page_title: Maritime Union of Australia
section_title: Waterside Workers' Federation
hierarchical_section_title: Maritime Union of Australia / History / Waterside Workers' Federation
caption_attribution_description: English: A 1920s Waterside Workers' Federation of Australia banner. In the collection of the National Museum of Australia.
context_page_description: The Maritime Union of Australia was a union which covered waterside workers, seafarers, port workers, professional divers, and office workers associated with Australian ports. The MUA was formed in 1993 with merger of the Seamen's Union of Australia and the Waterside Workers' Federation of Australia.
  In 2017 the MUA had about 16,000 members. It was affiliated with the Australian Council of Trade Unions, the Australian Labor Party and the International Transport Workers Federation. From 2000 until its merger in 2018, Paddy Crumlin was National Secretary of the MUA and since 2010 he has been President of the ITF. He also holds the position of chair of the Dockers Section.
  In late 2015, the MUA and the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union commenced merger talks. On 29 February 2016, at the MUA national conference, delegates voted unanimously in favour of the merger. The Fair Work Commission approved the merger in March 2018. The merged union was named the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union.
context_section_description: The Waterside Workers' Federation of Australia traces its roots to the formation on the Australian waterfront in September 1872 of two unions in Sydney, the Labouring Men's Union of Circular Quay and the West Sydney Labouring Men's Association, which merged ten years later to form the Sydney Wharf Labourers' Union. In 1884 the Melbourne Wharf Labourers' Union was formed with the support of Melbourne Trades Hall representatives, after shipowners refused to allow waterfront workers to attend Eight-hour Day celebrations. With Federation in 1901 and the impending introduction of an arbitration system, the national Waterside Workers' Federation of Australia was formed in 1902 under the leadership of Billy Hughes. 
  The Communist Party of Australia was formed in October 1920, and achieved some influence in the trade union movement, especially in New South Wales. Though its influence had dwindled to an insignificant sect by the mid-1920s, it kept positions in particular trade unions, including the Waterside Workers' Federation. The union was regarded as militant and disruptive to the economy, and has suffered numerous attempts to suppress its activities. In 1928, the Nationalist government of Stanley Bruce enacted the Transport Workers Act 1928 requiring workers to have a license, known as the "dog collar", to work on the wharves. Employment of non-union labour and members of the Permanent & Casual Wharf Labourers Union almost killed off the Waterside Workers' Federation. 
  In 1950 the WWF absorbed its industrial opposition the Permanent & Casual Wharf Labourers Union of Australia and in 1991 it amalgamated with the Australian Foremen Stevedore Association but retained the name Waterside Workers' Federation of Australia.
caption: An early banner of the Sydney Branch of the Waterside Workers' Federation.
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