The Birth of an Organising Union

The Trolly, Draymen and Carters’ Union
was a proud participant in the grand
Eight Hour Day Parade conducted
through the centre of Sydney on
Monday, 8 October 1901. Having first
unfurled its new banner only a few
days before, the parade provided an
opportunity to display the banner to
the people of Sydney.
It was reported that ‘the people of
the metropolis and suburbs turned
out in thousands’ to watch as ‘Labour
celebrated in befitting fashion the
anniversary of the concession of the
principle of eight-hours’ work, and
the function was in its general aspect
admittedly one of the most successful
and imposing that has been witnessed
by the Sydney public for years.’
It was estimated that between 14,000
and 15,000 unionists took part in the
procession. The crowd was simply too
large to accurately estimate: ‘spread
over such an extensive line of route
as that traversed by the numerous
trades, it is impossible to give even
an approximate idea of the numerical
strength of the men, women, and
children who thronged the different
thoroughfares, but the total must have
been very huge indeed.’
The 1901 parade was ‘the first eighthours
demonstration in New South
Wales under the aegis of the Australian
Commonwealth’, and ‘the unionists
turned out in numbers never before
excelled in the State’, both marching
and accompanied by a stream of drays
bearing large union banners.
‘The handsome banners of the unions,
the many-coloured badges worn by the
men who marched so briskly through
the streets, and the gaily caparisoned
horses presented an ever changing
picture which pleased even the artistic
taste.’
The reporter also noted that ‘in labour
all men are regarded as equal, so that
the man who represents labour either
in the State or the Federal Parliament
is expected to walk with the men.
44 The Birth of an Organising Union