Wool and Basil Workers' Federation of Australia

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).

Wool and Basil Workers' Federation of Australia
Merged intoAustralian Workers' Union
Founded1890
Dissolved1976
Headquarters73 Belmont Road, Tingalpa, QLD
Location
  • Australia
Members
1250 (1971)[1]
AffiliationsA.C.T.U., A.L.P.

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.