Rothbury riot
Rothbury riot | |
---|---|
Date | 16 December 1929 |
Location | Rothbury Colliery 32°40′49″S 151°20′44″E / 32.68024°S 151.34545°E |
Casualties | |
Death(s) | 1 |
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/31/Rothbury_riot_memorial_cenotaph.jpg/220px-Rothbury_riot_memorial_cenotaph.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1c/Rothbury_riot_memorial.jpg/220px-Rothbury_riot_memorial.jpg)
On 16 December 1929
In 1929,
A wage reduction of 12½ per cent on the contract rates, one shilling ($0.10) a day on the "day wage" rate; all Lodges must give the colliery managers the right to hire and fire without regard to seniority; all Lodges must agree to discontinue pit-top meetings and pit stoppages.[2]
The miners refused to accept these terms, and on 2 March 1929 all miners were "locked out" of their employment.[3]
In September 1929, the
On 16 December 1929 about 5,000 miners demonstrated against the introduction of non-
The Sydney Daily Telegraph Pictorial described the event as "the most dramatic industrial clash that has ever shocked Australia."[4]
In June 1930, after fifteen months of living in poverty and starvation, the miners capitulated and returned to work on reduced contract wages. However, the lockout failed to break the resolve or organization of the miners union.
The Rothbury mine finally closed in 1974. A monument in honour of Norman Brown is located at North Rothbury.[5][6] The site is now a railway workshop, restoring locomotives and rollingstock used on railways in the local coalfields.
The 1957 poem "The Ballad of Norman Brown" by Dorothy Hewett,[7] has become one of Australia's most strident union songs, under several different tunes.[8] Other songs about the event include "A sad day on the coalfields" (1929), "And the country knows the rest" (1975) and "Rothbury" (1984).[9]
The word Rothbury has been trademarked by the Fosters Group.[10]
References
- ^ Huxley, John (20 May 2006). "Deadly riot: record set straight". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
- ^ a b "Rothbury Colliery". Newcastle Regional Museum. Archived from the original on 15 June 2012.
- ^ "75th anniversary of Rothbury". CFMEU. Archived from the original on 22 June 2006..
- ^ "Rothbury: The 50th Anniversary". Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 25 August 2006..
- ^ "Struggles, Scabs and Schooners: a Labour History Tour with a Pint". Labour History (84). May 2003. Archived from the original on 5 September 2005..
- ^ "Rothbury Riot Memorial". Monument Australia. Monument Australia. Retrieved 20 March 2023.
- ^ "BALLAD OF NORMAN BROWN". Tribune. 2 January 1957. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
- ^ "Ballad of Norman Brown". unionsong.com. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
- ^ Gregory, Mark (2010). "Industrial Song and Poetry in Australia: An Introduction". Australian Folklore. 25.
- ^ "Fosters grabs right to Rothbury name". Hospitality Magazine (Online). Archived from the original on 24 February 2012..
External links
- Chris Fussell - Rothbury Riot Mural 1929 - painted with Acrylic house paint and installed onto the back of the Custom Credit building for the Mural Project of Kurri Kurri, NSW.