The 1951 New Zealand waterfront dispute was the largest and most widespread industrial dispute in New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

 history. During the time, up to twenty thousand workers went on strike

Strike action

Strike action, also called labour strike, on strike, greve , or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labour became...

 in support of waterfront workers protesting financial hardships and working conditions. Thousands more refused to handle "scab

Strikebreaker

A strikebreaker is a person who works despite an ongoing strike. Strikebreakers are usually individuals who are not employed by the company prior to the trade union dispute, but rather hired prior to or during the strike to keep the organisation running...

" goods. The dispute, sometimes referred to as the waterfront lockout

Lockout (industry)

A lockout is a work stoppage in which an employer prevents employees from working. This is different from a strike, in which employees refuse to work.- Causes :...

or waterfront strike, lasted 151 days—from 13 February to 15 July 1951.

Background

The distance of New Zealand and Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 from their traditional markets, meant that ports played a pivotal role in the economies of the countries. The waterfront inevitably became point of conflict between workers and their unions on one side, and the employers and the state on the other.

During the Second World War due to labour shortages, watersiders and other workers worked long hours, often as much as 15-hour days. Following the war, on the wharves working hours continued to be high. In January 1951 the Arbitration Court

Court of Arbitration (New Zealand)

The Court of Arbitration was a specialist employment court in New Zealand that dealt with industrial relations disputes from 1894 to 1973.The Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act 1894 created a compulsory arbitration system for resolving industrial disputes. Part of this involved the...

 awarded a 15% wage increase to all workers covered by the industrial arbitration system. This did not apply to waterside workers, whose employment was controlled by the Waterfront Industry Commission

Waterfront Control Commission

The Waterfront Control Commission was a body set up during the Second World War war by the New Zealand government to run the wharves, which were vital to the war effort. The Commission had the power to control loading and unloading of ships, to organise the work so that a better despatch was...

. The shipping companies that employed the watersiders instead offered 9%. The watersiders then refused to work overtime in protest, and the employers locked them out.

The attitude of the watersiders puzzled many rural New Zealanders. The 40-hour-week legislation had been introduced supposedly to "protect" factory workers who had chosen to work long hours all year round. But New Zealand also had an agricultural economy, requiring all farm-workers – shepherds, shearers, hay-makers, truck-drivers, freezing-workers, fruit pickers – to work longer hours in summer, with much more free time in winter. In addition, watersiders and freezing workers were already earning incomes approximately 30% higher than most workers, receiving about 10 shillings an hour. In comparison, schoolteachers and truck drivers were getting about 7/-, female chefs 5/- and nuns teaching in Catholic schools 1/6 an hour. Wool prices tripled in 1951 and farmers who had been struggling to survive on small sheep farms, getting low wool prices for 22 years, were starting to pay off their debts. They felt that the watersiders were trying to blackmail them by refusing to work according to the agricultural work cycle.

The watersiders’ union had strong leadership. President Jock Barnes

Jock Barnes

Harold "Jock" Barnes was a New Zealand trade unionist and syndicalist, leader of the Waterside Workers Union from 1944 to 1952. He was heavily involved in the 1951 New Zealand waterfront dispute. His memoir "Never A White Flag" was published in 1998....

 and secretary Toby Hill spearheaded trade unionism in New Zealand, by starting the Trade Union Congress in a breakaway from the Federation of Labour (which was allied to the Labour Party).

The strike

The strike was a major political issue of the time. The National

New Zealand National Party

The New Zealand National Party is the largest party in the New Zealand House of Representatives and in November 2008 formed a minority government with support from three minor parties.-Policies:...

 government

First National Government of New Zealand

The First National Government of New Zealand was the government of New Zealand from 1949 to 1957. It was a conservative government best remembered for its role in the 1951 waterfront dispute. It also began the repositioning of New Zealand in the cold war environment...

, led by Sidney Holland

Sidney Holland

Sir Sidney George Holland, GCMG, CH was the 25th Prime Minister of New Zealand from 13 December 1949 to 20 September 1957.-Early life:...

 and the Minister of Labour William Sullivan

William Sullivan (New Zealand)

Sir William Sullivan was a New Zealand politician of the National Party.He represented the Bay of Plenty electorate from the 1941 by-election after the death of Gordon Hultquist to 13 February 1957, when he resigned following the death of his son who ran the family construction business.He was the...

, introduced Emergency Regulations, and brought in the navy and army to work the wharves. Holland condemned the action as "industrial anarchy", and explicitly sought a mandate to deal with the strike in the 1951 elections

New Zealand general election, 1951

The 1951 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the New Zealand Parliament's 30th term. It saw the governing National Party remain in office, increasing its lead over the opposition Labour Party.-Background:...

. The government was re-elected with an increased majority. The opposition Labour Party

New Zealand Labour Party

The New Zealand Labour Party is a New Zealand political party. It describes itself as centre-left and socially progressive and has been one of the two primary parties of New Zealand politics since 1935....

, led by Walter Nash

Walter Nash

Sir Walter Nash, GCMG, CH served as the 27th Prime Minister of New Zealand in the Second Labour Government from 1957 to 1960, and was also highly influential in his role as Minister of Finance...

, attempted to take a moderate position in the dispute, with Nash saying that "we are not for the waterside workers, and we are not against them". Labour's neutral position merely ended up displeasing both sides, however, and Nash was widely accused of indecision and lack of courage.

The strike has been described as "a key element in the mythologies of the industrial left in this country [New Zealand]".

Further reading

• Dick Scott 151 Days New Zealand Waterside Workers Union.
• Jock Barnes (edited by Tom Bramble) Never a White Flag Victoria University Press.

External links

• The 1951 waterfront dispute at NZHistory.net.nz