1890 Australian Maritime Dispute

The 1890 Australian Maritime Dispute, commonly known as the 1890 Maritime Strike, was on a scale unprecedented in the Australian colonies to that point in time, causing political and social turmoil across all Australian colonies and in New Zealand, including the collapse of colonial governments in the colonies of Victoria and New South Wales. It was the first of four great strikes that rocked Australasia in the 1890s, and though it ended in defeat for the Australian labour movement, it demonstrated the growing social power of trade union organisation co-ordinated by Trades and Labour Councils, and was an important cause in the introduction of the arbitration system for industrial disputes and the formation of the Australian Labor Party.