This year marks the 60th anniversary of the 1951 waterfront dispute, the biggest industrial confrontation in New Zealand’s history. Although it was not as violent as the Great Strike of 1913, it lasted longer – 151 days, from February to July – and involved more workers.
New Zealanders generally accepted the hardships and restrictions of the war years as necessary in the fight against fascism. After the war, though, many began to demand a greater share in the spoils of victory.
Cook Strait ferries were vital to the flow of freight and
passengers between the North and South islands, and interruptions because of bad weather, mechanical problems or strikes and lockouts inevitably
hit the headlines.
The watersiders’ militancy had isolated them from most unionists and Walter Nash’s Labour Party Opposition sat uncomfortably on the fence, denouncing government repression but refusing to back either side.
General issue New Army riot baton thought to have been used during Japanese
Occupation Force (J Force) operations 1946-1948 and the 1951 waterfront
dispute.
Events in Wellington on and around 24 October marked the beginning of the Great Strike of 1913 – a bitter two-and-a-half-month struggle that would ultimately involve 16,000 unionists around the country.
Striking worker Fred Evans was savagely beaten by police and strike-breakers during the bitter dispute at the goldmining town of Waihī. He died the following day.
The Great Strike of 1913, which had begun in late October when Wellington waterside workers stopped work, finally ended when the United Federation of Labour conceded defeat.
