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{{Short description|Australian Socialist Organisation}}
⚫
{{Infobox organization
| name = Unemployed Workers Movement
{{distinguish|Australian Unemployed Workers' Union}}
⚫
{{Infobox militant organization
⚫
| image =
| image_size = 200px
| name = Unemployed Workers Movement
| alt =
| logo =
| caption =
| caption =
| abbreviation = UWM
| other_name =
| motto =
| leader = Jack Sylvester
| foundation = {{start date and age|1930}}
| founding_location = [[Melbourne]], [[Australia]]
| type =
| dates = {{Circa}} 1930–1932
| purpose = [[Socialism]]<br>Anti-Eviction
| dissolved = {{end date and age|1932}}
| region = Australia
| merger =
| leader_title = National Secretary
| split =
| leader_name = Jack Sylvester
| predecessor =
| merged = United Front Councils of Employed and Unemployed Workers
⚫
| key_people =
| main_organ = [[Communist Party of Australia]]
| successor =
| website =
| country = [[Australia]]
| allegiance = [[Communist Party of Australia]]
⚫
| motives =
| area = [[Eastern states of Australia]]
| headquarters = [[Redfern, New South Wales]]
| newspaper = Workers Weekly (unofficial)
| ideology = [[Socialism]]<br />[[United Front]]|
| position =
| crimes =
| attacks =
| status =
⚫
| size =
| revenue =
| financing =
| partof =
| allies = {{plainlist|
* [[New South Wales Labor Party]]
* [[Workers Defence Corps]]
}}
}}
| opponents = [[New Guard]]<br />[[New South Wales Police Force]]
| battles =
| flag = }}


The '''Unemployed Workers Movement (UWM)''' was a Socialist activist organisation operating in Australia during the [[Great Depression]]. It advocated for expanded [[Welfare]], and protections for the Unemployed and fought against [[eviction|evictions]] in working-class neighbourhoods and work for welfare schemes.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":0" /><ref name=":4">{{Cite journal |last=Wheatley |first=Nadia |date=2013 |title=The unemployed who kicked: a study of the political struggles and organisations of the New South Wales unemployed in the Great Depression |url=https://libcom.org/article/unemployed-who-kicked-study-political-struggles-and-organisations-new-south-wales-0 |journal=Macquarie University |via=Libcom.org}}</ref> In 1930 the UWM had an estimated 30,000 members.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=MacIntyre |first=Ian |date=2008 |title=Lock Out The Landlords: Australian Anti-Eviction Resistance 1929-1936 |url=https://archive.org/details/LockOutTheLandlords/page/n1/mode/2up |website=The Commons Social Change Library}}</ref><ref name=":4" />
The '''Unemployed Workers Movement (UWM)''' was a socialist activist organisation operating in Australia during the [[Great Depression]]. It advocated for expanded [[Welfare]], and protections for the Unemployed and fought against [[eviction]]s in working-class neighbourhoods and work for welfare schemes.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":0" /><ref name=":4">{{Cite journal |last=Wheatley |first=Nadia |date=2013 |title=The unemployed who kicked: a study of the political struggles and organisations of the New South Wales unemployed in the Great Depression |url=https://libcom.org/article/unemployed-who-kicked-study-political-struggles-and-organisations-new-south-wales-0 |journal=Macquarie University |via=Libcom.org}}</ref> In 1930 the UWM had an estimated 30,000 members.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=MacIntyre |first=Ian |date=2008 |title=Lock Out The Landlords: Australian Anti-Eviction Resistance 1929-1936 |url=https://archive.org/details/LockOutTheLandlords/page/n1/mode/2up |website=The Commons Social Change Library}}</ref><ref name=":4" />


== History ==
== History ==
[[File:Anti Eviction Protest March Sydney.png|thumb|An Anti-Eviction March in [[Sydney]], 1931.]]
During the Great Depression in Australia, unemployment rose rapidly, reaching a height of 32 per cent in 1932. It is estimated that around 60,000 Australians depended on Government assistance.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Height of the Great Depression {{!}} Australia’s Defining Moments Digital Classroom {{!}} National Museum of Australia |url=https://digital-classroom.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/height-great-depression#:~:text=The%20Wall%20Street%20Crash%20of,deeply%20for%20decades%20to%20come. |access-date=2024-01-03 |website=digital-classroom.nma.gov.au}}</ref> Such assistance however was often inadequate or in the form of coupons which could not pay rent.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=McIntyre |first=Iain |date=2020-08-31 |title=Jim Munro and the Unemployed Workers Movement in the 1920s and 1930s |url=https://commonslibrary.org/jim-munro-and-the-unemployed-workers-movement-in-the-1920s-and-1930s/ |access-date=2023-02-28 |website=The Commons Social Change Library |language=en-AU}}</ref><ref name=":1" /> Additionally "Work for the Dole" schemes prevented many from receiving support.<ref name=":2" /> In Sydney, over 6484 Eviction orders were sent out between 1934 to 1939, while in Melbourne 16,000 "ejectment" warrants were filed.<ref name=":1" />
During the [[Great Depression]] in Australia, unemployment rose rapidly, reaching a height of 32 per cent in 1932. It is estimated that around 60,000 Australians dependeded on Government assistance.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Height of the Great Depression {{!}} Australia's Defining Moments Digital Classroom {{!}} National Museum of Australia |url=https://digital-classroom.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/height-great-depression#:~:text=The%20Wall%20Street%20Crash%20of,deeply%20for%20decades%20to%20come. |access-date=2024-01-03 |website=digital-classroom.nma.gov.au}}</ref> Such assistance however was often inadequate or in the form of couponthatch could not pay rent.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=McIntyre |first=Iain |date=2020-08-31 |title=Jim Munro and the Unemployed Workers Movement in the 1920s and 1930s |url=https://commonslibrary.org/jim-munro-and-the-unemployed-workers-movement-in-the-1920s-and-1930s/ |access-date=2023-02-28 |website=The Commons Social Change Library |language=en-AU}}</ref><ref name=":1" /> Additionally "Work for the Dole" schemes prevented many from receiving support.<ref name=":2" /> In Sydney, over 6484 Eviction orders were sent out between 1934 and 1939, while in Melbourne 16,000 "ejectment" warrants were filed.<ref name=":1" />


The Unemployed Workers Movement was formed in Melbourne in April 1930 after a dispute between the [[Victorian Trades Hall Council]] and a group of unemployed workers who demanded the council represent their interests. Having been rejected, these unemployed activists supported by the [[Communist Party of Australia]] founded the UWM<ref name=":2" />. The Foundation of the UWM was part of a larger campaign by the CPA to create mass organisations to radicalise Australian Workers, these organisations were not explicitly Communist and in the case of the UWM, Communists were only a minority of members.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":4" />
The Unemployed Workers Movement was formed in [[Melbourne]] in April 1930 after a dispute between the [[Victorian Trades Hall Council]] and a group of unemployed workers who demanded the council represent their interests. Having been rejected, these unemployed activists supported by the [[Communist Party of Australia]] founded the UWM.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":0" /> The Foundation of the UWM was part of a larger campaign by the CPA to create mass organisations to radicalise Australian Workers, these organisations were not explicitly Communist and in the case of the UWM, Communists were only a minority of members.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":4" />


From its inception the UWM pledged itself against evictions. Specifically in the first major conference of the UWM in July, 1930 their sixth demanded stated: "Organise vigilance committees in neighbourhoods to patrol working class districts and resist by mass action the eviction of unemployed workers from their houses, or attempts on behalf of bailiffs to remove furniture, or gas men to shut off the gas supply."<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":4" />
From its inception, the UWM pledged itself against evictions. Specifically in the first major conference of the UWM in July, 1930 their sixth demand stated: "Organise vigilance committees in neighbourhoods to patrol working-class districts and resist by mass action the eviction of unemployed workers from their houses, or attempts on behalf of bailiffs to remove furniture, or gas men to shut off the gas supply."<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":4" />

In 1931 the UWM began expanding as a national organisation, forming new branches in [[Redfern, New South Wales|Redfern]], [[Newtown, New South Wales|Newtown]], [[Balmain, New South Wales|Balmain]], [[Leichhardt, New South Wales|Leichhardt]], [[Bankstown]], [[Parramatta]], [[Granville, New South Wales|Granville]], [[Hurstville]], [[Kogarah]], [[Bondi Beach|Bondi]], [[Paddington, New South Wales|Paddington]], [[Glebe, New South Wales|Glebe]], [[Crows Nest, New South Wales|Crows Nest]], [[Chatswood, New South Wales|Chatswood]] and [[Surry Hills]]<ref name=":0" /> and [[Newcastle, New South Wales|Newcastle]].<ref name=":8">{{Cite news |date=1932-06-15 |title=FIERCE RIOT AT NEWCASTLE |work=[[Canberra Times]]|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article2285602 |access-date=2024-01-04}}</ref>

Across both Melbourne and [[Sydney]] the UWM would engage in actions to prevent evictions from 1930 to 1932.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":4" /><ref name=":0" /> Despite its allegiance to the CPA, the UWM would on multiple occasions defy party lines, mostly when working alongside ALP Organisations on a community level to prevent evictions.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":0" /> The UWM did continue to have friction with [[Trades hall|Trade halls]] as they were refused representation in [[Trade union]] organisations, this manifested in the UWM disrupting Trade Union meetings and marches.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":4" /><ref name=":6">{{Cite web |date=2015-12-03 |title=Organising the unemployed: Dole strikes and the 1930s Depression – Solidarity Online |url=https://solidarity.net.au/highlights/organising-the-unemployed-dole-strikes-and-the-1930s-depression/ |access-date=2024-01-03 |language=en-AU}}</ref>

Increasingly confrontational and violent battles would take place between UWM and allies and the [[New South Wales Police Force]] from 1931 to 1932. Such 'battles' took place in Redfern, Leichhardt, Bankstown and Newtown, while the UWM claimed some victories, they were often defeated some of which included exchanges of gunfire.<ref name=":6" /><ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":7">{{Cite news |date=1931-06-19 |title=GUNS AND BATONS USED IN ANTI-EVICTION FIGHT |work=Newcastle Sun |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article164320442 |access-date=2024-01-04}}</ref> By February 1932, the UWM had won over 200 Eviction cases.<ref name=":5">{{Cite magazine |last=North |first=Alex |date=2020-08-23 |title=When Fascism Almost Came to Australia |url=https://jacobin.com/2020/08/fascism-australia-old-guard-anticommunism |website=[[Jacobin (magazine)|Jacobin]] |language=en-US |issn=2158-2602 |access-date=2023-07-27 |archive-date=2023-07-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230727094841/https://jacobin.com/2020/08/fascism-australia-old-guard-anticommunism |url-status=live }}</ref> During celebrations, a UWM rally was ambushed by members of the [[New Guard]], causing a riot that resulted in the victory of UWM and WDC members.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":5" />

By the end of 1932 the UWM was merged with other Tenant rights organisations into the United Front Councils of Employed and Unemployed Workers which abandoned its militant methods and eviction campaigns.<ref name=":1" />


== Activities ==
== Activities ==


After the UWM commitment to combat evictions, UWM branches created individual "Anti-Eviction Committees" through which they coordinated opposition. The Committees would investigate each case of eviction and decide if to lend their support.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Wheatley |first=Nadia |title=Sydney's anti-eviction movement: community or conspiracy? |date=2001 |publisher=University of Wollongong Press |isbn=0947127038 |pages=146-173}}</ref>
After the UWM commitment to combat evictions, UWM branches created individual "Anti-Eviction Committees" through which they coordinated opposition. The Committees would investigate each case of eviction and decide if to lend their support.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Wheatley |first=Nadia |title=Sydney's anti-eviction movement: community or conspiracy? |date=2001 |publisher=University of Wollongong Press |isbn=0947127038 |pages=146–173}}</ref>

⚫
If the UWM Branch decided to intervene, multiple methods were used to prevent eviction. UWM leaders would meet with property owners, alongside a protest held at the property, this sometimes included veiled threats of violence. If deputation failed, the UWM utilised [[picketing]] which according to Nadia Wheatley was "familiar to trade unionists, and it fitted the sociable nature of the unemployed movement."<ref name=":0" /> If picketing on the footpath failed, picketers would move into the house. If evictions were successful, UWM would dump evicted furniture in front of a city's [[town hall]] or [[police station]].<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":0" /><ref name=":4" /> Men, women and children would all contribute to UWM activities.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":4" /><ref name=":8" /> In these activities the UWM were often assisted by members of the [[Workers Defence Corps]] and supporters of the [[Australian Labor Party]].<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />

⚫
On multiple occasions, UWM protests turned into brawls with police attempting to fulfil eviction orders. With UWM members armed with rocks, metal bars, bricks and bottles.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last=Moore |first=Andrew |date=2005 |title=The New Guard and the Labour Movement, 1931-35 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27516075 |journal=[[Labour History (journal)|Labour History]] |issue=89 |pages=55–72 |doi=10.2307/27516075 |jstor=27516075 |issn=0023-6942 |access-date=2023-07-27 |archive-date=2023-10-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231020121430/https://www.jstor.org/stable/27516075 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":7" /><ref name=":8" /> Houses would be barricaded with furniture, sandbags and barbed wire.<ref name=":7" /><ref>{{Cite news |date=1931-06-18 |title=COMMUNISTS FIGHT POLICE. Riot at Bankstown. |work=[[Sydney Morning Herald]]|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16786577 |access-date=2024-01-04}}</ref>


⚫
The UWM tactics were extremely successful, winning every eviction case they supported in Sydney in the first five months of 1931,<ref name=":0" /> and continuing to have an extremely high success rate.<ref name=":0" />
⚫
If the UWM Branch decided to intervene, multiple methods were used to prevent eviction. UWM leaders would meet with property owners, alongside a protest held at the property, this sometimes included veiled threats of violence. If deputation failed, the UWM utilised [[picketing]] which according to Nadia Wheatley was "familiar to trade unionists, and it fitted the sociable nature of the unemployed movement."<ref name=":0" /> If picketing on the footpath failed, picketers would move into the house. In these activities the UWM were often assisted by members of the [[Workers Defence Corps]] and supporters of the [[Australian Labor Party]].<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />


== References ==
⚫
On multiple occasions, UWM protests turned into brawls with police attempting to fulfil eviction orders. Such 'battles' took place in Redfern, Leichhardt, Bankstown and Newtown. With UWM members armed with rocks, metal bars, bricks and bottles.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last=Moore |first=Andrew |date=2005 |title=The New Guard and the Labour Movement, 1931-35 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27516075 |journal=[[Labour History (journal)|Labour History]] |issue=89 |pages=55–72 |doi=10.2307/27516075 |jstor=27516075 |issn=0023-6942 |access-date=2023-07-27 |archive-date=2023-10-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231020121430/https://www.jstor.org/stable/27516075 |url-status=live }}</ref>
{{Reflist}}


[[Category:Socialist organisations in Australia]]
⚫
The UWM tactics were extremely successful, winning every eviction case they supported in Sydney in the first five months of 1931<ref name=":0" />, and continuing to have an extremely high success rate<ref name=":0" />
[[Category:1930 establishments in Australia]]
[[Category:Great Depression]]
[[Category:Organizations established in 1930]]

Latest revision as of 03:08, 29 June 2024

Not to be confused with Australian Unemployed Workers' Union.
Unemployed Workers Movement
LeaderJack Sylvester
Foundation1930; 94 years ago (1930)
Dates of operationc. 1930–1932
Dissolved1932; 92 years ago (1932)
Merged intoUnited Front Councils of Employed and Unemployed Workers
CountryAustralia
AllegianceCommunist Party of Australia
HeadquartersRedfern, New South Wales
NewspaperWorkers Weekly (unofficial)
Active regionsEastern states of Australia
IdeologySocialism
United Front
Allies
OpponentsNew Guard
New South Wales Police Force

The Unemployed Workers Movement (UWM) was a socialist activist organisation operating in Australia during the Great Depression. It advocated for expanded Welfare, and protections for the Unemployed and fought against evictions in working-class neighbourhoods and work for welfare schemes.[1][2][3][4] In 1930 the UWM had an estimated 30,000 members.[1][4]

History

[edit]
An Anti-Eviction March in Sydney, 1931.

During the Great Depression in Australia, unemployment rose rapidly, reaching a height of 32 per cent in 1932. It is estimated that around 60,000 Australians dependeded on Government assistance.[5] Such assistance however was often inadequate or in the form of couponthatch could not pay rent.[2][1] Additionally "Work for the Dole" schemes prevented many from receiving support.[2] In Sydney, over 6484 Eviction orders were sent out between 1934 and 1939, while in Melbourne 16,000 "ejectment" warrants were filed.[1]

The Unemployed Workers Movement was formed in Melbourne in April 1930 after a dispute between the Victorian Trades Hall Council and a group of unemployed workers who demanded the council represent their interests. Having been rejected, these unemployed activists supported by the Communist Party of Australia founded the UWM.[2][3] The Foundation of the UWM was part of a larger campaign by the CPA to create mass organisations to radicalise Australian Workers, these organisations were not explicitly Communist and in the case of the UWM, Communists were only a minority of members.[3][1][4]

From its inception, the UWM pledged itself against evictions. Specifically in the first major conference of the UWM in July, 1930 their sixth demand stated: "Organise vigilance committees in neighbourhoods to patrol working-class districts and resist by mass action the eviction of unemployed workers from their houses, or attempts on behalf of bailiffs to remove furniture, or gas men to shut off the gas supply."[3][4]

In 1931 the UWM began expanding as a national organisation, forming new branches in Redfern, Newtown, Balmain, Leichhardt, Bankstown, Parramatta, Granville, Hurstville, Kogarah, Bondi, Paddington, Glebe, Crows Nest, Chatswood and Surry Hills[3] and Newcastle.[6]

Across both Melbourne and Sydney the UWM would engage in actions to prevent evictions from 1930 to 1932.[1][4][3] Despite its allegiance to the CPA, the UWM would on multiple occasions defy party lines, mostly when working alongside ALP Organisations on a community level to prevent evictions.[4][3] The UWM did continue to have friction with Trade halls as they were refused representation in Trade union organisations, this manifested in the UWM disrupting Trade Union meetings and marches.[2][4][7]

Increasingly confrontational and violent battles would take place between UWM and allies and the New South Wales Police Force from 1931 to 1932. Such 'battles' took place in Redfern, Leichhardt, Bankstown and Newtown, while the UWM claimed some victories, they were often defeated some of which included exchanges of gunfire.[7][3][8][1][9] By February 1932, the UWM had won over 200 Eviction cases.[10] During celebrations, a UWM rally was ambushed by members of the New Guard, causing a riot that resulted in the victory of UWM and WDC members.[8][10]

By the end of 1932 the UWM was merged with other Tenant rights organisations into the United Front Councils of Employed and Unemployed Workers which abandoned its militant methods and eviction campaigns.[1]

Activities

[edit]

After the UWM commitment to combat evictions, UWM branches created individual "Anti-Eviction Committees" through which they coordinated opposition. The Committees would investigate each case of eviction and decide if to lend their support.[3]

If the UWM Branch decided to intervene, multiple methods were used to prevent eviction. UWM leaders would meet with property owners, alongside a protest held at the property, this sometimes included veiled threats of violence. If deputation failed, the UWM utilised picketing which according to Nadia Wheatley was "familiar to trade unionists, and it fitted the sociable nature of the unemployed movement."[3] If picketing on the footpath failed, picketers would move into the house. If evictions were successful, UWM would dump evicted furniture in front of a city's town hall or police station.[1][3][4] Men, women and children would all contribute to UWM activities.[3][4][6] In these activities the UWM were often assisted by members of the Workers Defence Corps and supporters of the Australian Labor Party.[8][3][1]

On multiple occasions, UWM protests turned into brawls with police attempting to fulfil eviction orders. With UWM members armed with rocks, metal bars, bricks and bottles.[3][8][9][6] Houses would be barricaded with furniture, sandbags and barbed wire.[9][11]

The UWM tactics were extremely successful, winning every eviction case they supported in Sydney in the first five months of 1931,[3] and continuing to have an extremely high success rate.[3]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j MacIntyre, Ian (2008). "Lock Out The Landlords: Australian Anti-Eviction Resistance 1929-1936". The Commons Social Change Library.
  2. ^ a b c d e McIntyre, Iain (2020-08-31). "Jim Munro and the Unemployed Workers Movement in the 1920s and 1930s". The Commons Social Change Library. Retrieved 2023-02-28.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Wheatley, Nadia (2001). Sydney's anti-eviction movement: community or conspiracy?. University of Wollongong Press. pp. 146–173. ISBN 0947127038.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wheatley, Nadia (2013). "The unemployed who kicked: a study of the political struggles and organisations of the New South Wales unemployed in the Great Depression". Macquarie University – via Libcom.org.
  5. ^ "Height of the Great Depression | Australia's Defining Moments Digital Classroom | National Museum of Australia". digital-classroom.nma.gov.au. Retrieved 2024-01-03.
  6. ^ a b c "FIERCE RIOT AT NEWCASTLE". Canberra Times. 1932-06-15. Retrieved 2024-01-04.
  7. ^ a b "Organising the unemployed: Dole strikes and the 1930s Depression – Solidarity Online". 2015-12-03. Retrieved 2024-01-03.
  8. ^ a b c d Moore, Andrew (2005). "The New Guard and the Labour Movement, 1931-35". Labour History (89): 55–72. doi:10.2307/27516075. ISSN 0023-6942. JSTOR 27516075. Archived from the original on 2023-10-20. Retrieved 2023-07-27.
  9. ^ a b c "GUNS AND BATONS USED IN ANTI-EVICTION FIGHT". Newcastle Sun. 1931-06-19. Retrieved 2024-01-04.
  10. ^ a b North, Alex (2020-08-23). "When Fascism Almost Came to Australia". Jacobin. ISSN 2158-2602. Archived from the original on 2023-07-27. Retrieved 2023-07-27.
  11. ^ "COMMUNISTS FIGHT POLICE. Riot at Bankstown". Sydney Morning Herald. 1931-06-18. Retrieved 2024-01-04.
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