Australian Shearers' Union
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The Australian Shearers' Union (also known as the Australasian Shearers Union, sometimes referred to as the Creswick Shearers' Union) was a significant but short-lived early trade union in
Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...
and southern
New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...
. It was formed on 12 June 1886 at a public meeting at Fern's Hotel,
Ballarat Ballarat ( ) () is a city in the Central Highlands of Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 census, Ballarat had a population of 111,973, making it the third-largest urban inland city in Australia and the third-largest city in Victoria. Within mo ...
, to resist a proposed reduction of shearing rates in Victoria and New South Wales, with David Temple as secretary and
William Spence William Guthrie Spence (7 August 1846 – 13 December 1926), was an Australian trade union leader and politician, played a leading role in the formation of both Australia's largest union, the Australian Workers' Union, and the Australian Labor ...
as president. The union was headquartered at
Creswick Creswick is a town in west-central Victoria, Australia, Victoria, Australia, 18 kilometres north of Ballarat, Victoria, Ballarat and 122 kilometres northwest of Melbourne, in the Shire of Hepburn. It is 430 metres above sea level. At the ...
in Victoria. A
Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
branch was formed in July. By November 1886, it claimed 5000 members: 1500 in Victoria and 3500 in southern New South Wales. Having sought to amalgamate with the various New South Wales unions from an early stage, it merged with the smaller Wagga Shearers Union and Bourke Shearers Union to form the
Amalgamated Shearers' Union of Australasia The Amalgamated Shearers' Union of Australasia was an early Australian trade union. It was formed in January 1887 with the amalgamation of the Wagga Shearers Union and Bourke Shearers Union in New South Wales with the Victorian-based Australian S ...
in January 1887.


References

{{reflist Trade unions in Australia 1886 establishments in Australia Trade unions established in 1886 Australian sheep industry Sheep shearing Defunct trade unions of Australia