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The Origins and History of the Transport Workers' Union of Australia, 1883-1975

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The Origins and History of the Transport Workers' Union of Australia, 1883-1975 University of Wollongong Research Online University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 1954-2016 University of Wollongong Thesis Collections 1991 The origins and history of the Transport Workers' Union of Australia, 1883-1975 Bradley Bowden University of Wollongong Follow this and additional works at: https://ro.uow.edu.au/theses University of Wollongong Copyright Warning You may print or download ONE copy of this document for the purpose of your own research or study. The University does not authorise you to copy, communicate or otherwise make available electronically to any other person any copyright material contained on this site. You are reminded of the following: This work is copyright. Apart from any use permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part of this work may be reproduced by any process, nor may any other exclusive right be exercised, without the permission of the author. Copyright owners are entitled to take legal action against persons who infringe their copyright. A reproduction of material that is protected by copyright may be a copyright infringement. A court may impose penalties and award damages in relation to offences and infringements relating to copyright material. Higher penalties may apply, and higher damages may be awarded, for offences and infringements involving the conversion of material into digital or electronic form. Unless otherwise indicated, the views expressed in this thesis are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the University of Wollongong. Recommended Citation Bowden, Bradley, The origins and history of the Transport Workers' Union of Australia, 1883-1975, Doctor of Philosophy thesis, Department of History and Politics, University of Wollongong, 1991. https://ro.uow.edu.au/theses/1443 Research Online is the open access institutional repository for the University of Wollongong. For further information contact the UOW Library: [email protected] THE ORIGINS AND HISTORY OF THE TRANSPORT WORKERS’ UNION OF AUSTRALIA 1883-1975 A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY from THE UNIVERSITY OF WOLLONGONG by BRADLEY BOWDEN B.A.(HONS) UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND UNIVERSITY Of WOLLONGONG LIBRARY DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY AND POLITICS July 1991 012197 Ill Abstract This thesis traces the origins and history of the Transport Workers' Union of Australia between the early 1880s and 1975, analysing the factors that aided and constrained its emergence as the predominant trade union organisation in Australia's road transport sector. In attempting to organise road transport workers the Transport Workers' Union and its predecessor organisations have faced peculiar problems. Road transport is a highly fragmented industry, with drivers spending a large part of their working lives isolated from each other within their vehicles. While the Transport Workers' Union and its predecessor organisations have found their strongest support amongst workers employed by large professional carrying firms, the majority of drivers have been employed by firms for whom transport has been merely an ancillary part of their business. In addition the industry has remained characterised by the continued existence of a large workforce of owner-drivers with interests and aspirations often different from those of wage-earning drivers. If Australia's pioneer road transport unions were forced to rely on unilateral or collective bargaining backed by industrial action during the 1880s and 1890s in attempting to regulate employment conditions, the union's subsequent development has been largely shaped by the structures of compulsory arbitration, and the strategies which the union has developed to utilise or oppose those structures. Politically support for arbitration within the union was identified with the Labor Party, which sought to use the regulation of working conditions through compulsory arbitration as an adjunct to parliamentary reforms that would civilise, rather than overturn, capitalist social relationships. By contrast, until 1956 supporters of industrial militancy and collective bargaining backed by industrial action within the union tended to be associated with either radical socialists or communists who sought to link industrial struggles with the revolutionary transformation of society. IV Between the early 1900s and the mid-1950s tensions between an arbitration- oriented strategy and collective bargaining backed by industrial action provided the major factor inhibiting attempts to create a single union covering all of Australia's road transport workers. While supporters of laborism and an arbitration-oriented strategy dominated the union's history between 1901 and 1956, rigid reliance on arbitration resulted in the conservatisation and bureaucratisation of the union. This strategy did little for self­ employed drivers who had provided the backbone of many of the pioneer road transport unions during the late nineteenth century. Attempts by radical socialists between 1910 and 1914 to challenge the union's reliance on arbitration proved unsuccessful. Similarly, communist efforts to dislodge the Labor leadership of the TWU during the 1940s initiated a prolonged period of factional strife that seriously weakened the union's internal cohesion without affecting its reliance on compulsory arbitration. After 1956 the TWU witnessed the gradual disintegration of the communist presence within the union. At the same time a new generation of industrially militant Labor activists gained control of it. While remaining broadly divided between Left and Right—divisions that contributed to a formal split between the Federal and NSW Branches during 1969—these activists were able to successfully combine elements of both an arbitration-oriented strategy and collective bargaining backed by industrial action. By combining these two strategies the TWU was able to maximise its gains within Australia's industrial relations system, securing major gains for both wage-earning and self-employed drivers. These gains, however, resulted in the union civilising, rather than overturning, capitalist social and economic relationships within the road transport industry. V Acknowledgements This thesis was funded by a scholarship provided by the Transport Workers’ Union over a three year period. In addition the union provided access to its records and minutes, without at any point attempting to influence either the writing of this thesis or its conclusions. For all the support offered by the union the author is especially grateful. Special thanks must be offered to Ivan Hodgson, the TWU’s Federal Secretary, and the various Branch Secretaries who made their records and minutes freely available. Additional thanks must also be offered to my supervisors, Jim Hagan and Andrew Wells, for their help and encouragement. Acknowledgement must also be given to the skill and care of Marion Allen and Kerri Meikle in typing this thesis. Throughout the writing of this thesis the greatest support has come from my wife Toni and my daughter Katrina, who left friends and family in Brisbane so that this study could be undertaken. Without their encouragement this thesis would not have been completed. VI Abbreviations ACTU Australian Council of Trade Unions ACU Australian Carriers' Union AEHR Australian Economic History Review AEU Amalgamated Engineers' Union AGPS Australian Government Printing Service ALF Australian Labour Federation ALP Australian Labor Party AMIEU Australian Meat Industry Employees' Union ANU Australian National University ANUABL Australian National University Archives of Business and Labour ARTF Australian Road Transport Federation ARTWU Amalgamated Road Transport Workers' Union ASPRDA Adelaide and Suburban Port Road Drivers' Association ASU Australian Shearers' Union AWU Australian Workers' Union AWU(Q) Australian Workers' Union (Queensland) BCOM Branch Committee of Management BJIR British Journal of Industrial Relations CAR Commonwealth Arbitration Reports CARR Commonwealth Arbitration Commission's Registrar's Records CDEADC Carters' and Drivers' Employers' Arbitration Defence Committee CLR Commonwealth Law Reports CPA Communist Party of Australia CPP Commonwealth Parliamentary Papers CQCU Central Queensland Carriers' Union FCOM Federal Committee of Management FEDFA Federated Engine Drivers' and Firemans' Association FLR Federal Law Report GC&CCA General Carriage and Cartage Contractors' Association GDP Gross Domestic Product GNP Gross National Product H&MDU Horse and Motor Drivers' Union IBT International Brotherhood of Teamsters IPEC Interstate Parcel Express Company IRO Industrial Research Officer IWW Industrial Workers' of the World JIR Journal of Industrial Relations LDRTA Long Distance Road Transport Association LODA Lorry Owner-Drivers' Association MCA Master Carriers' Association MLC Maritime Labour Council MOEA Motor Omnibus Employee's Association MT&CA Motor Transport and Chauffeurs' Association NCC National Civil Council NFFA National Freight Forwarders' Association NLB New Left Books NSW New South Wales NSWAR New South Wales Arbitration Reports NS WIG New South Wales Industrial Gazettes NS WPP New South Wales Parliamentary Papers NSWRTA New South Wales Road Transport Association NSW VP New South Wales Votes and Proceedings OMLDA Owner Motor Lorry Drivers' Association PJT Prices Justification Tribunal Q'ld Queensland QGG Queensland Government Gazettes QIG Queensland Industrial Gazettes QLU Queensland Labourers' Union QSU Queensland Shearers' Union QVP Queensland
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