Becoming A City: Labour & Work

When the working week was 50 hours
Unionism strengthened during the early years of the century, and many individual unions had their origin in Ipswich. The West Moreton Miners’ Union was formed in Ipswich in 1890 after several tentative earlier attempts, but was practically defunct by 1902. In response to a dispute at Whitwood Colliery, it re-formed in 1906 and two years later, changed its name and scope to become the Queensland Colliery Employees Union (QCEU). In 1917, it bought the National Hall at Booval as its state headquarters.

At the Railway Workshops, unions were formed for individual trade groups. The oldest was said to have been the Amalgamated Engineering Union which was a branch of a British union. Some members such as William Shapcott had joined in England before they came to Australia. This branch also included workers from private foundries such as Phoenix Engineering. Boilermakers belonged to the Federated Society of Boilermakers and Iron Shipbuilders of Australia and the Blacksmiths’ Union was formed in Ipswich about 1912.

The Railway Guards’ Association was formed in 1919 and the Moulders’ Union (whose members worked in the Workshops’ foundry) in 1911. Many other groups had formed their own union. Professional associations included the Teachers Union which had originated from a meeting at Pine Mountain in April 1886.

The Eight Hour Union had begun in Brisbane in the 1860s, promoting the idea of eight hours work, eight hours rest and eight hours leisure. The Union held an annual parade on Eight Hour Day which was later renamed Labour Day. The date of this parade had varied for many years but in 1891, Ipswich and Barcaldine had held their parade on May 1, a date which soon became traditional. Some Ipswich workers had achieved the goal of an eight-hour day by 1904, thanks largely to advanced employers such as Hancocks, but the push continued to extend this to the entire workforce.

In the 1890s, shop assistants and waitresses had some of the worst hours of all employees, some working more than 70 hours a week. The Factories and Shops Act and the Health Act of 1900 had made improvements but in the early 20th century, hours were still long and wages were often low, particularly for women. In 1913, a new Industrial Award for shop assistants provided for a normal working week of 48 hours for women, 50 hours for men and 52 for youths.  For this, the pay for adults was 55/- a week for men and 30/- a week for women. Young people classed as trainees or apprentices were paid 7/6 for boys and 5/- for girls at age 14 and 30/- for boys and 20/- for girls at age 21. [1]

A woman's work
In the Ipswich census district in 1901, about 27% of women over the school leaving age of 12 were classed as employed. Most of these were young and unmarried. The most common occupations for Ipswich women were domestic service, working in a shop, dressmaking and working in the woollen mill, but they were usually expected to resign when they married. Older women were also in the workforce. Some of these were women who had never married and some were widows who were in a difficult position without the Government assistance available today. Age and invalid pensions were available, but child endowment was not introduced universally throughout Australia until 1941 and widows pensions until 1943. Before that, widows relied on charity, their family or their ability to work.

Some employers were helpful, for example when Henry Dimmick was killed in a railway accident, his widow was left with three children to look after. She was given a job as gatekeeper at a railway level crossing.

For women with education beyond primary school, teaching was the most common career. In 1901, the headmistress of Ipswich Girls’ Grammar School Fanny Hunt reported that, of the girls who had passed through the school since it opened in 1892, 15% were working in the educational field, several were working in the clerical area, one had the potential to be a professional singer and was to travel overseas and two were university graduates. The remainder were not in paid employment. Other women’s occupations in 1901 included nurse, boarding-house keeper, pedlar, telephone officer and photographic re-toucher. Nine were even listed as “money-broker, financier or capitalist”. [2]