1946 Pilbara strike facts for kids
The 1946 Pilbara strike was a very important event where Aboriginal workers in the Pilbara region of Western Australia stopped working. They were fighting for fair pay, better working conditions, and to be treated with respect.
On 1 May 1946, at least 800 Aboriginal workers left their jobs on large farms (called pastoral stations) and in the towns of Port Hedland and Marble Bar. This strike lasted a long time, finally ending in August 1949. Even then, many Aboriginal people chose not to go back to work for the white station owners.
This strike is seen as the first major work stoppage by Aboriginal people since Europeans arrived in Australia. It was also one of the longest strikes in Australian history. It was a key moment in the fight for Aboriginal human rights, cultural rights, and land rights (known as Native Title).
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Life and Work Before the Strike
For many years, Aboriginal workers on Pilbara stations were not paid with money. Instead, they received things like tobacco, flour, and other basic supplies. The station owners often treated Aboriginal workers as very cheap labour, taking advantage of them.
Many workers tried to leave the stations, but they faced legal problems. Those who were caught could be whipped, and police would hunt down anyone who escaped and force them to return. It was a time when Aboriginal people were needed for work but were not treated well.
A Fight for Justice
Aboriginal leaders also wanted justice because of an old rule in the Western Australian colonial Constitution. This rule said that once the government earned more than 500,000 pounds, 1% of that money should be used for the "welfare of the Aboriginal natives." However, later governments changed the laws to remove this funding.
The Strike Begins
The strike was planned and led by Aboriginal lawmen Dooley Bin Bin and Clancy McKenna. They were helped by Don McLeod, who was a union supporter. The idea for the strike came from an Aboriginal law meeting in 1942 at Skull Springs. About 200 senior Aboriginal representatives from many different language groups attended this meeting. Sixteen interpreters were needed because so many different languages were spoken!
The discussions lasted six weeks. Don McLeod, who was the only European-Australian there, was chosen to be the main negotiator. The strike was put on hold until after the Second World War ended in 1945.
Peter Coppin, also known as Kangushot (1920–2006), was another important strike leader. He was a pioneer in the Aboriginal rights movement in the 1940s.
Organising the Walk-Off
In early 1946, simple calendars were passed around from one station camp to another to help organise the strike. White people who saw these efforts often laughed, not understanding what was happening.
The date of 1 May 1946 was chosen for two reasons: it was International Workers' Day, and it was also the first day of the shearing season. On that day, hundreds of Aboriginal workers left the stations and set up special strike camps.
The strike was most successful in the Pilbara region. In other towns like Broome and Derby, the police stopped the strike quickly. Over the three years, some strikers went back to work, while others joined or rejoined the strike.
Support for the Strikers
When the strike began in 1946, Don McLeod worked at the Port Hedland wharf and encouraged support from other workers. The Seamen's Union of Australia in Western Australia eventually refused to load wool from the Pilbara onto ships.
Nineteen unions in Western Australia, seven national unions, and four Trades and Labour councils supported the strike. The strike also gained support from the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, which helped create the Committee for the Defence of Native Rights. This group raised money and told people about the strike in Perth.
Facing Challenges
Many Aboriginal strikers were put in jail. Some were even arrested by police with revolvers and kept in chains for several days. In December 1946, Don McLeod was arrested in Port Hedland for "inciting Aborigines to leave their place of lawful employment." The Aboriginal strikers then marched on the jail, took it over, and freed McLeod!
McLeod was jailed seven times during the strike. He was arrested for being too close to Aboriginal gatherings and for encouraging Aboriginal people to leave their jobs.
In one incident, two policemen went to a strike camp near Marble Bar and started shooting the people's dogs. Shooting dogs was sometimes seen as a "sport" by some Europeans back then. This angered the strikers, who quickly took the policemen's weapons. The local strike leader, Jacob Oberdoo, and other strikers held the policemen until everyone calmed down. Then, the strikers insisted on being arrested themselves.
Jacob Oberdoo was jailed several times and faced many difficulties during the strike. But he always kept his dignity and stayed strong for the strike. In 1972, he was offered the British Empire Medal but turned it down. Don McLeod said that Oberdoo told the Prime Minister he could not accept favours from "Law-carriers in bad standing." He explained, "You pin medals on dogs."
How Strikers Survived
The strikers supported themselves using their traditional bush skills. They hunted kangaroos and goats for food and skins. They also started small businesses, like selling buffel grass seeds, selling pearl shell, and doing surface mining to earn some money.
Aboriginal women played a very important role in the strike. They were workers who went on strike and helped set up the strike camps. Daisy Bindi, a Nyangumarta woman, led 96 workers from Roy Hill Station to join the strike. She organised meetings in the Pilbara, even though police threatened to remove her. During the strike, she helped transport supporters to the camps and even talked her way past police. Her efforts helped spread the strike to more stations in the Pilbara.
The Strike Ends
Eventually, the strikers won better wages and conditions on Mount Edgar and Limestone Stations. These two stations became the example. The strikers said that any station wanting workers would have to offer pay and conditions that were as good as or better than those on Mount Edgar and Limestone.
By August 1949, the Seamen's Union agreed to stop loading wool from Pilbara stations onto ships for export. Three days after this ban started, a government representative told McLeod that the strikers' demands would be met if the ban was lifted. However, weeks after the strike ended and the ban was lifted, the government denied making any such agreement.
After the strike, many Aboriginal people refused to go back to their old jobs in the pastoral industry. They put their money from mining and other small businesses together to buy or lease stations, including some they had worked on before. They then ran these stations as cooperatives, working together.
What Happened Next
In 1994, Aboriginal people from Strelley Station started a legal case, arguing that the 1905 law that removed funding for Aboriginal welfare was not valid. After a long legal fight, the High Court of Australia decided in 2001 that the 1905 change was legal.
In 2010, four streets in the Canberra suburb of Bonner were named after the strike leaders: Clancy McKenna Crescent, Dooley Bin Bin Street, Peter Coppin Street, and Don McLeod Lane.
The Strike in Art and Stories
- The poet Dorothy Hewett wrote a poem called "Clancey and Dooley and Don McLeod" about the strike.
- The 1959 book Yandy by Donald Stuart tells the story of the strike.
- In 1987, a documentary film called How the West was Lost was made about the strike.
- The book Kangkushot, The Life of Nyamal Lawman Peter Coppin tells Peter Coppin's life story, including his leadership in the strike.
- Yandy, a play written by Jolly Read, also tells the story of the strike and its leaders.
- Artist Nyaparu Gardiner, who was born during the strike, has shown it many times in his artwork.
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