Australian General Strike of 1917

The General Strike of 1917 was a general strike which began in the Australian state of New South Wales and spread to other states over six weeks from 2 August to 8 September 1917.

Background

The trigger for the strike was the introduction of a new labour costing system introduced by the New South Wales Department of Railways and Tramways. [Taksa, Lucy, "Defence not defiance: Social protest and the NSW General Strike of 1917", Labour History, vol. 60, 1991, pp. 16-33.] The system, a time and motion study, used cards to record the tasks each worker was assigned and the time it took them to complete those tasks. Concern existed over the rights of to view or modify their card, and the potential use of the card system to identify (and presumably dismiss) "slow" or "inefficient" workers. The strike began at the Randwick Workshops and Eveleigh Carriage Shops with workers walking off the job in protest. Their cause was taken up throughout the New South Wales railway system, and eventually spread to other industries and states. [http://www.records.nsw.gov.au/archives/general_strike_of_1917_12707.asp General Strike of 1917] , State Records New South Wales.]

Well-known strikers

State Records New South Wales holds the personal history cards of two well-known politicians, which record their involvement and participation in the strike:
*Ben Chifley, who would become Prime Minister of Australia in 1945, had worked on the railroads since 1903, and was a train driver at the time of the strike. Following his participation and subsequent dismissal, Chifley was rehired as a driver and fireman, but with reduced wages and seniority.
*Joseph Cahill, who would become Premier of New South Wales in 1952, worked at Eveleigh Workshops at the time, and was an active trade unionist. Cahill's card was marked as an "Agitator", and he had great difficulty finding regular work after his participation in the strike.

References