Working conditions for sheep shearers in nineteenth…

Working conditions for sheep shearers in nineteenth century Australia are not good.

In 1891 wool is one of Australia's largest industries, but as the wool industry had grown, so had the number and influence of shearers.

By 1890, the Amalgamated Shearers' Union of Australasia boasted tens of thousands of members, and had unionized thousands of sheds.

At their annual conference in Bourke in 1890, the Union had laid down a new rule, which prohibited members from working with non-union workers.

Soon after, shearers at Jondaryan Station on the Darling Downs had gone on strike over this issue.

As non-union labor was still able to process the wool, the Jondaryan shearers had called for help.

The Rockhampton wharfies had responded and refused to touch the Jondaryan wool.

The unionists won the battle.

This had galvanised the squatters, and they formed the Pastoralists' Federal Council, to counter the strength of the unions.

The Australian Socialist League had also involved itself directly with the shearers as the strike loomed (which will lead to its involvement in the foundation of the Australian Labor Party).

Many union shearers were outraged when Logan Downs Station Manager Charles Fairbain asked the shearers to sign a contract that would reduce the power of their union.

On January 5, 1891 the shearers announce a strike until the following demands for a contract are met:

    Continuation of existing rates of pay
    Protection of workers' rights and privileges
    Just and equitable agreements
    Exclusion of low-cost Chinese labor, which manifests itself later as Labor Party policy—the Immigration Restriction Act, also known as the White Australia Policy—although anti-Chinese demands are opposed by the Australian Socialist League, which is heavily involved with the strike.