Unions joined together to commemorate Brisbane's General Strike of 1912

02 February 2012: A large IEUA-QNT delegation today joined with hundreds of other Queensland unionists to rally in commemoration of the centenary of Black Friday, a day that went down in history as one of the greatest union protests in our state.

IEUA-QNT assistant general secretary Paul Giles said the large turnout at the event at King George Square in Brisbane’s central business district was humbling.

“The hundreds of people who gathered today to commemorate the struggles working people faced one hundred years ago marked the occasion with a show of colour, energy and enthusiasm for both the past and the future of the union movement,” Mr Giles said.

Organised by the Queensland Council of Unions (QCU), the event not only commemorated the struggles and victories of the members of the Australian Tramways Association who instigated the original strike in 1912 after they were fired for wearing union badges to work, but the contribution of women to the union movement.

During the protest on Black Friday, a 72-year-old female activist, Emma Miller, led a contingent of women in the strike.  When the police commissioner ordered and led a charge at the women, Emma defended herself from the charge with her hat pin which struck the police commissioner's horse. The police commissioner was thrown from the horse as it bucked.

The strike officially ended two months later on 6 March 1912 when the Employers Federation agreed there would be no victimisation of strikers.

QCU president John Battams said the issue that was the catayst for the strike in 1912 was just as relevant today, with building and construction workers, until just a few weeks ago, being prohibited at risk of criminal charge from wearing a union badge on a work site.

“The only voice of working people in this country is the unions. It will always be a struggle to maintain a strong union movement … they set it up for us in the past, it’s our job to continue that,” Mr Battams said.

Black Friday, one hundred years ago today, saw 25,000 people rally in King George Square. The strike culminated in a violent clash with police.

Rail Bus and Tram Union assistant secretary Dave Matters said those who took to the streets in February 1912 were set upon by police.

“Those members had courage then … they did not want to see a situation where they couldn’t have the right in a workplace to be a union member. We will need courage again and again,” Mr Matters said.

The QCU is holding a Family Fun Day, a further event to commemorate Brisbane’s General Strike, on 5 February. Click here for more information.

More information about the strike in 1912 is available here.