Activism, Struggle and Labour History: The 16th Biennial Conference of the Australian Society for the Study of Labour History, 3–5 October 2019, Perth Trades Hall Building

Some 100 participants, from across Australia and overseas, met in early October 2019 for the 16th Biennial Labour History conference, hosted by the Perth branch of the Australian Society for the Study of Labour History (ASSLH). The Western Australia headquarters of the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union (CFMMEU) was a very fitting venue, steeped in activist history, with new training rooms–paying tribute to May Holman, Vincent Lingiari and John Cummins–adjoining Perth's original Trades Hall building. In opening the conference, convenor Bobbie Oliver acknowledged the contribution of long-serving ASSLH Perth branch president Neil Byrne, who sadly passed away in July 2019. Noongar elder Vaughn McGuire gave us a warm welcome to country.

Two excellent keynote addresses brought out different aspects of the "Activism, Struggle and Labour History" theme. Ralph Darlington, Emeritus Professor of Employment Relations at the University of Salford, UK, spoke about the British women's revolt for suffrage prior to World War I and the labour unrest of 1910–14. Though the two militant movements ran "on parallel tracks," Darlington pointed out the multiple links between them that have often been overlooked. He provided a perceptive critique of both movements, outlining how the political limitations of each in relation to the other impeded further interconnections, undermining their potential power. Diane Kirkby, Professor of Law and Humanities at the University of Technology Sydney, took the particularity of seafarers' labour, and how it shaped their militancy and internationalism, as a starting point for a wide-ranging and thought-provoking keynote. Kirkby considered the masculinist identity of seafarer unionists as a factor limiting their activism, and noted that expressions of masculinity changed with different circumstances. She discussed how legislation affected the workforce, including by creating racial divisions and imposing strict discipline, which produced varying degrees of freedom and un-freedom. Coercion has yet to be eliminated from maritime labour internationally.

A contingent of the conference enjoyed a "Walking Tour of Radical Fremantle," presented by Charlie Fox, Riley Buchanan and Paul Reilly, on the Thursday afternoon. Meanwhile, others were treated to a tour of the Perth Trades Hall building. The Fremantle trip was engaging and informative, beginning on the wharves, the site of numerous struggles. The group sang "Solidarity Forever" outside where Charlie Reeve, of Industrial Workers of the World fame, once lived. The struggle over how this country's history is told and commemorated was highlighted at the 1920s "Explorer's Monument" on the Esplanade, where an Aboriginal counter-memorial was added in 1994.

Older activists and historians commented appreciatively on the presence of young people. Unusually for an academic conference, some undergraduates participated, including third-year Curtin University student Grace Brooks, who gave an interesting paper on cultural activities at Perth Trades Hall, where there was a lively theatre scene in the 1930s and 1960s. The conference organisers are to be commended for making the event accessible to young and old.

With three parallel sessions in most timeslots, it was hard to choose what to attend. I listened to numerous excellent papers, of which space permits me to mention only a few. Lian Jenvey challenged the commonplace idea that World War II brought Australians together, pointing out how class shaped responses to the conflict in her paper on "The 1940 Coal Strike." Nick Everett outlined how the Pilbara strike sparked a campaign to defend native rights (1946–49), highlighting that support from Communist-led Western Australia unions, notably the Seamen's Union, helped the station hands win civil rights as well as industrial gains. Verity Burgmann examined early 2000s anti-corporate globalisation protests in four cities, showing a pattern of union leaderships steering their large contingents away from the main confrontations. She argued convincingly that, by refusing to confront capital at that juncture of popular resistance, labour movement leaders helped allow the space for the current rise of the Far Right. Julie Kimber's paper on Cold War defector, Evdokia Petrov, sought to restore her historical significance from an obscurity shaped by gender...