Australasia 1890

Synopsis

On 15 August 1890 the Steamship Owners' Association told the Melbourne, Australia, branch of the Mercantile Marine Officers' Association that it would not negotiate a wage claim with the marine officers' union while it was affiliated to the Trades Hall Council. The marine officers objected to this condition and struck. Seamen, wharf laborers, and port workers followed the marine officers out on strike. The dispute came to be regarded as a conflict between the wider principle of the "closed shop" for unionists against "freedom of contract" for employers.

In 1890 there were seven Australasian colonies. Marine officers and seamen worked coastal and intercolonial routes between them. Unionism had begun to appear among the colonies. Employers could not easily—and perhaps did not want to—contain a maritime workers' strike in one colony. It was widely believed that the ship owners, who were themselves federating, had made secret...