Strikes: limits to industrial action?

The great strikes of the 1890s ushered in a century in which major strikes represented the most dramatic feature of Queensland’s industrial history. This chapter surveys those major strike waves where union strike behaviour commonly comprises an initial successful strike, encouraging a union belief in the efficacy of industrial action, followed by crushing defeat at the hands of employers assisted or led by governments. These include the strikes of the 1890s, the 1911 Sugar Strike and 1912 Tramway Strike, the Rail Strike of 1925 and South Johnstone Strike of 1927, the meat dispute of 1946 and Rail Strike of 1948 and the SEQEB (South East Queensland Electricity Board) disputes of the 1980s. This chapter finds that the pattern of strike successes and failures has caused unions to reconsider their strategies towards political rather than industrial action or to the pursuit of more modest industrial aims, rather than militant activity. This chapter also argues that government action is critical in ending these major strike surges. The escalation of disputation resulted in government being invariably drawn in, particularly when essential services, such as transport and electricity supply were disrupted.