page_title: Federated Ship Painters and Dockers Union
section_title: Growth
hierarchical_section_title: Federated Ship Painters and Dockers Union / History / Growth
caption_attribution_description: HMS Royal Arthur, flagship of the Australian Station, in the Sutherland drydock on Cockatoo Island, a major employer of painters and dockers in Sydney. Dated: c. 1900 Digital ID: 4481_a026_000813 Rights: www.records.nsw.gov.au/about-us/rights-and-permissions We'd love to hear from you if you use our photos/documents. Many other photos in our collection are available to view and browse on our website using Photo Investigator.
context_page_description: The Federated Ship Painters and Dockers Union was an Australian trade union which existed between 1900 and 1993. It represented labourers in the shipbuilding industry, covering "mostly work associated with chipping, painting, scrubbing [and] cleaning [ships], working in every size of tanks, cleaning boilers, docking and undocking vessels, and rigging work".
context_section_description: Working conditions and pay for ship painters and dockers in the early 20th century were poor, with 80 percent of the union's membership in 1939 earning less than the basic wage. Ninety percent of painters and dockers were employed as casuals, under the free selection of labour system. This meant workers had to wait outside shipyards and port workshops, where foremen would choose different men to work each day, depending on the requirements of the employer. The union made significant efforts to regulate this system of hiring, including passing limits on the minimum length of employment and the number of hours workers would wait each day, but with little success. 
  Conditions changed dramatically during World War II, as increased demand in the shipbuilding industry led to a labour shortage. The membership of the union grew rapidly, increasing in Sydney from 880 in 1939 to 2792 in 1945. During 1945 the union began operating a roster for painters and dockers, dispatching workers to the various employers as needed. This development was resisted by employers, who launched a lockout of all painters and dockers in the Port of Newcastle, but agreement was reached in the Commonwealth Arbitration Court in 1946 allowing the practice to continue.
  The roster was operated out of the branch office of the union in each port, which acted as a hiring hall. Members were allocated jobs each morning based on how long they had been waiting for work. Refusal to accept a job meant the member would lose his position in the allocation order. Employers retained the right to determine the number of workers required, and to reject any workers they thought unsuitable.
  The dangerous and difficult nature of the work, as well as the small and close-knit nature of the workforce, encouraged strong union organisation amongst the painters and dockers and the FSPDU developed a reputation for militancy. For example, despite representing only 15 percent of the workforce in the shipbuilding and ship repair industry the FSPDU was involved in 40 percent of all industrial disputes between 1975 and 1978. The FSPDU was also notable for being the only union in Australia after 1976 to have more than 5 percent of its members in the shipbuilding and ship repair industry.
caption: HMS Royal Arthur, flagship of the Australian Station, in the Sutherland drydock on Cockatoo Island c. 1900, a major employer of painters and dockers in Sydney.
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