The dispute was took place immediately after the end of the Second World War in a climate of Cold War suspicion. The 1951 waterfront lockout began, in February 1951, as a dispute between ship-owners and watersiders over wages. A key political cause the 1951 Waterfront Dispute was the general dissatisfaction of Labour Government during and after the Second World War. This collection of 27 original pamphlets, newsletters and newspapers relating to the 1951 Waterfront Dispute was donated as a single collection to Wellington City Libraries in the 1980s. 3:56 PREVIEW Idle Ships. The only side that opposes the action of the wharfies that you may find information about is the opinion of farmers in NZ at the time. Music. The dispute took place in a climate of Cold War suspicion. Meanwhile, Walter Nash’s Labour Party Opposition sat uncomfortably on the fence, denouncing government repression but refusing to back either side. 1974, First day of competition at Christchurch Commonwealth Games, Home (1) Legislation becameeffective in early 1997. Jock Barnes, meanwhile, had been sentenced to two months in prison for 'defaming' a police constable. The 1951 waterfront dispute was the biggest industrial confrontation in New Zealand’s history. Vietnam War. The 1951 Waterfront Dispute was the biggest and most prevalent industrial dispute New Zealand had ever seen. 9/11: What were the causes and consequences for the US, Afghanistan, and the rest of the world? 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Under the pragmatic leadership of Prime Minister Peter Fraser, the Labour government introduced military conscription, industrial manpowering and a comprehensive economic stabilisation system. It lasted 151 days, and at its peak involved 22,000 workers clashing violently with the New Zealand government. As the cost of living soared, workers demanded higher wage increases. Page 3. The defeat of the wharfies reasserted the FOL’s control over the New Zealand union movement. The dispute was a family event as well as an industrial event. The Government also made commitments at the 1996 election to reform the Australian waterfront. This study shows that homes were a site of the dispute. The domestic work of ensuring that a family managed without wages was largely women‟s and was as much part of the dispute as collective union work, which was often organised to exclude women. In January 1951 the Arbitration Court awarded a 15% wage increase to all workers covered by the industrial arbitration system. By the end of May, with new unions of strike-breakers (denounced by unionists as scabs) registered in the main ports, the wharfies’ position was becoming increasingly hopeless. The men were fathers, husbands, brothers and sons, and their lack of wages affected the family that they lived with and their wider kin networks. The Australian waterfront dispute of 1998 was an event in Australian industrial relations history, in which the Patrick Corporation undertook a restructuring of their operations for the purpose of dismissing their workforce. Labour MP Mabel Howard called the dispute ‘a war on women’, 1 because the wives of strikers had to survive with no income, and it was illegal for anyone to help them. Women and children felt some of the worst effects of the emergency regulations introduced during the 1951 waterfront dispute. See: 1951 in music. Train drivers were warned in advance and no one was hurt, but coal supplies were severely disrupted. The nation’s wharves soon came to a complete standstill. The 1998 waterfront dispute was a time when bad things were allowed in the name of policy goals that were, ultimately, meaningless. Radio and television. The following day Prime Minister Holland warned that New Zealand was ‘at war’. Page 2 … The 1951 waterfront dispute. There were a wide range of economic, political and social causes to the waterfront … Supermarket workers strike, 2006. All images & media in this story. The Government's industrial relations policyregarded the awards and orders of t… The thesis examines families in order to write a gendered social history of the 1951 waterfront dispute. 15 February: The start of the "1951 Waterfront dispute" a massive labor strike lasting for 151 days. Supporters even tried to set up a ‘freedom radio’ station with a transmitter hidden deep in the Wellington hills. The 1951 waterfront dispute Page 2 – Countdown to confrontation. See a transcript and reference for this file. Site Quicklinks Culture & Society. Politics and government The militant workers were determined to achieve the goal in bringing changes in the Arbitration system and confronting the Government. History of the waterfront dispute. Their employers locked them out of the workplace, and the government banned union meetings and publications. Sharpeville Massacre: What were its causes and what were its effects in South Africa and internationally? The 1951 waterfront dispute Meet the NZHistory.net.nz team. Therein the cause of the waterfront disputes was attributed to the attitude of “Barnes and Hill” on the various waterfront Commissions, and to the machinations of the Communists. Katy Gosset hears a first-hand account of the long battle that was the 1951 Waterfront Dispute. Read the full article. For many unionists, though, the watersiders’ loyalty card – bearing the words ‘stood loyal right through’ – was a prized badge of honour. Some wharfies’ wives entered the paid workforce for the first time to support their locked-out husbands. The electorate delivered the government a resounding victory, with National winning 54% of the vote and four more seats than in 1949. Draconian emergency regulations imposed rigid censorship, gave police sweeping powers of search and arrest and made it an offence for citizens to assist strikers – even giving food to their children was outlawed. It polarised politics … I got the impression it was stolen but now I know there were friendly farmers who donated sheep, and market gardeners who gave vegetables, and tradespeople who provided other goods and services for nothing. understand the end of the 1951 waterfront dispute, it is not enough, I argue, to examine the actions of union and political leaders like Jock Barnes, President of the New Zealand Waterfront Workers Union, and Prime Minister Sidney Holland. The worst incident occurred in Auckland on 1 June – dubbed ‘Bloody Friday’ – when police violently dispersed up to 1000 marchers in Queen Street. More than half a century later, the 1951 dispute continues to hold a central place in the history and mythology of the New Zealand labour movement. There are interviews with many involved, from … Prime Minister Sidney Holland‟s National government took control of the dispute, seeing an opportunity to destroy the New Zealand Waterside Workers Union (NZWWU), which was a militant union in a key sector of the economy. Kinleith strike poster, 1980. See 1951 in art, 1951 in literature, Category:1951 books. Commercial re-use may be allowed on request. After years of restrictions and shortages, the economy was booming. Eventually, after a five-month struggle, they conceded defeat on 15 July. One victim suffered a suspected fractured skull, and 20 others had to be treated for lacerations, concussion and bruises. Protest and reform All non-text content is subject to specific conditions. In 1951 the wharfies (waterside port workers) refused to work overtime, in protest over a low pay increase. The 1951 waterfront dispute Baden Norris Photo: ... And memories of the Waterfront Dispute are there too, the less fond ones mingled with the reminder that tough times can also bring out the best in people. The dispute between the government and the workers came to a head on February 15, 1951, when, after weeks of negotiations for a salary raise (due to the rising cost of living), dock employers locked out their workers. I agree with outofthewoods, most material surrounding the 1951 Waterfront Dispute is in support of the ‘wharfies’ as opposed to the Government or Federation of Labour for instance. The dispute remains the most bitter industrial conflict in the country's history. The Waterside Workers’ Union protested by refusing to work overtime from 13 February. It is easier to understand the manoeuvres of parties involved in the waterfront dispute, if these objectives and constraints are kept in mind. Jock Barnes’s wife, Freda (Fuzz) Barnes, organised the wharfies’ Auckland Women’s Auxiliary, which helped co-ordinate the relief effort for workers’ families. The 1951 waterfront dispute. The Coalition was elected to government in March1996 having made commitments to the electorate to improveefficiency and the labour market by substantially restructuringindustrial relations, particularly by offering greater choice inmany aspects of industrial relations. The year was dominated by the 1951 New Zealand waterfront dispute. The 1951 New Zealand Waterfront Dispute: Home Key People and Groups Escalating Tensions The 151-day dispute The Aftermath Gallery Blog The second Federation of Labour. Holland immediately called a snap election, which took place on 1 September 1951. The Cold War. America's crusade against communism struck a chord in New Zealand during the 1951 waterfront dispute. 1974, First day of competition at Christchurch Commonwealth Games, Home The 1951 waterfront dispute is one of the most widely written about industrial struggles in New Zealand history. Attempts at mediation were undermined by the ideologies, intransigence and egos of those involved. Not only was it … Read the full article. Commercial re-use may be allowed on request. On several occasions, unionist street protests were broken up by ranks of baton-wielding police. NZ in the world - 1945-87. and less contained 1951 waterfront dispute. He felt it was New Zealanders duty and obligation to support Britian in struggle against the Nazi Germany and during the War, he introduced military conscription, … The rise of the Labour Party in 1935 saw a radical changes and a new start to the organisation of the Fedration of Labour (FoL). On 30 April a railway bridge near Huntly was dynamited, presumably by striking coal miners. Train drivers were warned beforehand, so there were zero injuries or casualties. Communism, another branch of Marxism similar to socialism, was a major influence to the 1951 Waterfront Dispute which took place amidst the Cold War suspicion. Although it was not as violent as the Great Strike of 1913, it lasted longer – 151 days, from February to July – and involved more workers. In 1951, New Zealand temporarily became a police state. Despite the scale of the 1951 dispute, the wider labour movement was not united behind the watersiders' cause. We have 26 biographies, 9 articles, related to The 1951 waterfront dispute. 1951 Waterfront Dispute papers and ephemera. This site is produced by the History Group of the New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage. This dispute gives the Labour Party a good weapon with which to fight the next election. Connie Birchfield recalled how: Somebody produced a slaughtered sheep to share. Description. Waterfront reform has been on the national political agenda since the mid-1980s. The shipping companies in turn refused to hire them unless they agreed to work extra hours. Meet the NZHistory.net.nz team. All non-text content is subject to specific conditions. 1951 Waterfront Dispute One of the biggest industrial confrontations in New Zealand history (known as the 1951 Waterfront Strike or Lockout, depending on your perspective) began on 13 February 1951. 1951 waterfront dispute In 1951 the wharfies (waterside port workers) refused to work overtime, in protest over a low pay increase. In response, the locked out workers began to strike. Fintan Patrick Walsh and other FOL leaders called on wharfies to ‘abandon their Communist-dominated misleaders’. When no agreement could be reached, union members were locked out. The Second World War saw an unprecedented expansion of government control over the lives of New Zealanders. The 1951 waterfront dispute was the biggest industrial confrontation in New Zealand’s history. Don't Scab! Bitterness between supporters of the watersiders and FOL leaders, such as Fintan Patrick Walsh, lingered for decades, even though Walsh himself adopted a more militant stance in later years. Civil liberties were curtailed, freedom of speech denied, and people could be imprisoned for providing food to those involved. This country’s two largest strikes prior to 1951 – in 1890 and 1913 – were both largely centred on the wharves. One illustration of the implications ofthe new legislation is the waterfront dispute which began to unfoldin January 1998. As well as attacking the government, watersiders’ propaganda denounced Fintan Patrick Walsh and other Federation of Labour leaders as rats who had betrayed the workers’ cause. The restructuring by Patrick Corporation was later ruled illegal by Australian courts. Although the waterfront was an overwhelmingly male world, women played an active role. Their employers locked them out of the workplace, and the government banned union meetings and publications. The 1951 waterfront dispute was an epoch in New Zealand history. It lasted 151 days, and 22,000 New Zealanders were affected by the lockouts and associated strikes. Therein the cause of the waterfront disputes was attributed to the attitude of "Barnes and Hill" on the various waterfront Commissions, and to the machinations of the Communists. Arguing that New Zealand’s vital export trade was under threat, the National government declared a state of emergency on 21 February. The opposing sides denounced each other as Nazis, Commies, traitors and terrorists. The mostly British-owned shipping companies that employed the wharfies instead offered 9%, claiming that earlier waterfront wage increases should be taken into account. This did not apply to waterside workers, whose employment was controlled by the Waterfront Industry Commission. Despite the dispute was militant Waterside Workers' Union's defeat, the dispute reflected that it was a culmination of dissatisfaction of … The 1951 Waterfront Dispute was simply not a stuggle over working conditions amd wage claims, it was clash and a power struggle between the working class, the employers and the Government. The 1951 waterfront dispute. Waterfront workers were unhappy with their working conditions and wages due to the current financial hardships, so up to twenty thousand of them went on strike to oppose these circumstances. Other unionists, including coal miners, freezing workers, seamen, hydroelectric power workers and some drivers and railwaymen, went on strike in protest at the government’s action. Page 2 – Countdown to confrontation . The 1951 waterfront lockout is probably the most famous industrial dispute in New Zealand history, although it wasn’t the largest-scale such dispute. Many watersiders were blacklisted (banned from working on the wharves) for years afterwards. The opposing sides denounced each other by abusive names as Nazis, Commies, traitors and terrorists. Cook Strait airlift, 1983. 2. The 1951 waterfront dispute was an epoch in New Zealand history. This dispute gives the Labour Party a good weapon with which to fight the next election. It was illegal even to give food to strikers’ children. Cause of the implications ofthe New legislation is the waterfront dispute warned beforehand, so there were injuries. 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