The Great Strike 1917

The denial of significant parts of the nation’s history has been a core element of Australia’s collective identity. Few would imagine that this includes a strike – the biggest industrial upheaval Australia has seen before or since which occurred during “The Great War”. The introduction of an American ‘timecard’ system which prioritised profit and introduced monitoring of the workforce was strongly resisted. The strike which drew up to two hundred thousand people into Sydney’s streets at the time had huge implications for vast number of workers. Many lost their jobs or seniority. The government mobilised thousands of ‘volunteer’ workers – pitting rural and urban against each other. It was a crushing defeat and personal stories and legacies only filtered through generations of families for years to come. The documentary will reveal this industrial, social and political conflict that have lasting consequences for the labor movement in Australia to this day.

This film is about the dynamic and often conflicted relationship between the workforce and employers. It’s themes underscore an international story that crosses cultures and continents. The documentary will ensure that the story of these momentous events will be available to a contemporary audience, and will provide the basis for understanding an important, if neglected historical event for general audiences as well as students of Australian history.

The aim of the documentary is to reintroduce to contemporary audiences, an event which has had lasting political, social and personal consequences for Australian society. The film explores the role of protest and the capacity of working people to make and shape not just their own destiny, but the historical and social landscape for generations after.
This story is particularly significant at a time when the values and aspirations of the union movement are either ignored or attacked as being irrelevant.The film will draw attention to the contemporary debate about the right to strike – often today described by commentators as an illegal act. However rather than romanticizing the past, the film will seek to stimulate a more nuanced understanding of the dynamics and the behaviours of the powerful and less powerful within society. One of the measures of its impact will be the stimulation of contemporary commentary and discussion of one of the sources of Australian identity.

Organisations we are networking with include Unions NSW, the ACTU and history groups such as the Australian Society for the Study of Labour History. We have raised some funds through these networks already which has been vital to the production.
Lucy Taksa, former Professor at the Centre for Workforce Futures at Macquarie University, is a key interviewee in the film. She has worked closely with us on contacts and networks and educational materials such as the study guide. Other interviewees who will provide significant networking opportunities for the film include Sally McManus, Secretary, ACTU, Frances Morgan, Writer The Folded Lie, John Graham, Labor MLC NSW, Laila Ellmoos, Historian City of Sydney Council, Simon Drake, National Film & Sound Archive, Alex Claassens, NSW Branch Secretary, Rail, Train and Bus Union RTBU, Barbara Gaudry, grand daughter of a strike and former mayor, Newcastle City Council and Dr Val Noone, Fellow, School of Historical Studies, University of Melbourne.

1. In light of the century old story of The Great Strike 1917 we want to activate the audience into consideration of the impact of tenchological change on the modern workforce; on their own lives as well as on generations before them, which the film spells out.

2. To consider the value and effectiveness of representation in the work environment and how evolving technologies can be responded to so that the quality of life of the workforce is kept as a significant aspect of the equation; that the profit of a business enterprise is cognisant of the role of those conducting the work.

3. That the film stimulates an analysis of the nature of power and influence in society and how that can impact on the lives of the community.