The Pilbara Strike
Summary
• Started May 1st 1946 and ended in 1949
• Hundreds of Aboriginal pastoral workers left their work for better pay and conditions
• This caused sheep stations to stop production
• Strike was organised with no phones or radios
• Longest strike in Australian Hisotry
• 800 Aboriginal pastoral workers from 27 stations in Western Australia walked away from their job
• Predates the Wave Hill strike in NT by 20 years
• Sometimes referred to as “Blackfellas’ Eureka”
• Wanted the right to elect their own representatives and freedom of movement
• Also wanted 30 shillings a week to be minimum wage
• Strike was to get more control over their own lives
Lead-Up
• From 1890s until 1920s it was expected that Aboriginal workers were …show more content…
• 1936 Native Affairs Act stated that pastoralists had to provide shelters for medical needs of the workers, but this law was never enforced by the government
• Aboriginal stockmen were forced to live in corrugated iron humpies that lacked floors, lighting, had no sanitation, furniture and was without a place to cook food
• It was illegal for the Aboriginals to leave their place of employment so these homes were also their prisons
• It was also illegal for an Aboriginal worker to be payed the same wages as a white worker
• 1942 there was a secret Aboriginal law meeting to discuss a strike proposal
• Strike was first brought up by Don McLeod, Clancy McKenna, Dooley Bin Bin and Peter “Kangushot” Coppin
• 200 law men from 23 Aboriginal groups gathered and after 6 weeks it was agreed that they would begin the strike on May 1st
• May 1st was chosen as it was the beginning of the shearing season and it would put pressure on the white workers to get the shearing done without the Aboriginal workers
• Also agreed to postpone the strike until the end of World War 2
• In 1946 Aboriginal workers had no state or federal award coverage
• In 1944, and Industrial Relations Commission judge wouldn’t even agree to listen to a case about the inclusion of Aboriginal Workers in Federal Pastoralist Awards as station
Summary
• Started May 1st 1946 and ended in 1949
• Hundreds of Aboriginal pastoral workers left their work for better pay and conditions
• This caused sheep stations to stop production
• Strike was organised with no phones or radios
• Longest strike in Australian Hisotry
• 800 Aboriginal pastoral workers from 27 stations in Western Australia walked away from their job
• Predates the Wave Hill strike in NT by 20 years
• Sometimes referred to as “Blackfellas’ Eureka”
• Wanted the right to elect their own representatives and freedom of movement
• Also wanted 30 shillings a week to be minimum wage
• Strike was to get more control over their own lives
Lead-Up
• From 1890s until 1920s it was expected that Aboriginal workers were …show more content…
• 1936 Native Affairs Act stated that pastoralists had to provide shelters for medical needs of the workers, but this law was never enforced by the government
• Aboriginal stockmen were forced to live in corrugated iron humpies that lacked floors, lighting, had no sanitation, furniture and was without a place to cook food
• It was illegal for the Aboriginals to leave their place of employment so these homes were also their prisons
• It was also illegal for an Aboriginal worker to be payed the same wages as a white worker
• 1942 there was a secret Aboriginal law meeting to discuss a strike proposal
• Strike was first brought up by Don McLeod, Clancy McKenna, Dooley Bin Bin and Peter “Kangushot” Coppin
• 200 law men from 23 Aboriginal groups gathered and after 6 weeks it was agreed that they would begin the strike on May 1st
• May 1st was chosen as it was the beginning of the shearing season and it would put pressure on the white workers to get the shearing done without the Aboriginal workers
• Also agreed to postpone the strike until the end of World War 2
• In 1946 Aboriginal workers had no state or federal award coverage
• In 1944, and Industrial Relations Commission judge wouldn’t even agree to listen to a case about the inclusion of Aboriginal Workers in Federal Pastoralist Awards as station