sitting in the top chair. Chiffley was involved in the
nineteen seventeen Australian General Strike, which we'll cover in another
episode as one of the local leaders, and he was
dismissed from his job in the railway in response. Because
of that. He joined politics soon after and went on
(15:32):
to become the face of the labor movement while doing
his best to quash it.
Speaker 1 (15:37):
It's interesting, isn't it.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
People will always argue against their own interests once they
get enough power.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
Yeah. Absolutely, absolutely, because what happens is once they achieve
a certain point is that they then have to reconcile
with a bunch of different groups. And so you find
yourself in a position where I would assume that you
would have to have a wider perspective coupled with the
(16:06):
fact that all of these different interest groups would be
paying towards your wages, basically.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
The same reason Peter Garrett folded the way he did.
Speaker 1 (16:15):
Yeah, yep, we've talked about before. I think it's really
difficult to try and maintain your values and principles going
into our political system.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
And I actually found a copy of a picketing sign
found on the lines in nineteen forty.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
Nine Macquarie delegates. Is this labor, chiefly the nineteen seventeen striker,
chiefly the nineteen forty nine strike breaker. Don't let him
get away with it, demand that he end dispute.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
As one could imagine, Chiefley was not viewed well by
the average blue collar worker. On May eighteen, the Coal
Industry Tribunal chairman Frank Gallagher released a statement urging for
calm and civil negotiations and laying out for the public
exactly what the strike was in I.
Speaker 1 (17:01):
Have no objection whatever to the party's negotiating. In fact,
I think it is highly desirable that they should do so.
I think that if the parties reach agreement on industrial matters,
it is far better than being determined by arbitration. If
there is any agreement that needs ratification, I would be
only too pleased to do it. As far as the
present claim for the thirty five hour work week is concerned.
(17:24):
I do not see anything at all to prevent the
party's negotiating. If they reach an agreement, it will make
the matter much easier. Butte from the Great Coal Strike
of nineteen forty nine JD.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
Blake just like a politician walking down the middle of
the road. The day after this statement was released, the
Mining Federation's claims were examined by a conference for both
the coal mine owners and the unions got together to
discuss what was going on and to attempt to reach
a compromise.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
At this conference, the attitude of the coal owners was
soon made evident. In reply to the proposals of the
mining unions, the coal owners propose a system of incentive payments,
and so they were prepared to agree in principle with
long service leave if the unions waive their opposition to
mechanical extraction of pillars, agreed to set aside the compulsory
(18:12):
retirement at sixty provisions of the Pensions Act if they
undertook to accept an outside disciplinary authority with power to
impose penalties on mine workers. Quote from the Great Coal
Strike of nineteen forty nine. JD.
Speaker 2 (18:25):
Blake Basically, you can have your thirty five hour week
if you don't retire at sixty, if you allow us
to build a council who can force you to do
what we say, and if you allow the mechanical removal
of supports in the minds which needed more hands on intervention,
owing to more supports for mine shafts, which increased the
chances of a collapse. So we can put your body
(18:45):
in danger, we can put your brain in danger, and
we're not going to pay you anymore.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
Yeah, you w on the thirty five hoursuck dealeh.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
They would also have to give up pit top meetings,
which were usually used to raise issues in terms of
safety and operations, and allow the tribunal to set their
working hours, which could very well mean an increase in
the hours of their work week. To absolutely no one surprise,
this compromise was summarily rejected.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
In June when the miners feared their claims were about
to be rejected by the coal industry trope Uneral, which
had been set up by Chiefly's government in nineteen forty
six to deal with disputes. They began holding stop work meetings.
The Joint Coal Board, also established by Chiefly in nineteen
forty six to regulate and supervise the industry, claimed the
stop work meetings were illegal and withheld a draft proposal
(19:31):
for a new award addressing some of the union's claims.
Last minute meetings failed to avert strike action, the unionists
voting by a large mandure majority to go on strike.
Quote from nineteen forty nine coal strike left public out
and cold, Troy Lennon the Daily telegraphed June twenty six,
twenty nineteen.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
With neither side intending to move, the workers voted to strike,
with the vote passing seven nine hundred and ninety five
votes to eight hundred and twenty two. This wasn't an
un usual occurrence in those days. As The Life of
One striker said in nineteen.
Speaker 1 (20:03):
Eighty eight, Missus Penglaze, I suppose you could call them
good wages. Although they did not work all the time.
You didn't always receive full pays. They might have worked
for a week then have a week on strike. They
seemed to strike at the drop of a hat. Interviewer,
Do you think they the co workers were afraid of
the unions. Missus Penglaze, they were very union oriented, wrote
(20:25):
from essay subject nineteen forty nine Coal minor strike, Susan Morin.
Speaker 2 (20:30):
News of the latest strike began to circulate and the
public began to make their own voices known in regard
to the events, generally in the letter to the editor
sections as the local newspapers.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
How deliberate the long range planning and its present implementation
can be seen from the fact that despite the weekend
appeal of the Labor Minister for Works and Local Government
in New South Wales, mister Keyhill mining union leaders are
pushing on with their plans for a general coal strike
as from June twenty seven. From the August Tuesday, twenty
(21:01):
first of June nineteen forty nine, Page two Deliberate.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
On June twenty seven, the strike began with twenty three
thousand miners walking out of the pits. The miners had
striked before and there was no reason this strike wouldn't
end after a week when the miners family started to
go hungry.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
Interviewer, did the wives support their husbands or do you
think a lot of them were against it as they
were the ones who had to organize food and money
as as Panglas. Personally, I didn't support them, as I
felt it was not worth it. They didn't get anywhere
with these strikes, but a lot of women were supportive,
but a lot that did it as it was to
a big struggle in those days. Most people involved had
(21:42):
lived through the depression and were just starting to get
themselves established and get a home together. Quote from say
subject the nineteen forty nine coal miners strike, Susan Morin.
Speaker 2 (21:51):
Still better safe than sorry, right. The government, sick of
these constant strikes, took the first step in stopping the
unions from organizing. What the government didn't know at that
time was that the strikers had a plan. Two days
after the strike began, the government passed legislation making it
illegal to provide financial support or credit to striking miners.
Speaker 1 (22:11):
How can you do that?
Speaker 2 (22:12):
You stop the banks from giving credit, you stop the
shops from giving credit, And don't worry, the miners found
plenty of ways around it.
Speaker 1 (22:19):
I'm sure they did. But God, that's fucking disgusting, Like
it's just we're never going to break free from it,
are we.
Speaker 2 (22:24):
No, We're always going to be indentured servants. Whether it's
in name or not.
Speaker 1 (22:28):
And I mean, like, like right now, we're seeing that
there are unions now that are so corrupt that they're
absolutely in bed with the people that they're saying that
they're fighting against. And it's really tragic to see that
there are so many people out there who just want
a fair shake of the stick, who want their fair
share of the profit from their labor, and are constantly
being railroaded by bad unions. And not all unions are bad,
(22:54):
mind you. I belong to a different union now, the
RAFU down in Victoria, and you know, there are people
out there who are trying to do the best they
can for their workers, you know, the warehouse unions, the
dockers unions, things like that. But there are also a
lot of unions who have made a business being in
bed with big industry. And it's a damn shame. And
especially when you know the current government, which is called
(23:17):
the labor government more often than not terms it's back
on workers. I think it's an absolute disgrace and it's
so tragic to see that the people are in the
situation in nineteen forty nine are not that different from
where we are today.
Speaker 2 (23:31):
Eighty years when we haven't moved that far.
Speaker 1 (23:33):
No, In fact, I would argue I've gone backward. I
think there were more, there were better. There were more
riots in the ninety nineties for workers in the retail industry,
which is one of the few industries I can speak
to than there are today. You know, there were things
back in the old EBAs where you know, you worked
(23:55):
on a Saturday or a Sunday, because you know, when
I was growing up, not every business was open every
fucking day of the week. And because we weren't in
that seven day work week, if you did open up,
then you had to pay extra, you know, and that
amount of money that used to compensate people for missing
out on their social engagements on a Saturday Sunday. And
for all those people who turn around and go, oh,
(24:17):
you know, well, they still get paid a wage, so
what that they have days off on a Tuesday or Wednesday. Well,
as someone who does have a weekend in the middle
of the week, do you understand how much fucking pressure
is put on me to try and accommodate family gatherings
that I can't attend because I need to work those
hours so that I actually have a livable wage and
(24:39):
a lot of this also work under those conditions, you know.
And what makes it worse too, is like when you
explain that to family, they just don't get it. You know.
I've been accused many times of avoiding people because I
work on the weekends, and it's not a matter of avoidance.
I would love to attend everyone's functions and gatherings, but
(24:59):
just that's not on the cards for me. Nor is
it on the cards Folly, No, it hasn't mean for years.
Speaker 2 (25:05):
No, almost as long as I've been working. The hope
of the government's plan was if the unions couldn't access
their money or gain more money from supporters, they would
have to give up and go home. The union workers
were faster than that, though. By the time the legislation
went through, the unionists and the union officials had already
withdrawn all their money from banks and credit unions and
(25:26):
taken it home where the government couldn't stop them getting
to it. When the courts demanded to know where the
money was, they held their tongues.
Speaker 1 (25:33):
Why does the court get the right to know where
private citizens money is located at?
Speaker 2 (25:38):
Because it is now illegal to give credit to strike workers.
The strike workers were brought in to find out how
they were being funded because it was against the law
for someone to lend them credit. So they had to
find out where the money was and where it was
coming from.
Speaker 1 (25:51):
And that's why the court it's liquid cash.
Speaker 2 (25:53):
They had to find out whether it was credit or
liquid cash. And if you couldn't produce the cats, and
it was obviously credit, and someone was going to get
thrown under that bus.
Speaker 1 (26:00):
Yeah, fucking scumbags.
Speaker 2 (26:02):
Everything is aimed towards the corporations.
Speaker 1 (26:04):
Upon the bill being passed, officials of the Miners Federation
and Fed Iron Workers Association withdrew a summer of fifty
four thousand pounds from union funds in retaliation to the
new law. These funds were to be used for relief
for the duration of the stoppage. However, legislation was passed
retrospectively on June sixteen, thus making officials liable for prosecution.
(26:26):
All men involved were summons to appear in court before
the Arbitration Commission. JH. King, secretary of the Western District Federation,
was charged with the contempt of court when refusing to
answer questions regarding the whereabouts of the money. The sentence
was one month jail at Long Bay. King was again
brought before the courts and sentenced to a further year
for refusing to anceerr relevant questions. In the following days,
(26:48):
the King's jaileen of further six officials were given one
year sentences and others received fines of one hundred pounds each.
The National Emergency Bill was seen as an attempt to
starve miners back to wars. Quote from essay subject nineteen
forty nine coal miners strike Susan Moron.
Speaker 2 (27:05):
It feels like a bit of an overreach in the
modern world, but I wouldn't put a buston from doing
it again.
Speaker 1 (27:09):
I I mean, we're basically under these same conditions when
when unions and corporations and government are all in bed together,
we're basically dealing with the exact same thing.
Speaker 2 (27:21):
The miners' families work together to keep everyone fed and supplied.
Community soup kitchens were set up, along with rallies for
the women themselves to support their husbands.
Speaker 1 (27:30):
Depots were set up throughout the Hunter Valley where donations
of food grocery supplies were being accepted, often from storekeepers
who are unable to help through credit. This food was
distributed through the region, as most families were left completely penniless.
There's no income was coming in quote from essay subject
the nineteen forty nine coal miners strike Susan Moron.
Speaker 2 (27:51):
Despite this, the miners were actually winning because they worked
so only a small surplus was available for distribution. The
coal began to run out of so quickly, and the
public felt the consequences just as quickly as did the government.
Speaker 1 (28:05):
The introduction of this new legislation meant unions could not
access their funds, therefore could not provide relief for striking
minus families. Shopkeepers could be arrested and jailed if court
geising giving credit to miners and their families, and of
these were as high as one hundred pounds or six
months in jail. Vote from essay subject the nineteen forty
nine coal miners strike.
Speaker 2 (28:26):
Remember the average weekly wage was eighteen pounds, so they
were basically being fined a month and a half worth
of wages. The general public, who relied on the miners'
wages to keep solvent, found their own ways to keep
the families fed.
Speaker 1 (28:39):
Credit was available unofficially from some storekeepers after Prime Minister
chiefly froze the funds. Fortunately, the family had a good
credit account with their storekeeper, who chose to support the
struggling families. The credit given was non payable until after
the strike. Vote from say subject the nineteen forty nine
coal miners strike.
Speaker 2 (28:58):
There were some unforeseen consequences to the strike, as one
family found out when their main breadwinner, ister C. Thomas,
died in an accident on week five as a strike.
Speaker 1 (29:08):
As the family had lost the income earner, usually there
would have been some compensation or greacier payment. As mister
Thomas was killed during the strike, there was no access
to Federation funds. Therefore no payment was made at all.
The miners took a collection which was given to the
family and took four months before any payment of any
kind was made. Quote from essay subject the nineteen forty
(29:30):
nine coal minus strike, Susan Moron.
Speaker 2 (29:33):
But the campaign against the strikers was only just beginning.
On July third, two page size advertisements appeared in the
Sydney Telegraph.
Speaker 1 (29:40):
What a fucking shock, What a fucking shock. The Sydney Telegraph,
of course, to this day is still against the worker.
And you know what drives me absolutely fucking nuts, Holly,
when I'm in the tea room and I see people
reading that fucking newspaper.
Speaker 2 (29:56):
There's lots of things people do that account to their
own interests and will continue to to do.
Speaker 1 (30:00):
This is one I agree with you, and Australians need
to pull their fucking hands out of our asses and
this applies to all of us, and we need to
stop endorsing practices that fuck us over. During the strikes,
during the recent strikes, because I have connection to this industry,
there was a couple of people who said to me
(30:21):
that they would happily be scabs should the entire interests,
should the entire industry go on strike, right, which was
never going to happen, but you know, they were speculating,
and they sat there and told me that, and I
just couldn't believe what I was hearing, because this is
the problem. People are so fucking twisted up now because
(30:44):
of this bullshit that surrounds us all the time, that
they would gleefully help big multinational corporations who make billions
of dollars of profit every year and treat the Australian
public in the Australian workforce like a disposable commodity that
(31:05):
they can fuck whenever they fucking feel like it, and
some of the people that this would directly affect were
gleefully telling me that they themselves would walk past picket
lines to work. That's how fucked we are. When you
can convince people to go against their own self interest,
(31:25):
that's when you know you're fucked.
Speaker 2 (31:29):
The first advertisement, authorized by the Prime Minister of Australia,
offered alternative reasons for the strike.
Speaker 1 (31:36):
The following statement, issued by the Australian Council of Trade
Unions and endorsed by the New South Wales Labor Council,
put to the miners the attitude of the true leaders
of the Australian trades union movement. The dispute should be
settled either by conciliation or by arbitration and without the
continuance of the strike. The Australian Council of Trade Unions
is willing to exert every effort in its power towards
(31:58):
this end. This is the advice of the majority of
your fellow unionists who have the true interests of Australian
workers at heart. This is a Communist inspired strike against
arbitration and everything the trades union movement stands for. Do
not be misled, Do not be the dupes of communism.
(32:20):
Quote from the Daily Telegraph, Sunday, third of July nineteen
forty nine, page twelve, advertising We don't call it communism
these days, no, ladies and gentlemen. When I turn around
and stand up for workers and workers riots, I am
called a filthy socialist. There is always a word for
people who stand up against those in power. There is
(32:41):
always a word for people who advocate for our individuals
on far less money than the wealthy elite at the
very tippy top of the pyramid. And there is always
going to be a word for people that they want
to get rid of. And just like now, when you
refer to someone as a socialist, people start to roll
their eyes or maybe stick up their nose in the air.
(33:04):
Back then, you called someone a communist, and the exact
same thing would happen.
Speaker 2 (33:09):
I don't know if you picked it up during that advertisement,
but there was a little bit of a bias in
that particular open letter to the strikers.
Speaker 1 (33:16):
I mean, you look at the landscape of Australian media now,
whether it's Murdoch Press or Fairfax Media. Again, I've said
this before. I worked for Fairfacts back in the day
before they were purchased effectively by Murdoch Media via proxies,
so Fairfax is Murdoch Media US dot Com as Murdoch Media.
The ABC was infiltrated by a bunch of yuppie fuck
(33:38):
university cunts who have been established within that community for
most of their fucking lives, and most of them ditch
news corps because they usually get sexually harassed, so it's
easier to jump over to the ABC and then spout
all of their bullshit an anti workers sentiment. So trust me,
things really have not changed that much. In fact, it's
(33:59):
gotten much fucking worse, as I would think that this
day and age. If you look out over the media landscape,
assigned from maybe one or two articles, they're not going
to find a genuine piece of fucking truth out there.
And all of these media organizations are definitively anti labor,
their anti working class, and they are being run by
(34:23):
little preppy rich funks who went through university formed all
of their fucking friendships, so that way that the assholes
working for big business and the assholes working for the
fucking politicians and the assholes working for the fucking media
or fucking know each other. So that they can all
screw us collectively.
Speaker 2 (34:42):
On page twenty three, the miners had their say. Unlike
the government advertisement on page twelve, the miners answer was
almost an article of their own and was hidden away
from where most people would stumble across it.
Speaker 1 (34:54):
Mister Chiefly's declaration that arbitration had made grants to the
miners and that their present claims were to be considered
is to say the least a departure from fact minus
Federation will give to any approved charitable cause for some
of one hundred pounds for every swimming pool, community center,
or a public meeting hall. The miss Chiefly confined in
the mining communities. A joint Coal Board itself, in its
(35:17):
nineteen forty eight report, admitted that its efforts to date
had completed five bathrooms up to the required standard and
eighty one was still outstanding, installed one unit of surface
sanitation pit top of lavatories and eighty two were still outstanding,
built two surface crib rooms ninety six were required, and
installed underground sanitation in only four mines. In line with
(35:38):
mister Chiefly's other claims that arbitration in the Joint Coal
Board had acted in the miner's interests, is his statement
on the installation of machinery not only to increase production,
but to ease the strain on the miner. Co and
ten was made to install power borers until the miners
delivered an ultimatum to the effect that they would cease
work unless borers were installed by given date. Medical scheme, again,
(36:00):
contrary to Miss Chiefly's misleading claims, has not improved the
health of prevented a single miner from suffering illness, disease
or injury. This scheme is, in fact, simply a record
compiling machine listing statistics for reference. The chief League Government
could settle this dispute in five minutes. Under the Coal
Industry Act, the Government has final and exclusive responsibility for
(36:21):
the policy in the mining industry. Chiefly Government can add
any time issue directions to the Joint Coal Board and
the Coal Industry Tribunal under the Coal Industry Act. Quote
from the Daily Telegraph, Sunday, third of July nineteen forty nine,
Age twenty three. Advertising.
Speaker 2 (36:37):
I recommend you go and read it because that's about
a third of what was on the page. To put
it more succinctly, that advertisement summed up to get fucked.
Mister Prime Minister Yeah. The same advertisement from the Prime
Minister's office was repeated on July twelve, while the miner's
response was only ever published on July third. The war
(36:57):
was being fought on all fronts, both in the negotiation
room and in public, and eventually something had to give.
The coal supplies were dwindling to the point where a
few of the power stations were down to their last
few tons of fuel. There were threats of blackouts and
issues with power supplies, especially when it came to hospitals
and other emergency industries.
Speaker 1 (37:15):
As coal supplies ran low rapidly, in the emergency services
were finding it difficult to operate such stringent cuts. Biefly
made a decision to issue a request to the Land
Transport Group of New South Wales to agree to union
labor to shift coal from the northern and western coal fields,
wrote from essay subject the nineteen forty nine coal miners strike,
Susan Morin.
Speaker 2 (37:36):
On July fourteen, a meeting between the Railway Union and
the New South Wales State Council resulted in an agreement
that a small amount of coal be transported for use
by essential services. On July twenty nine, twenty thousand tons
of coal were shifted under police protection. On August fifth,
another sixteen thousand tons was moved. All this did seem
like a blow to the miners that others could just
(37:57):
walk in and take the coal. This didn't solved the
problem of what to do when the coal that was
already stored above ground ran out. On August first, another
attempt was made by the chiefly government to break the strike,
with thirteen hundred members of the Defense Force being sent
in to take the strikers places. They were mobilized in
passing over the picket line, and the Defense Force personnel
(38:18):
was sent into the pits to begin the process of
mining the coals that were sorely needed around the country.
Speaker 1 (38:23):
Production was so high the miners began to lose confidence
of the expected success of the stop work action, again
to doubt the federation. Realization that coal production was well
underwigh again instilled fear in the miners for the safety
of their jobs. The Federation offered the government a final
offered to meet and discuss the claims. The government refused
to meet the officials, saying it was a matter for
the Coal Tribune rule only that they were making plans
(38:46):
for a further eight mines to be reopened and worked
by troops unless a move was made by the miners
to return to work. Quote from essay subject the nineteen
forty nine coal Miners Strike Susan Moron.
Speaker 2 (38:57):
Unfortunately for the strikers, this attempt by the chiefly government
was enough to break the will of the unions. The
members met with officials across the fields and began their
own negotiations to return to work. The Musclebrook miners were
the first to break with the decision to return to
work Eatings.
Speaker 1 (39:12):
It's a shame though, because the military was not going
to be able to run the coal mines indefinitely.
Speaker 2 (39:17):
They wouldn't have been able to fill all late of
those mines.
Speaker 1 (39:20):
No, so whine give up that quickly.
Speaker 2 (39:22):
Because I guess they just thought the long game wasn't
there anymore. They lost heart.
Speaker 1 (39:27):
Yeah, I suppose so, I mean it, all it takes is,
I guess, the few of the mines to reopen, and
suddenly everyone loses their nerve.
Speaker 2 (39:34):
Eatings nationwide were held August tenth, resulting in a vote
to return to work by all. This was a major
defeat for the Miners Federation, being the first time since
nineteen twenty nine that workers lost enough confidence in their
unions to return to work. The final vote was six
nine hundred and seventy four to return to work, two
three hundred and seventy eight to remain unstrike. The Federation's
(39:56):
claims did later reach the Coal Tribunal and the Federation
was granted long service leave, with the stipulation that at
sixty five shifts, thirteen weeks would be awarded, with another
thirteen weeks granted after each sixty five shifts. This was
the only stipulation that the workers' union received in the negotiations.
Since nineteen seventeen, twenty six major strikes have taken place
(40:18):
in Australia as either a federal or a state issue.
Of these, thirteen have been under the Labor government, eight
under a National's Liberal government, three each under a Liberal
Country coalition country later becoming the Nationals, and the Nationalist
Party which was later absorbed into the United Australia Party,
which became the Liberals, so they basically split half and
half under the liberal labor governments. This meant that while
(40:40):
the Liberals and its past formations have also been subjected
to thirteen protests, the Labor Party has always been the
Labor Party and so takes its record with it. There
is a perception that the Labor Party will be nicer
to strikes, being you know, the Australian Labor Party, but
it's been noted quite a few times that the Labour
Party will resort to the strongest retaliation to the strikes,
(41:00):
with police and military called in, well, the Liberals are
better at actually negotiating.
Speaker 1 (41:05):
Yeah, we've actually seen the other year so twice the
New South Wales Police Force has been deployed effectively against
striking workers. They have threatened to quote unquote cancel the
New Year's Eve celebration if the transportation union decides to
go on strike because our transportation workers who get you
(41:28):
to work on time via buses via trains are not
being paid enough fucking money to keep up with inflation
and they are starting to become fucking destitute. But it's
okay because the New South Wales Police Commissioner can turn
around and say, well, ladies and gentlemen, if they don't
get back to work, or if they go on strike
(41:48):
on you is eve, we're just gonna have to shut
down the fireworks for everyone. Have we got another Strike
episode off the view.
Speaker 2 (41:55):
Well, there are a couple more Strike episodes, but not
next week. The rest rest.
Speaker 1 (42:02):
Look, I'm very passionate about the labor movement, and I
always have been. I'm very passionate about workers. I think,
you know, when we look at the nineteen eighties and
you're able to own a home and have two cars
and maybe a boat, or or maybe a property like
a hobby farm or you know, a little beach house
or something like that, you know, you watch the movie
(42:24):
The Castle and it's a fucking dream. But when The
Castle came out, that was a joke.
Speaker 2 (42:29):
That was normal.
Speaker 1 (42:30):
That was a fucking joke. To have a three bedroom
house and a little shitty place somewhere near Bateman's baby,
that was a fucking joke. They were making fun of
him in that fucking movie. Now you put that on
for someone and you're like, holy shit, they have a
fucking house.
Speaker 2 (42:45):
Oh my god, they're so rich.
Speaker 1 (42:48):
Look at that. They got a backyard and two fucking cars.
By Lord in heaven. So the disparity is worse right
than the nineteen nineties. And there are all these people,
all these elements convince us that we're wrong. Now, our
grandfathers and our grandmothers knew what their rights were and
they fought for them. This is what we're talking about.
(43:09):
They fought for them. We need to start being such
fucking pushovers and we need to start finding back a
little bit more. So. I'm very passionate about it. When
we do these episodes, obviously you can tell I'm very
passionate about it, and I get more and more frustrated
every year when I see so many people ascribe to
(43:29):
the you know, like listening to Australians fucking supporting people
like Elon Musk or Donald Trump. I'm like, these people
would not fucking spit on you if you're on fire.
And we have all these temporary, temporarily embarrassed millionaires out there,
people who think, oh, I don't want to do anything
nasty to the millionaire corporate fucking wheelers and dealers, because
(43:51):
one day I might be a millionaire and then I
want those protections for myself. They ain't gonna fucking happen.
It's gonna happen for me. It's not going to fucking
happen for you. Don't be on the side of people
who are actively hurting you.
Speaker 2 (44:05):
Protect what you have not what you want.
Speaker 1 (44:07):
It's almost like we're living in a society where everyone
is a fucking abuse victim, and then we keep going
back to our abuser again and again and again and again,
and then when someone like me step speaks up about it,
get labeled as a communist, as a socialist, as a
as a fucking left wing grifter, all this sort of bullshit.
Just because I'm turning around and I'm saying that people
(44:28):
who work thirty five to fucking forty hours a week
to be able to afford food, electricity, and a fucking
home to live in, That's all I'm fucking saying. You anarchist,
You Jesus fucking Christ.
Speaker 2 (44:42):
Know.
Speaker 1 (44:42):
The French during the French Revolution. The French during the
French Revolution, the wealth disparity between them and their leadership
was less than what ours is. Two day two day
arcs up at Zuckerberg, Elon mask Bezos, these fucking idiots,
their collective wealth just went over a trillion dollars. Four
(45:06):
people on this planet now collectively have over a trillion
dollars between them. Four people. Think about that right, support
the workers seriously and look to also be fair to Australians.
I think the way that they supported workers during some
of these strikes this year, I think look hands down
(45:28):
to a lot of Australians, a lot of Australians in
the make of FUSS. A lot of Australians supported the workers,
and some of these strikes have led to much better
conditions for people. But we are nowhere near to where
we need to be, and so we need to start
looking after each other. And that means supporting each other.
And I don't want to hear the term socialist or
(45:48):
communist or any of that sort of rubbish. Either you're
four workers or you're against them, and if you're against them,
get the fuck out of the way so we can
fix the problem. That would be my advice to most
people anyway. Hopefully have a better New Year twenty twenty five,
less rants than me fingers crossed. We'll see how we
go before we let you go. Maybe you disagree with
everything I said, Maybe you're seek of me going on rants.
(46:09):
If you'd like to yell at me on the internet,
you can find us on all the social media's just
tipe in week crap in Australia into the search bar.
You can also shoot me a good old fashioned email
with all of your death threats to week crap In
Australia at gmail dot com, who.
Speaker 2 (46:23):
Will forward those onto the relevant authority.
Speaker 1 (46:28):
You can also support the show if you believe in
the message that we spread and the histories we unearthed.
You can find us over at Patreon. Friendly five dollars
US a month. You get access to bonus episodes as
well as the mainline episodes. Release you completely add free.
You can also grab our book series Volume one to five,
dedicated to Australian social history, is available from our great
(46:50):
mates at Impactcomics dot com dot au if you're living
internationally and you'd like that paperback to Lulu dot com
if you'd like the Kindle version, You can grab the
on your electronic device of choice from the Kindle Shop.
Just type in we Crap In Australia into their search engine.
Can also grab our T shirts and merchandise from our
Tea Public and Red Bubble storefronts. Again, just type in
(47:14):
we Crapping Australia into the search engine, and as is
our custom, we give Holly the final words.
Speaker 2 (47:20):
A couple of strikes that we won't have time to cover,
but which would be interesting for you to go look
up on your own is things like the nineteen forty
eight Queensland Railway strike, nineteen seventy three kings Cross strippers
strike and why not head into the twenty eleven Quantus dispute.
Speaker 1 (47:35):
I'm sure we will probably cover all of those in
the long run. Anyway.
Speaker 2 (47:38):
Oh, like I said, there's been twenty six strikes, I
can't cover them all, so that go have a look
at a couple of them.
Speaker 1 (47:43):
Well that's it from us today. Hope you're doing well
out there. Please, best wishes for your twenty twenty five
and we will see you all next week for more
we Crap in Australia. Until then, Bye for now bye.
(48:08):
The Weird Crap In Australia podcast is produced by Holly
and Matthew Soul for the Modern Meltdown. If you've enjoyed
this podcast, please rate and review on your favorite podcatching app.
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