Victorian Trades Hall
Encyclopedia
Trades Hall
A Trades Hall is an English term for a building where trade unions meet together, or work from cooperatively, as a local representative organisation, known as a Labor Council or Trades Hall Council...
building located in the suburb of Carlton
Carlton, Victoria
Carlton is an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 2 km north from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Melbourne...
, Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
, 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...
, and home to the Victorian Trades Hall Council
Victorian Trades Hall Council
The Victorian Trades Hall Council is a representative body of trade union organisations, known as a Labour council, in the State of Victoria, Australia...
.
It is located on the corner of Lygon Street
Lygon Street, Melbourne
Lygon Street is a street in inner northern Melbourne, Australia running through the suburbs of Carlton, Carlton North, Princes Hill and Brunswick East. Lygon Street's name has become synonymous with Italian restaurants and cafés located in the Carlton part of the street...
and Victoria Street
Victoria Street, Melbourne
Victoria Street is one of the major thoroughfares of inner Melbourne. Running east to west, Victoria Street touches the Hoddle Grid at the intersection of La Trobe Street and Spring Street, opposite the Carlton Gardens. It runs from its terminus at the intersection of Munster Terrace in North...
, just north of the Melbourne central business district.
The original Trades Hall was opened in May 1859 after being built by workers as an organising place for the labour movement
Labour movement
The term labour movement or labor movement is a broad term for the development of a collective organization of working people, to campaign in their own interest for better treatment from their employers and governments, in particular through the implementation of specific laws governing labour...
in Melbourne. The workers financed the construction of the building themselves. The hall underwent an upgrade from 1874 to 1925 at the hands of architectural firm Reed & Barnes
Joseph Reed (architect)
Joseph Reed , a Cornishman by birth, was probably the most influential Victorian era architect in Melbourne, Australia. He established a practice, Reed and Barnes in Melbourne in 1852. The practice now known as Bates Smart is one of the oldest continually operating in the world.Reed's buildings...
and it remains one of the most historically important sites in Melbourne today, being classified by the National Trust and included in the Register of Historic Buildings (Victoria).
The hall is located across the road from the eight hour day monument which was erected to honour the Victorian workers who won the first 8 hour working day in the world in 1856. It is the birthplace of organisations like the Victorian Labor Party and Australian Council of Trade Unions
Australian Council of Trade Unions
The Australian Council of Trade Unions is the largest peak body representing workers in Australia. It is a national trade union centre of 46 affiliated unions.-History:The ACTU was formed in 1927 as the "Australian Council of Trade Unions"...
.
Four flags fly from the roof of the building; the Australian Flag
Flag of Australia
The flag of Australia is a defaced Blue Ensign: a blue field with the Union Flag in the canton , and a large white seven-pointed star known as the Commonwealth Star in the lower hoist quarter...
, the Eureka Flag
Eureka Flag
The Eureka Flag is a design; a dark blue field with a central white symmetric cross consisting five eight-pointed stars, representing the Crux constellation....
, the Australian Aboriginal flag
Australian Aboriginal Flag
The Australian Aboriginal Flag is a flag that represents Indigenous Australians. It is one of the official "Flags of Australia", and holds special legal and political status, but it is not the "Australian National Flag"...
, and the red flag
Red flag
In politics, a red flag is a symbol of Socialism, or Communism, or sometimes left-wing politics in general. It has been associated with left-wing politics since the French Revolution. Socialists adopted the symbol during the Revolutions of 1848 and it became a symbol of communism as a result of its...
.
Trades Hall is home to many of the Victorian trade unions, left-wing political parties
Political Parties
Political Parties: A Sociological Study of the Oligarchical Tendencies of Modern Democracy is a book by sociologist Robert Michels, published in 1911 , and first introducing the concept of iron law of oligarchy...
and radical
Far left
Far left, also known as the revolutionary left, radical left and extreme left are terms which refer to the highest degree of leftist positions among left-wing politics...
organisations. It also serves as the headquarters of the National Union of Students
National Union of Students
-British Isles:*National Union of Students**National Union of Students-Union of Students in Ireland**National Union of Students Scotland**National Union of Students Wales-Scandinavia:*Danish National Union of Students*National Union of Students in Finland...
. The various rooms of the hall can be hired out for functions, meetings or conferences and it is often used for theatrical productions and to display artwork. The hall has a bar which is patronised by trade union members and political activists and a bookshop which sells radical texts.
In recent times, as well as being the centre for union activity, the Trades Hall Council has opened the Trades Hall building to many cultural events, plays, and concerts including the Melbourne Comedy Festival - concentrating on political and 'on the edge' performances.