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s1- History Overview
SECTION 1 -
FROM EARLY BEGINNINGS TO PRESENT DAY
To move to your required section of this article, click on the links below.
European Settlement
European Settlement
From the beginning of European settlement of Australia, the building industry has played a key role in the industrial and economic development of the nation.
The colony's needs for permanent housing, roads, bridges, public buildings created a demand for building labour. And building workers were among the first to form trade unions to fight collectively for better wages and conditions. Although the penal nature of the new colony - with its harsh conditions and military rules -- did not permit the development of trade unionism, workers began combining into trade unions and taking political action from the 1820s.
By 1850, there were about 25 unions in Sydney, 13 in Hobart, as well as smaller numbers in Melbourne and Adelaide. Some of the earliest construction unions include:
the Sydney Joiners' Benefit Society (1835);
the Society of Operative Painters, Plumbers and Glaziers (1841);
the Shinglers and Slaters (1842);
the Society of Carpenters and Joiners in Melbourne (following a meeting at the Eastern Hill Hotel in 1847);
the Operative Masons Society (1850);
the Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners of Queensland (1863).
With the ending of convict transportation in 1850 and the arrival of more free settlers, trade union struggles became more frequent and sustained.
The craft pattern continued throughout the 1800s and a separate builders' labourers organisation was formed first in Victoria (1880s) and then in Queensland (1893) and NSW, with South Australian, Tasmanian and Western Australian branches following in the early 20th century.
Unions grow despite employers
The formation of these societies was, of course, strongly opposed by the wealthy and business classes who attacked them in newspapers in terms still familiar today:"Another consequence has been that, owing to the high rates and short hours, the cost of employing labour amounted to a barrier against the investment of capital …"
(The Argus Oct 23, 1863)But that didn't deter the workers. Between 1850 and 1930, more than 60 building organisations were formed, reflecting the variety of trades and different political views of those participating.
Many of these unions formed national associations operating in each State, for example, the Federated Engine Drivers and Firemen's Association of Australia (1907) - the first craft union to be registered under the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Act of 1904 - the Amalgamated Society of Carpenters & Joiners and the Australian Builders' Labourers - both registered in 1911.
United action leads to Labour Councils
Demand for united action saw these craft unions establish Building Trades Federations. For example, strong support from the Amalgamated and Progressive Societies of Carpenters and Joiners, led to the formation of a Trades and Labor Council in Sydney in 1871.A Trades Association was formed in Melbourne as early as 1856, but the permanent Trades Hall Council was formed in 1879. Similar bodies were established in Queensland and Tasmania in 1883, in South Australia in 1884 and Western Australia in 1892.
Building workers were also present when the first small steps towards a national trade union movement were taken. Only two interstate representatives attended the first inter-colonial union conference NSW in 1879. One of those was secretary of the Melbourne Branch of the Progressive Society of Carpenters and Joiners, Mr. Turner.
However, severe economic depression in the 1890s saw a massive attack on workers' organisations by the employing class. The same pattern was repeated in the 1930s, when collapsing businesses again attempted to unload the effects of the crisis onto the backs of workers and their families.
The 1890s depression saw huge struggles on the waterfront and in the shearing industry, resulting in the serious weakening of union organisation across the country. Unionists began to recognise that the gains they won would be best protected if laws could be made by politicians who supported workers instead of bosses. So they formed the Australian Labour Party.
One big industrial union
Some building unionists also recognised the value of having one, strong industrial union to secure a better bargaining position for workers on construction sites. Internationally, the idea of a single union to represent all workers from a particular industry had taken hold in the US and some parts of Europe from the beginning of the 20th century. Australia followed suit but the achievement of an industrial union for the building industry was a long and difficult job.Bricklayers, Builders' Labourers, Carpenters and Plasterers agreed to form a single union in 1922. But it was not until 1942 that bricklayers and carpenters effectively amalgamated to form the Building Workers Industrial Union, which became a federal organisation in 1943.
Over the following decades, work continued on the formation of one union for the industry with the gradual amalgamation of some of the other building craft unions with the BWIU.
For example, the Victorian Tilelayers amalgamated in 1964 and Stonemasons in 1965; in WA, the Bricklayers amalgamated with the BWIU in 1968; SA bricklayers decided to form a Branch of the BWIU in 1968; Qld stonemasons and BWIU amalgamated with the bricklayers in 1973; Nationally, the BWIU, the Plasterers Federation and the Operative Painters and Decorators Union also began working on amalgamation from 1966.
However, the emergence of strong industrial unions in the metal industry was already perceived as a threat by the Conservative Government of the early 1970s. As a result new legislation was enacted preventing any reasonably sized unions from amalgamating. Large unions could only amalgamate with small organisations.
So it was not until the early 1990s that we saw the emergence of One Big Union for the construction industry, the CFMEU Construction & General Division -- with a federal structure and representation in every State and Territory. See Amalgamations.
Each of the building unions in that amalgamation has a long and proud history. At times, that history took different paths in different States, with highs and lows. On other occasions, campaigning together as Building Group Trade Unions, they achieved victories that raised working standards for the whole industry and flowed on to other industries. This overview simply outlines those shared and distinct stories. For more detailed accounts, take a look at the linked stories referred to on this Website and the list of books and pamphlets at the end.
Unity is Strength: struggles and victories to current times
Worker employer relations move to the Courts
Government strengthens Court's penal powers
Post-war building and changing work conditions
1990s: from enterprise to pattern bargaining
Admission to the early building unions was strict. You had to be nominated by other members who had observed your work and could vouch for your skill. The union's role was to guard the customs of each trade.
Trade customs and working conditions were set out in rule books and members who worked on lesser terms were fined. In return for weekly membership fees, the union provided benefits such as strike relief, compensation for loss of tools, sickness and funeral assistance. With no government social welfare at the time, these benefits provided insurance for building workers and an incentive to join the union.
Much of the union's activity was carried out by voluntary officials, elected for short periods by their fellow workers.
One of the earliest recorded victories for Australian building unions was the Stonemasons' campaign for an 8-hour day in the mid 1850s. Firstly on two sites in Sydney, and then right across Melbourne, stonemasons struck and won the 8 hour day (48 hour week).This victory is widely regarded as a world-first.
In Queensland, a building worker who nicknamed himself 'Yacca' wrote a series of letters to the Moreton Bay Courier, between Nov 1, 1856 and August 22, 1857, calling for the introduction of an eight-hour day in that State.
Yacca's letters obviously drew quite a deal of support from building workers because the following advertisement appeared in the Moreton Bay Courier in August 1857:
A meeting of the working men of Brisbane and its vicinity connected with the building trade (not being employers)... on the evening of Wednesday the 9th of September to take into consideration the adoption of the short time movement.
1875-1920: 44 hour week
1897: first Workers' Compensation legislation in Australia
1902 - 1980s: Campaigns for proper amenities on construction sites.
1902: the first building industry safety legislation in the NSW Scaffolding & Lifts Act.
1904: penalty rates for overtime.
1904: waiting time for late payment of wages.
1904: fares and travelling allowance.
The early 20th century also saw the first full-time paid union officials. Outstanding amongst these was the leader of the Bricklayers Union, Jack Kilburn. From fighting conscription in the 1910s, leading the 44 hour week campaign in the 1920s, fighting fascism and becoming a Labor member of parliament in the 1930s, and helping form the Building Workers Industrial Union in the 1940s, Kilburn was a giant of both the industrial and political wings of the labour movement.
Worker employer relations move to the Courts
The introduction of Compulsory Arbitration Legislation in 1904 changed the way unions worked. Previously, union meetings fixed the union wage rate and workers and union officials campaigned directly with employers to achieve it. The introduction of arbitration saw wages and conditions being fixed by Court hearings. Besides bargaining directly, employers and unions spent much time arguing their cases before the Court - just as they do before the Industrial Relations Commission today.This resulted in some gains for workers. For example, the 1907 Harvester case, in which building unions participated, established the notion of 'a fair and reasonable' basic wage - what is called a 'living wage' today, as it was also called back then.
The Court systems also contributed to the creation of industry standards, where benefits from particular awards could be more easily flowed on to other sectors of the industry.
However, the Arbitration Court was established with the aim of reducing strike action and was widely perceived to be an employers' Court.The Archer Award, made in 1913, was the first federal building industry award and applied to builders' labourers in NSW, Vic, Qld, SA and Tas. It established a number of important conditions, including:
Recognition that a higher rate should be paid to casuals.
Introduction of a lost time loading for time lost due to wet weather, waiting between jobs, waiting for materials and sick leave
Standard hours of 44 a week.
When the Progressive Society of Carpenters and Joiners and the Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners amalgamated federally in 1920, the new union, the ASC&J of Australasia, applied for award coverage in Tasmania, Victoria and South Australia. After two years negotiation, the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration registered the Anthony Award - the first federal award to cover the work of carpenters and joiners.
Government strengthens Court's penal powers
It was not long before a Conservative Government amended the legislation to give the Court strong penal powers. As a result, striking unionists in 1928 ended up in jail and their organisations were fined large sums of money for 'inciting strike action'. The Court could also introduce new awards which took away conditions previously won by the workers.In 1929, Judge Luken announced a new award for timber workers which took away the 44-hour week, reduced wages and generally worsened working conditions. When timber workers came out on strike in response to the award, their organisers were fined $1000 each or, in default, sent to jail for three months.
During the 1930s recession, the Arbitration Court nakedly served both employer and government interests by slashing basic wages.
Employer associations also used the Court to directly attack unions by applying for their deregistration. In 1948 the Federal Office and Victorian branch of the BWIU were de-registered and remained outside the system for a period lasting for 14 years. The Court's decision was in response to a campaign of industrial action being taken by the union in support of parity wage rates for on and off-site timber workers. But it also reflected the conservative, and explicitly anti-communist, bias of the courts.
Not long afterwards, the Court endorsed the formation of a new building union, which took the name of the former Amalgamated Society of Carpenters & Joiners. The new ASC&J was supported by the employers and strongly associated with the Catholic right wing organisation, known as the 'Movement' - see the CFMEU a progressive 'left' union.
Post-war building and changing work conditions
Many conditions taken for granted today were not enjoyed by building workers until World War II. These included annual leave, decent amenities (on some jobs), wet weather payment, even the humble 'smoko' break… It's an interesting indicator on how tough workers had it in the early days - conditions actually improved during wartime. In the years following the war, many ex-soldiers effectively became adult apprentices under the Commonwealth Rehabilitation Training Scheme. Heavily influential was union president and First World War veteran, Ted Bulmer, who understood the difficulties returned service people faced.And despite significant attacks by employers on building unions, workers continued to make significant gains in this period. Major campaigns were waged to achieve compensation for lost time due to wet weather, increased travel allowances and payment for exceptionally dirty conditions.
By the end of 1946, the Victorian Building Trades Federation had secured employers' agreement to an 8-hour a week wet weather allowance, after a campaign of lightning stoppages and go-slows. If it rained during any one week, workers would be paid up for lost time up to a limit of 8 hours.
The wet weather deal was matched with increases in basic wages and a new standard of travel allowance that subsequently flowed on to other States.
Safety became an issue of greater concern. And as the height of dams and commercial buildings soared, workers also demanded compensation for the greater risks involved.
Because of the limits of fire ladders and steam-pumped water pressure, the heights of buildings in Sydney were restricted to 150 feet until 1957. The lifting of those restrictions signalled the beginning of the modern multi-storey era. With hundreds of workers concentrated on multi-storey jobs, the whole nature of the industry changed.
Building workers also fought to secure conditions, such as the right to long service leave, which was available to other workers.
The first long service breakthrough was in Tasmania in 1951, where the government introduced legislation setting up a fund and requiring employers to make payments into it upon termination of a building worker's employment. The SA Government was next, followed by the Victorian and NSW Governments. Building workers in all States were eligible for Long Service Leave benefits by 1974.
In 1960 full daylight training for apprentices was finally achieved after a campaign lasting 20 years. Apprentices had previously to undertake technical studies in the evenings after working on site all day.
Perhaps the most significant struggle of the 1970s was the achievement of full pay for lost time due to injury, as a result of the Accident Pay Dispute in NSW.
Up to that point building workers who sustained injuries at work were only received a percentage of their pay. The joint campaign by building unions was one of the most effective industrial actions of the period and ranks with the achievement of the 8-hour day as a significant breakthrough for the industry.
From 1971-1974, as environmental issues and the preservation of historic buildings were becoming of greater concern to the community, the NSW Builders' Labourers Federation lead the drive for 'Green Bans' by construction workers on heritage sites. Significant areas of Sydney such as the famous Rocks District were preserved as a result. Actions were also taken up in varying degrees in other States. Bans campaigns also saved from demolition many Melbourne landmarks including the Queen Victoria Market, the Regent Theatre and the City Baths.
Campaigns by five building unions, led by the BWIU, also resulted in the achievement of a National Building and Construction Award in March 1975. This replaced 30 State Awards, and consolidated many of the gains in wages, working conditions and social demands that had been won as a result of workers' struggles in the various States.
Indeed a deep rivalry developed between the BWIU and the BLF over who could make the greater advances. Sadly, the relationship was to deteriorate in the years ahead, through to the BLF's deregistration, federally and in Victoria, NSW and ACT, in 1986. Fortunately, in recent years those divisions have been overcome.
Significant wins by building workers during the 1980s and 1990s
an Industry Superannuation Scheme (1984);
Redundancy Pay as an Award right (1989)
National Redundancy Scheme (1995)
Training levy in WA (1995) and Qld (1999) the collection system is different in each State but the outcome in both is a dedicated Training Fund to ensure skill development for the workforce.
The WA CFMEU was at the forefront of the union campaign against the draconian 'third wave' industrial relations legislation introduced by the Court State Government and IR Minister Kierath. Solidarity Park was built in 1997, during this campaign, when a Workers Embassy was established on a strip of vacant land opposite Parliament House in Perth. After the protest ended, the trade union movement left behind a beautiful park with permanent shelters, barbeques and monuments dedicated to Mark Allen and all workers who have died as a result of their work. (Mark Allen was a young BLPPU Organising Works organiser who was killed on a building site attempting to get workers off an unsafe roof.)
Solidarity Park is now used by a large range of community groups and has become a permanent feature of the West Perth landscape.
Portable Sick Leave in Victoria (1997). Untaken sick leave is credited to the Portable Scheme on termination and may be used by the worker in his/her next job.
The 36-hour week for all construction projects in Victoria (2000).
1990s: from enterprise to pattern bargaining
Changes in Australian industrial relations over the past 15 years, with the switch to 'enterprise bargaining' and Liberal Government attacks on Award conditions won over the years, have placed further demands on trade unions. The CFMEU challenged the ACTU-ALP enterprise bargaining strategy with the alternative, industry-wide collective bargaining approach, as far back as 1993.That thinking has formed the basis for the union's successful industry-wide approach to wage agreements - known as pattern bargaining.
Industry-level collective bargaining was formally endorsed by the ACTU in 1997 and has now been adopted by other left- and right-wing unions.
Everything building workers have won has had to be fought for, and always in the face of opposition from big business, the press and conservative politicians. Inch by inch, the wages and conditions building workers enjoy today have been won. And because building unions have played such a pioneering role, their efforts have benefited not only themselves but all Australian workers.
The key ingredient has been the long-running radical political tradition of building union activists – Kilburn, Bulmer, Clancy and Mundey are but a few examples. Other larger than life figures in the history of the building unions that make up the CFMEU include: Frank Purse, Tom McDonald, Stan Sharkey – all BWIU; Paddy Malone, Norm Gallagher – BLF; Jack Ellis (OPDU) and Jack Cambourne (FEDFA). The strength of this tradition has given the militant building unions not only a gritty character, but a breadth of vision starkly lacking in the more conservative unions.The CFMEU is not just a workers’ organization but an integral part of the campaign for a just and more equal society. It is a proud tradition that dates from the early days of the building unions and one we are determined to continue.
2005 – Unprecedented attacks on CFMEU
It is for this very reason the CFMEU is a target for reactionary sections of the employer class. The Federal Government has drafted special legislation for the building and construction industry. The conservations do not like trade unions but in particular have a hatred for story and effective ones.The new laws aimed at destroying the CFMEU in 2005 are some of the most repressive in the world.
Bibliography
Sources for this history of the CFMEU include:
On Strong Foundations: The BWIU and industrial relations in the Australian Construction Industry 1942-1992, by Glenn Mitchell (Harcourt Brace: Sydney 1996)
A Brush with History - the Painters' Union and the Australian Labour Movement, by John Spierings (Highland House Melbourne 1994)
A History of Industrial Relations in the Sydney Building Trades 1870-1914, by Alice Maeve Coolican (unpublished University of NSW PhD thesis, 1989)
On Strong Foundations: A short history of the Building Workers' Industrial Union of Australia - Pat Clancy (unpublished pamphlet, c1980 )
Civilising the Industry: A reflection on the role of the Builders' Labourers Federation in Australian Industry and Society (undated pamphlet)
Intimate Union: Sharing a Revolutionary Life, by Tom and Audrey McDonald (Pluto Press: Sydney, 1998)
Green Bans, Red Union: Environmental activism and the New South Wales Buiders Labourers' Federation by Meredith Burgmann and Verity Burgmann (UNSW Press, 1998)
'It must be true … it's in the papers!' Building Workers and the Press: 160 Years of Anti-Union Propaganda, by Paul True (NSW Branch CFMEU: Sydney, 1999
