The 1949 Coal Strike, the Repercussions and how it Affected the

Working Class and Government Relations

Lauren Stephenson 18472320

The Australian coal strike of 1949 until the 15th August when they were

occurred in the state of New South Wales finally defeated. The miners were in

(NSW) and began on the 27th of June. The continual talks over their terms and

coal strike was called on by the Miner’s agreements of returning to work, but these

Federation calling for a reduction in the terms were never fully met or were met in

working week from 40 hours to 35 hours, obscene conditions. The working class

introduction of long service leave, increase man in history, has shown to always be put

in wages to 30 shillings per week and pit last. Coalminers were tired of the

amenities. The coal strike of NSW was one treatment they were receiving and and

of many rebellions against government and working in the conditions they were in.

power of the early 20th century. Miners How events before, during and after the

everywhere around Australia were strike affected relations between the

suffering under government and working class and the government is

corporation control. The miners were detailed more throughly in this essay.

seeking better conditions within and

outside of mines as they were overworked,

underpaid and working in horrible

conditions that would reduced a mans

lifespan. The miners declared strike on the

27th June 1949 and it lasted for 7 weeks

 The Coal Strike and its declared strike of coal mines around NSW.

23,000 miners went on strike between 27th

Beginnings
June and 15th August. Before the defeat it
Before the 1949 coal strike, coalminers
was clear that miners had problems and
were experiencing a time of hardships. In
they wanted them dealt with as soon as
1937, a shaft at the Wonthaggi State Coal
possible. The arbitration courts were not
Mine in Victoria, exploded resulting in 12
helping so coalminers believed striking
deaths. The explosion was clear, the shaft
was their last option that would make the
had been over worked and was falling
government and big business listen. As
apart.1 In 1948, a year before the NSW
shown in figure 13 , miners are shown to be
coal strike, Queensland railway workers
voting in the Sydney Domain on 10th July
declared strike in a bid to have their
1949, where the miners regularly came
weekly wages increased.2 These events led
together to discuss the strike and news
a pathway for the coalminers to start a
about negotiations and conditions. It is
strike. A year after the Queensland
clear in the picture that the Federation had
Railway Strike, the Miners’ Federation
a lot of support behind its declaration to

strike. Unity of unions during this time

was important and this picture shows that

coalminers were sticking together through

the difficult times that lay ahead. The fight

of the strike is said by Ross as “a fight

Figure 1.
between the working-class and Australian
Crowd of coalminers voting for
their future in Sydney

1 ‘Disaster at Wonthaggi Coal Pit’, The Canberra 3 Coalminers strike, 1949 [image], (10 July 1949) <

Times, 16 Feb. 1937, 1, in Trove [online database], https://openresearch-

accessed 11 Oct. 2018 repository.anu.edu.au/handle/1885/10251>,
2 ‘Queensland Rail Workers on Strike’, The
accessed 8 Oct. 2018.
Canberra Times, 3 Feb. 1948, 1, in Trove [online
database], accessed 11 Oct. 2018
 Monopoly Capitalism”4 . Big business and Coal Board and the Government that they

the Australian Labor Party (ALP) were not should succeed”6. This failure to agree to

willing to agree the the terms put forth by terms with not only the long-service leave

the Federation. scheme, but with the other terms created

the breakdown and resulted in the strike

that took place no more than a month later.

The Breakdown of between Other breakdowns such as pit amenities or

the working conditions of the pits were to

the Coalminers, the Labour
be improved with the new production
Government and Coal target being increased to 13,000,000 tons

Owners. or 275,000 tons a week.7 The Coal Boards

new policy was “more production, before

Talks had been going on since May 19, a
improvements”, created a division between
month before the strike started. Talks were
the miners and the board and the owners.
between the Miners Federation, coal
The Federation rejected this new policy as
owners, the Coal Board, the Federal and
“amenities and improved working
State governments, negotiating the long
conditions must be implemented in order
service leave under a work 7 years to
to ensure maximum production” 8. The
receive 3 months leave which had been
Coal Board and the coal owners expected
lodged by the Tribunal in February 1948.5
increased production in the mines without
These terms were approved but as stated
improving the conditions of the miners.
by Ross, “the negotiations failed because it
Production levels were increased to an all
was never intended by the owners, the

4 Edgar Ross and Australasian Coal Shale 5 Ibid, p. 15.

Employees’ Federation, Coal Front: An Account of 6 Ibid, p. 15.

the 1949 Coal Strike and the Issues It Raised, 7 Ibid, p. 15.

(Sydney: Issued under the authorisation of the 8 Ibid, p. 17

Miners’ Federation, 1950), 2.

time high and miners were pushed to the Federation didn’t agree or take any

edge of their working capability. conditions in the end, it was a matter of

just giving up and returning to work.

Failed Negotiations

Negotiations didn’t go as planned. Talks The Governments Agenda

and discussions between miners, coal mine The government also had an agenda. The

owners, the Joint Coal Board, and the Coal government stripped the miners of basic

Industry Tribunal led to the owners needs. “On June 29, the Commonwealth

coming to the rejection of the conditions Parliament passed through all stages a

that the Federation put forth. The 35-hour National Emergency (Coal Strike) Act

work week was rejected, long-service which prohibited the payment, or the

leave was made conditional but on obscene receipt, of money or other benefits for the

exceptions, no change to pit and town purpose of continuing the strike”10. This

amenities. Instead of just rejecting the pay act in turn resulted in ‘starving’ the miners

rise outright, the owners suggested families. For 2 months, miners received no

incentive payments in place of an actual benefits from the government and were

weekly pay rise and added that they required to make do with what they had.

wanted the elimination of compulsory As stated by Deery, “never before had

retirement age of 60 years.9 The conditions striking workers experienced to such

were neither met nor altered in a way that extent the full weight of State repression

would accommodate the miners. The end from a government to which they owed

of the strike came as a surprise as the political allegiance”11. As shown in figure

9 Jack Blake, ‘The 1949 Coal Strike’, Australian Left 11 Philip Deery, ‘Chiefly, The Army and the Coal

Review, 1/70 (1979), 12 Strike’, Labour History, 68 (1995), 93.

10 ‘Australia: Collapse of the Coal Mine’, The Round

Table: The Commonwealth Journal of International

Affairs, 40/157-160 (1949), p. 82
212, it was clear to Ross and the demonstrates how powerful the

Australasian Coal Shale Employee’s government can be and that the Labor

Federation that the government didn’t Party was no longer a supported of labour

want to listen or acknowledge the unions and groups. The ALP also decided

conditions in which the miners had put it was best to bring in the army. “Highly

forth. The figure shows that the ‘voice of authoritarian unitarism involves state

labor’ see’s the miners as a problem. action to repress union organisation or

Figure 2 demonstrates how the miners and particular union activities by the use of

how Australians viewed the government police, military…” 13, the ALP wanted

during the strike. It is clear that bystanders more than to stop the strike, they wanted to

saw the government as acting cruel and repress and cut down union organisation

careless towards the miners. The image because they knew instances like these

would have detrimental affects on the

country but also selfishly on their stance in

government. The use of the army was

declared on the 27th July that if miners did

not return to work by the 1st of August,

then the military would be brought in to

work the open cut mines. This created a

great rift between the ALP and the

Federation.
Figure 2.
Miners just demands ripped by
government officials.

12 ‘The Voice of Labor’, 1950, in Edgar Ross and authorisation from the Miners’ Federation, 1950),
Australian Coal Shale and Employee’s Federation, 103
Coal Front: An Account of the 1949 Coal Strike and 13 Sheldon and Thornthwaite, ‘The State, Labour

the Issues it Raised, (Sydney: Issued under the and the Writing of Australian Labour History’,
Labour History, 100/1 (2011), 90
 No End to the Negotiations impact it might have upon the Australian

mining industry. Propaganda such as this

and Use of Propaganda
put fear into the viewer and created a fear
Propaganda from the ALP continued with
of Communism infiltrating the country.
clippings in newspapers such as featured in
The government saw the coalminers as

Communist because they demanded better

conditions and better pay, but in fact this is

not necessarily a Communist view, but a

view of human rights. If the Labor Party

would not negotiate with the strikers then

the strikers would not negotiate with the

party, and it is believed that this act of

bring in the army cost the Labor Party its

election later in the year. As stated by Lee,

he suggests that there were some major

reasons as to why the the government

didn’t agree to the conditions, one of them

Figure 3. being the fact that is “long-service leave

Propaganda done by Bulletin newspaper
presenting strikers as angry Communists
were to be introduced…employees in other

industries would inevitable seek similar

figure 3.14 This drawing shows how the
treatment” 15 and also the fact that it has
government believed Communists were
‘technical difficulties’. Long-service leave
controlling the strike and the coal. The
would result in employee drifting,
party was fearful of Communism and the

14 Ted Scorfield, Bulletin, 29 June 1949, 4, in Trove 15 David Lee, ‘The 1949 federal election: a

[online database], accessed 11 Oct. 2018 reinterpretation’, Australian Journal of Political

Science, 29/3 (2007), 505
manpower shortage and the biggest Australia in turmoil by siding with

problem, being able to finance the Communists. The government were

scheme.16 seeking a way to get miners to return to a

more civil negotiation of arbitration.

Continual Use of Propaganda Figure 4 demonstrates how fearful the

Australian government were of

and the Repercussions at the
succumbing to Communist ideals and used
end of the Strike

Repercussions for the ALP were

disastrous. Due to the governments ill-

attempt at trying to end the strike in a

respectful manner, the government did not

intervene and essentially cost Australia a

loss of £140,000,000 through the stopping

of coal production. The government spent

£24,000 alone on just advertisements, just

Figure 4.
Propaganda approved by Ben Chiefly (PM)
guilt and harass the miners. 17 urging miners to return to arbitration

Advertisements such as this is depicted in

figure 418 were used as propaganda. An arbitration as their way to guide miners

advertisement that was authorised by the back in. As stated by Sheldon and

Prime Minister at the time, Ben Chifley, to Thornthwaite, “compulsory arbitration

create a guilt around miners leaving became the dominant form of labour

16 Ibid, p. 505 18 ‘Britain and the Dominions Face Crucial
17 Edgar Ross and Australasian Coal Shale
Problems in the Very Near Future’, The Age, 11
Employees’ Federation, Coal Front: An Account of July 1949, in National Archives of Australia [online
the 1949 Coal Strike and the Issues It Raised, database], accessed 28 September 2018.
(Sydney: Issued under the authorisation of the
Miners’ Federation, 1950), 6.
market regulation for much of that century the federal level of government.

[20th]” 19 and was introduced in NSW as a Repercussions for the miners were harsh.

“Industrial Arbitration Court in 1901” 20. Miners returned to work without agreeing

This propaganda add that was placed in to any terms, but returning on the basis of

The Age didn’t influence the miners at all. defeat. The long-service leave condition

was accepted but under harsh exceptions.

A miner was able to accrue leave by a rate

The Failed Arbitration of one-eighth of 1 shift for each 5

consecutive shifts. After working 65 shifts,

Scheme
long service leave of 13 weeks was
The arbitrary system was not appealing to
granted, along with another 65 shifts
the working class as it set rules and
resulted in another 13 weeks leave. Even
regulations that were obscene. As stated by
with these terms, miners were not aloud to
Sheldon and Thornthwaite, “industrial
take their leave until January 1st 1954.22
relation, particularly unions and strikes,
Problems continued as the miners went
and how these shaped and were shaped by
back to work. Due to the fact that the
the arbitral system”21. The system that was
miners returned to work without agreeing
supposed to be the mediator between
to terms and conditions, resulting in a lag
employer and employees was not working,
in conditions being met. Problems of
and that is why propaganda such as in
“maintaining and increasing the industrial
figure 4, didn’t appeal to the struggling
labour force, reclaiming wasted coal
coalminers and created a repercussion for
resources (with almost daily occurrences

19 Sheldon and Thornthwaite, ‘The State, Labour 22 Edgar Ross and Australasian Coal Shale

and the Writing of Australian Labour History’, Employees’ Federation, Coal Front: An Account of
Labour History, 100/1 (2011), 84 the 1949 Coal Strike and the Issues It Raised,
20 Ibid, p. 90 (Sydney: Issued under the authorisation of the
21 Ibid, p. 84 Miners’ Federation, 1950), 118-119
of fires and floods on the Maitland coal and groups. Communism was finally

field) and stability the coal industry”23. flushed out, the ALP eventually lost the

election, miners returned to work with the

Conclusion of the Strike and harsh conditions that hadn’t changed or

hadn’t come to an agreement to change in

the Aftermath
the near future. Coalminers were defeated
The coal strike shed a light on the
with no sight of any reward for their
importance to strike and how important it
efforts in the strike.
was that a government that was in charge,

supported the middle men, the working

class. The working class of Australia

during the peak of the coal production

were extremely important. Australia relied

on these people to produce and work hard

to make Australia a thriving country,

without the help of the government and big

business that control the production of

products, the working class cannot keep up

with demand. The working class are the

back bone of any country, and it was clear

in 1949 that the government and other

groups should have had a hand in

protecting their future and livelihoods. The

1949 coal strike affected a lot of people

23 Ibid, p. 121
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