Wool and Basil Workers' Federation of Australia

Wool and Basil Workers' Federation of Australia
Merged intoAustralian Workers' Union
Founded1890
Dissolved1976
Headquarters73 Belmont Road, Tingalpa, QLD
Location
  • Australia
Members1250 (1971)[1]
AffiliationsA.C.T.U., A.L.P.

The Wool and Basil Workers' Federation of Australia was an Australian trade union which existed between 1890 and 1976.[1] It represented workers employed in scouring and carbonising wool, fellmongery, and the processing of sheep hides into basil (tanned sheepskin).

History

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The union was first established in 1890, before achieving federal registration in 1912, as the Amalgamated Fellmongers, Woolsorters and Woolscourers' Union of Australia.[1][2] In 1918, the union changed its name to its final form.[2]

John Dacey, a Sydney coachmaker and Member for Botany, where the fellmongering industry was concentrated, helped to organise the Wool and Basil Workers' Union in Sydney.[3] The South Australian trade union leader and later politician Theo Nicholls served as part-time secretary of the union in South Australia, and was active in its organisation.[4]

The Wool and Basil Workers Union was involved in a demarcation dispute with the Australian Textile Workers' Union in 1913 over work done at Botany woollen mills.[5] The dispute was settled following arbitration by the Labour Council.[6]

The Wool and Basil Workers' Union merged with the Australian Workers' Union in 1976.[2]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c Rawson, D. W. (1973). "A Handbook of Australian Trade Unions and Employees' Associations – Second Edition". Canberra: The Australian National University. ISBN 0-7081-0634-X
  2. ^ a b c Smith, Bruce A. created 20 April 2001, last modified 6 August 2010. "Trade Union Entry: Wool & Basil Workers Federation of Australia". Australian Trade Union Archives. Retrieved 27 October 2011.
  3. ^ Bramble, Tom; Kuhn, Rick (2011). "Chapter 2 – In the beginning". Labor's Conflict: Big Business, Workers and the Politics of Class. Port Melbourne: Cambridge University Press. p. 29. ISBN 978-0-521-13804-8. Retrieved 10 November 2011.
  4. ^ Millar, Ann (2010). "South Australian Senators". The Biography of the Australian Senate. Vol. 3. Sydney: University of New South Wales Press. pp. 185–188. ISBN 978-0-86840-996-2. Retrieved 9 November 2011.
  5. ^ "TEXTILE WORKERS". The Sydney Morning Herald. National Library of Australia. 22 September 1913. p. 6. Retrieved 13 October 2012.
  6. ^ "DEMARCATION IN WORK". The Sydney Morning Herald. National Library of Australia. 30 October 1913. p. 11. Retrieved 13 October 2012.
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  • awu.net.au The website of the Australian Workers Union, the successor to the Wool and Basil Workers' Federation.