When
to
Where
Box Factory Community Centre
59 Regent St
Adelaide SA 5000
Australia
Why
Join the Labour History Society (South Australia) for a special public meeting celebrating the 80th anniversary of the 1946 Pilbara Strike, one of the most significant labour and Aboriginal rights struggles in Australian history.
On May Day 1946, hundreds of Aboriginal pastoral workers walked off dozens of stations across Western Australia’s vast Pilbara region, demanding wages, decent living conditions, freedom of movement and the right to choose their own representatives.
For decades, Aboriginal workers had endured brutal and exploitative conditions, often paid only in rations under a system of near slavery enforced by the 1905 Aborigines Act and Department of Native Affairs. The strike challenged not only wealthy pastoralists, but an entire regime of colonial control.
The strike lasted more than three years, becoming Australia’s longest strike. It drew support from unions and workers across the country, including bans by the Seamen’s Union on the transport of Pilbara wool. The campaign became a landmark in the struggle for Aboriginal rights and working-class solidarity. Even after the strike formally ended in 1949, many Aboriginal workers refused to return to the stations, instead establishing mining cooperatives that gave communities greater independence and control over their lives.
Drawing on oral histories and extensive research, this talk will explore the history of the Pilbara Strike and the remarkable working-class heroes who led it including Dooley Bin Bin, Daisy Bindi and Don McLeod.
Speaker:
Leila Clendon is a socialist activist, teacher and researcher whose Honours thesis examined the history of the Pilbara cooperative movement. She has been active in trade union and community campaigns and was the SA Socialists candidate for Enfield at the recent South Australian election.
- Box Factory Community Centre
- 59 Regent St South, Adelaide, 5000
- Sunday 12 July
- 2:00pm – 4:00pm
- Free event
For updates check the Facebook event.
Contact
Labour History Society SA
[email protected]
Facebook
Getting to the centre
Walking: We’re only about 3 minutes' walk from Hurtle Square (Pulteney Street) along Halifax Street and about 5 minutes from Hutt Street along McLaren Street.
By Tram: Alight at Victoria Square, then walk up Angas Street, turning right into Pulteney Street to Hurtle Square. Turn left onto Halifax Street then second right into Regent Street (approximately ten minutes).
By Bus: Numerous buses go along Pulteney Street and Hutt Street.
The Free City Connector passes along Halifax Street (Stops H1 east-bound and S1 westbound) every 15 minutes in both directions. Routes 98A and 98C serve the free city and North Adelaide loop. Routes 99A and 99C serve the free city loop.