1890 Australian Maritime Dispute - Union Defeat

Union Defeat

The strike was defeated when the Marine Officers returned to work on the employers terms in November 1890, with Illawarra coal miners being the last workers to return to work in January 1891. A shortage of money to sustain the strike and a plentiful supply of scabs eventually defeated the strikers. Wage cuts were introduced for everyone in the maritime industry, with wage cuts of up to 30 per cent. The defeat of the Maritime Strike in 1890 and the 1891 Australian shearers' strike, laid the framework for the Australian labour movement entry into parliamentary politics. The New South Wales Labour Defence Committee summed up the unions mood in the statement "the time has come when trade unionists must use the parliamentary machine that in the past has used them".