Striking Ore: The Rise and Fall of Union Power in the Pilbara

In the 1970s, workers in Western Australia’s Pilbara iron ore mines went on strike more than the notorious coal miners. ‘We had industrial muscle and we used it,’ recounted one union delegate. Grassroots-led strikes often provoked the ire of union officials and politicians but dramatically improved workers’ lives. Yet this former bastion of militant unionism is today virtually un-unionised. An industry making super-profits is beset by insecure work, mental distress and sexual harassment.

How did this union power come about? What did it mean for the workers of the Pilbara and their communities? And how could it be so thoroughly destroyed? Based on archival research and interviews with participants, including rank-and-file union members, shop stewards and organisers, Striking Ore focuses on the workers themselves – including their agitating for hard-won breakthroughs in pay, conditions and safety – to answer these questions and assess the legacy of the unions’ defeat. It offers inspiration for unionists and activists and salient lessons for today’s trade union movement.

Alexis Vassiley is a labour historian and industrial relations scholar at Edith Cowan University in Perth, where he lectures in work and employment relations. He has published widely on trade union strategy, and is a research team member for the Mental Awareness, Respect and Safety Centre – an ECU industry collaboration centre for the mining sector. An associate editor of Labour History, he also serves as a workplace representative, branch committee member and national councillor for the National Tertiary Education Union.