When
Where
Luna Palace Cinemas
155 Oxford St
Leederville WA 6007
Australia
Why
Celebrating and remembering the Pilbara Aboriginal Pastoral Workers’ Strike will be the focus of this years UnionsWA May Day Festival. We invite you to join us in the lead up to May Day for this special screening of the award-winning documentary film ‘How the West Was Lost’ by WA filmmaker David Noakes that tells the story of the historic strike and the workers who stood up for themselves and their community.
Tickets available from Unions WA.
On 1 May 1946, Aboriginal pastoral workers across the Pilbara began a historic fight.
For decades, they had endured gruelling conditions, violence, and little or no pay for their work. Determined to challenge the injustice, Indigenous working groups came together to plan a united response. Led by Dooley Bin Bin and Clancy McKenna, and supported by unionist Don McLeod, they crafted a bold strategy for collective action.
At the height of the shearing season, around 800 workers walked off more than 20 stations, sparking what would become the longest industrial strike in Australian history. Despite arrests, intimidation and relentless pressure from station owners, the strikers refused to back down.
Eighty years later, the Pilbara Strike stands as a defining moment in the struggle for Aboriginal rights, dignity and self-determination. As we mark this anniversary, we honour their courage, the power of solidarity and their enduring legacy in the fight for fairness, safety and respect for all workers.
Join us for what will be a great evening of communion and solidarity.
Tickets available from Unions WA.
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Contact
Unions WA
(08) 6313 6000
[email protected]
unionswa.com.au
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CFMEU WA
(08) 9228 6900
[email protected]
wa.cfmeu.org
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AMWU WA
1300 732 698
amwu.org.au
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