During World War II, Australia was a key player in the Allied war effort, providing troops, resources, and logistical support across the Pacific and beyond. However, not all sectors within Australia were fully cooperative in the war effort. The Australian Maritime Union (AMU), which represented dock workers and seamen, became notorious for its contentious relationship with the government and military authorities, particularly due to its refusal to load ships for the war effort at certain critical moments.
The AMU, formally known as the Waterside Workers’ Federation of Australia (WWF), was established in the early 20th century to represent the interests of waterfront workers, who often faced dangerous working conditions and low pay. The union was known for its strong commitment to workers' rights, and it frequently engaged in strikes and industrial actions to secure better conditions for its members.
But was it altogether about workers rights or was it more about political ideology? By the time World War II began, the AMU had become a powerful force in Australian labor politics. It was also influenced by left-wing ideologies, including socialism and communism, which played a significant role in shaping its policies and actions during the war.
One of the most controversial actions taken by the AMU during World War II was its refusal to load ships with supplies bound for the war front. This refusal was rooted in several factors, including concerns about working conditions, pay disputes, and political opposition to the war.
When No. 317 Radar Station was being set up at Green Island east of New Britain during the war it was found that all the valves for the radar sets had been stolen by wharf labourers at Townsville. Without the valves the station was unable to go on air as scheduled, and a violent electrical tropical storm caught a force of two-seater American Vultee Vengeance dive-bombers flying back from a raid on the Japanese base at Rabaul.
The storm upset the aircraft’s compasses and even though they were in radio contact they became lost. Without radar the station could not guide them home and they flew on till they ran out of fuel and crashed, as those listening on the ground heard. Two of the aircraft were found. Sixteen others were lost and all the thirty-two men in them perished. James Ahearn, an RAAF serviceman at Green Island, wrote:
Had No. 317 been on air it was possible the doomed aircraft could have been guided back to base. The grief was compounded by the fact that had it not been for the greed and corruption on the Australian waterfront such lives would not have been needlessly lost.
The AMU's refusal to load ships reached a critical point in 1942, a year that saw some of the most intense and pivotal battles of the war. At a time when the Allied forces were desperate for supplies, the union’s actions created significant delays and disruptions in the transportation of essential materials. The union's stance was partly influenced by its perception that the government and shipping companies were exploiting the war to undermine workers' rights and increase profits at the expense of the workers' well-being.
As Japanese forces attacked Milne Bay in 1942, and Australia and America tried to rush reinforcements to the aid of the troops holding on there, Townsville watersiders went on strike to prevent munitions being loaded. They refused to load heavy guns unless paid treble or, later, quadruple time. A small group of US Army personnel, under a US Army colonel who had trained Australia’s first modern heavy artillery battery, eventually threw the watersiders off the wharf and loaded the guns themselves. By that time the rest of the convoy had sailed. The guns reached Milne Bay too late.
We have an article coming up on the Battle of Milne Bay.
Another factor was the union's suspicion that some of the cargo being loaded was intended for the Soviet Union, which at the time had a non-aggression pact with Nazi Germany. The AMU's leadership, which included members sympathetic to communist ideals, was deeply conflicted about supporting an effort that could indirectly aid the Soviet Union's war machine.
The Australian government, led by Prime Minister John Curtin, was outraged by the AMU's refusal to load ships. The government saw the union's actions as not only unpatriotic but also as a direct threat to the war effort and national security. The media, as well as sections of the public, also condemned the union's stance, accusing it of jeopardising the lives of Australian soldiers and the broader Allied war effort.
In Adelaide in 1942, watersiders unloading a ship deliberately destroyed American aircraft engines by dropping them from cargo-nets until American soldiers fired sub-machine-guns and dropped stun-grenades on the watersiders. On the Brisbane wharves Australian watersiders also deliberately wrecked US P-38 fighter planes. One soldier later wrote:
They simply hooked the lifting crane onto the planes, and, without unbolting the planes from the decks, would signal the hoisting engineer to lift, which effectively tore the planes to pieces.
In response to the union's refusal, the government implemented emergency measures to ensure that vital supplies could still be transported. This included the use of military personnel and non-union labor to load ships, effectively bypassing the AMU. The government also threatened legal action against union leaders and members who continued to obstruct the war effort.
A former infantry sergeant wrote of fighting in New Guinea:
" On our way back we were ambushed by the Japs and one of our NCOs was killed. We returned to the hill and had to stay that night. The Japs attacked several times. My brother was shot in the mouth but was able to walk back with us next day.
The lads were using hundreds of rounds of small arms ammo and stores were running low.
We had orders next day to go easy with the ammo that we had as the wharfies at Sydney were refusing to load any on the ships.
You can imagine what we would have done to the wharfies had we been given the chance—the Japs would have been second priority. " source
If you have loyalty to a union, a religion or a political party that is greater than your loyalty to your country, then I fear something is very very wrong. Are we not seeing too much of this today?
Where union and left wing driven ideology is overwhelming National security and the wellbeing of Australian people. I will leave you with this thought.
In October, 1945, following the Japanese surrender, the small British aircraft-carrier HMS Speaker carried some of the surviving Australian soldiers released from Japanese prison camps back to Sydney.
They had had no mail or news from their families for more than three and a half years. Most were in desperate physical straits and it was a medical rule of thumb at the time that their suffering had taken ten years off their life expectancies. Already, all but the strong had perished and many of them said later that in another month they would all have been dead: their ordeal had simply gone on too long.
When HMS Speaker arrived at Sydney, watersiders went on strike for thirty-six hours, preventing them being disembarked.
Now tell me, on what side of the aisle do you sit?
I'm on the side of Australia.
Future reading
The unions’ war on Australia - Quadrant Online
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