The Great Strike Anniversary
The 2nd of August marks a special anniversary for South Eveleigh. On this day in 1917, Eveleigh Locomotive Workshop employees joined their colleagues in the NSW railway system by walking off the job, signalling the beginning of the ‘Great Strike’, and a new era for the Australian working class.
Lasting just over six weeks, the strike was characterised by mass protests and bitter clashes between strikers and strike-breakers. While the strike was ultimately unsuccessful, it would shape political consciousness for years to come, giving rise to some of the more important figures of the Labor movement.
Still from ‘The Great Strike’ (1917) showing strikers on the march
Source: National Film and Sound Archive of Australia
‘Lily White’ badges were worn by workers who refused to go back to work for the duration of the Great Strike
Source: Courtesy of Unions NSW
Discover the stories of the Unions and the Workers of South Eveleigh and their involvement in the Great Strike here:
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