Union History
INDICATES RECENTLY UPDATED
"From the beginning, building and construction unions have had a strong and militant foundation of fighting for better wages and conditions."
On Strong Foundations
The roots of unionism in the Australian building and construction industries go back to the mid 1800s.
From the beginning, building and construction unions have had a strong and militant foundation of fighting for better wages and conditions.
The militant tradition has seen the building and construction unions at the forefront of many of the struggles confronting working people.
The following pages present some excerpts from our history and associated articles.
Section 1 describes the development of the union from early beginnings to date.
Sections 2 to 9 provide articles on significant milestones in the development of this union.
All sections are available to view as web pages or download as pdf files - see links below.
Also see;
- Changing Australia - The Union Story,
- Industrial Relations in the NSW Building Industry 1850 -1891 - Thesis
UNION HISTORY
All sections are available to view as either individual web pages or Adobe Acrobat pdf documents.
CLICK TO VIEW AS
web Section 1 - Overview, from early beginnings to the present day
The union makes us strongSection 2 - CFMEU - a progressive 'left' union
Section 3 - CFMEU amalgamation - 1990s
Section 4 - The battle for civilised working hours - 8 hour day
Section 5 - The fight for safe working conditions in construction
Section 6 - The great accident pay dispute of 1971
Section 7 - Green Bans - campaigns to protect the environment
Section 8 - CFMEU stands by pattern bargaining
Section 9 - Solidarity and political action - fighting for a better world
Download Complete PDF Document
(17 pages - 145 kb pdf format)
