ABSTRACT
This chapter examines two additional forms of worker organization, namely inter-union collaboration and political mobilizations by workers. It also examines political mobilizations that were not unionate but point to interconnections with union leaders playing a pivotal role in wider alliances of workers. The chapter includes convict competition, unemployment, pernicious labour laws and democratic representation. Peak union organization in Australia is commonly seen to originate in the 1850s with the eight-hour day movements and Melbourne Trades Hall Council. The Committee of Trades seems to have fulfilled the role of a union peak council pursuing both industrial and political objectives. The Committee reported that notwithstanding unemployment amongst free mechanics, the Board of Assignment currently had 2000 applications for prison labour from employers. Middle-class support for the Committee was also eroded by its political activities. Political mobilization by workers was a prominent feature of New South Wales, Van Diemen’s Land and South Australia by the 1840s.
