The Wide Comb Dispute: Australian Sheep Shearing: 1983

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11 жыл бұрын

This video containing material of historical interest has been uploaded for purposes of scholarship and research. It was broadcast in Australia by Channel Nine's "60 Minutes" on 19 April 1983 during a national strike in the shearing industry, making clear the intensity of feelings on both sides. Wide combs (3 1/2 inches) had been legalised on 10th December 1982. The Australian Workers' Union strongly objected. The AWU's appeal against the ruling had been unceremoniously rejected by the Australian Industry Commission on 23rd March 1983. Hitherto, since way back in 1926 only narrow combs (2 1/2 inches) had been permitted by the Pastoral Industry Award. In fact there had been a union rule against wide combs since 1910! Shearers were sharply divided between those who wanted wide combs, and those who wanted the ban continued. The video has great shots of unionists and wide comb "scabs" fighting at the door of a union meeting at the Wagga Wagga Leagues Club in NSW. Also an account of a violent assault on wide comb shearer Bob White and his wife outside the Eromanga pub in Queensland. For a book on the history of shearing see "Mateship and Moneymaking, Australian Shearing: The Clash of Union Solidarity with the Spirit of Enterprise, 1895-1995" by Rory O'Malley, Xlibris, 2013. The website shearinghistory.com also contains relevant historical information.

Пікірлер: 101

@angelwhite1965 8 жыл бұрын

So proud of my Grandfather Robert White. It just goes to show how one sided people used to be. I would never wish this hate on any family.

@seanodwyer8691 6 жыл бұрын

Angel White. ahh think your grandfather @@@- Robert White is such fun guy ahh would actually pay him for me to work for him.'''

@dukatikiddukatikid7358 4 жыл бұрын

@Angel White your grandfather was a man of character and rock solid values,he and his men singlehandedly dragged these Neanderthals kicking and screaming into the 1980s. The union members were cowardly scum!

@Hillfarmlamb 2 жыл бұрын

Fare play to him such a load of 💩 shows how something so small can cause such rows but u are proud of your grandfather 👍👍👍

@shaun469 Ай бұрын

Dad was a shearer all his life. Started with synott and dunbar in the early 60s as a presser. Rip dad.

@TheEamonKeane 6 жыл бұрын

that guy complaining about a sore elbow over wide combs. LOL. I shear with them without issue

@williamwilson7048 6 жыл бұрын

How we only use wide coombs now though

@pipr5070 6 жыл бұрын

I remember this dispute. It was a massive uproar all round

@stephensmith5349 10 жыл бұрын

I worked for bob between 1982 and 1985 was a tough time got bashed at burke my partner got bashed as well and she was pregnant I wonder if the shearers would go back to narrow combs now

@seanodwyer8691 7 жыл бұрын

Stephen smith. @ Bob White should have been the lead actor in the 'Sunday too far.'' movie.. @ Iff yocan get rid off th mongrels the wool industry is fun.

@seanodwyer8691 6 жыл бұрын

sounds like a great man too be with. if he still around

@gantz4u 3 жыл бұрын

For every 2 men using a wide comb 1 man loses his job and I'll give you 10 cents a pound raw wool out the door. Just kidding. Im wearing a 10% wool 90% acrylic yarn "wool blend"

@gantz4u 3 жыл бұрын

Edit: Ive thought about it and realized anything you say can have real world ramifications of drunk Australians knocking each other about. Please understand my original post is meant to be a philosophical observation on the conditions of economics. In no way should it be interpreted as a call to violence.

@glendafield9797 7 жыл бұрын

I would be proud of him too.

@MrSheepherder88 10 жыл бұрын

Shows how dumb Unions were even in my industry in Australia. Very violent as always when Unions do not get their way. By the way we all use the wide comb now so the Union was dead wrong I was a 19 year old boy when this made history

@Wardads1 9 жыл бұрын

When this first aired back in 1983 I was shocked to see my mate Paul being attacked by these arseholes .I was shearing with a union team and had always been in the AWU yet we ended up constantly fighting losers in places like Dubbo most of whom were not even shearers ,all bar myself were Aussies too . The whole thing was poorly presented by the AWU as hardly anyone knew what the big deal was [ the rate of pay was based on the number of sheep shorn in a given time with a narrow comb] In Adelaide I had no probs attending union meetings even though I was a Kiwi

@billtyrrell1687 Жыл бұрын

Here from the Adam Friedland show

@samsimons1105 5 жыл бұрын

when times where simpler?

@joemurnane3425 4 жыл бұрын

While the union has fought for decent working conditions and wages, nothing justifies violence especially like this

@outdatedfarmequipment2702 2 жыл бұрын

I agree with that but these coward scabs can make your blood boil.

@paulcoffey359 2 жыл бұрын

Can't believe the cop laughed about it!

@Mercmad Жыл бұрын

@@paulcoffey359 He wasn't put out back because he was a bright spark.

@carolehayden8566 7 жыл бұрын

Passion in the Bush. most interesting. Thanks.

@outdatedfarmequipment2702 2 жыл бұрын

Union power all the way.

@adrenalize666 5 жыл бұрын

Union cranks. They never got any better.

@outdatedfarmequipment2702 5 жыл бұрын

Go easy kicking unions mate if it were not for them we would all be eating rice or baked beans on toast for dinner.

@adrenalize666 5 жыл бұрын

Yes. The original idea of the union movement was great. As usual greed and corruption ruinrd the Unions and the Labour Party.These are the same clowns that signed on to a shed and voted the sheep wet, then billed the cocky for a week of the roustabouts and presser sitting around doing nothing. The same clowns that wouldn't let us start at 5am on a Friday to leave early. @@outdatedfarmequipment2702

@Mercmad Жыл бұрын

@@outdatedfarmequipment2702 ...which is coming if the union supported labor party achieves it's goal of implementing WEF policies in Australia.

@justinpihama3405 3 жыл бұрын

Lol ozzies narrow minded😂

@13thbiosphere 3 жыл бұрын

25% of shearers were losing their jobs .>>> only way they could have solved this dispute is to have quotas of 150 sheep per day some of the gun shearers could take 400 sheep in a day.>>>

@gregwooldridge8864 4 ай бұрын

I'm using 98mm wide combs the sheep are now huge.

@gedted1234 8 жыл бұрын

Just let the man use his bloody Coombs

@bl688 4 ай бұрын

This is crazy but each side beleived in it

@nicktorea4017 6 жыл бұрын

Not sure what part of Australia it was but the farmer asked my uncle to work Saturdays & he agreed to which the local Shearer's took exception to because they thought they would have to work Saturdays as well. They ganged up & threatened to beat my uncle up if he worked on the Saturday. Funny thing is the farmer only asked my uncle because he knew the local lads didn't want to work Saturdays. Maybe they were jealous I don't know either way threatening to beat someone up because they get asked to do over time is out of order.

@geoffreytazprice5091 4 жыл бұрын

Shearing on the weekends was near as big a deal as wide combs mate. Union rules. Still don't shear on weekends here in Tassie. Reason why? at least 75-80% of shearers are AWU members

@geoffreytazprice5091 2 жыл бұрын

@DTL I was only a union member because of my uncle who's a staunch union man paid for mine my whole career. I was only a kid when this debacle was happening but the old fellas made sure you knew all about it.

@chasingnaturevideography 5 жыл бұрын

That's crazy fighting over a few inches like those unions clearly must of been delusional thinking the narrow comb was the best option

@13thbiosphere 3 жыл бұрын

A lot of people were losing their jobs because of the increased efficiency and competition

@outdatedfarmequipment2702 2 жыл бұрын

Tough militant unions are what built the working class in this country not gutless arse kissing scabs.

@lumpofdirt69 Жыл бұрын

@@13thbiosphere no they weren't. That was just another excuse for these useless pricks to get some time off work and go behave like animals.

@lumpofdirt69 Жыл бұрын

@@13thbiosphere name one shearer that lost their job just because of their shearing combs.

@13thbiosphere Жыл бұрын

@@lumpofdirt69 if you can do a job 30% more efficient it's inevitable that someone is going to lose a job it's just basic mathematics

@seanodwyer8691 6 жыл бұрын

A good Kontroll freak iss a dead one.''- sic.

@joemurnane3425 4 жыл бұрын

The game has changed since the strike for the better if you ask me

@andrewmurphy1149 3 жыл бұрын

No one gets it, it wasnt about shearing, it was about keeping the kiwis iout of Australia.Wide combs are heaps better to shear with and you make more money but the shearing industry is a frigging mess now. Anyone who learnt on wide combs finds it very difficult to shear with narrow gear, thats what kept the new zealanders out of the australian industry. Since wide gear came in the industry has gone to shit. Poor facilities, terrible toilets, unliveale huts and no union. I shear with wide combs but this strike ruined the industry. WE should have just adopted the wide gear like they did in Queensland and found other ways to keep the kiwi scabls out.

@peterdykzeul3074 3 жыл бұрын

Why do you call the Kiwis "Scabs"? They are not to blame for your current working conditions plus there were not enough Australian shearers at that time do do the work load. I was hitch-hiking at that time around the Coastal Highway and several times was told to say nothing in a local pub as there has been brutal fights between the Kiwis and Australians over the wide comb in that town. Most people that gave me a lift told me that many station owners preferred the Kiwi shearers over the Australian as they worked harder, did not work to the clock and so did not leave sheep in the yards over the weekend when an extra hour or two would have finished the work. The biggest irony is that the wide comb the Kiwis used was made in Australia.

@trackdusty Жыл бұрын

@Andrew Murphy One of the few commenters with a brain. Thanks.

@Mercmad Жыл бұрын

Note" no one remembers the AWU bloke with the fancy suit and nice car. ....

@maccaspope2275 Жыл бұрын

@@trackdusty What a bunch of nonsense. Kiwi's go over and show you fullas a better way of shearing and you complain. Useless bastards

@maccaspope2275 Жыл бұрын

How tha fuck are Kiwi's to blame for shit huts and toilets on Aussie farms?

@mikeherbert208 2 жыл бұрын

Click goes the shears 😜🤣..Now what using wide combs lol..

@dazzaoutandabout4870 2 жыл бұрын

What a disgrace by these thugs. Good on ya Bob, your a legend!!

@Synthetic-Chicken 2 жыл бұрын

An extra inch matters

@meljane8339 7 ай бұрын

How many packs of cigarettes is 36AUD a day back then, now?

@shaun469 Ай бұрын

Whats your point?

@meljane8339 Ай бұрын

@shaun469 in terms of economics, with cigarettes+beer+sugar+butter(etc), my "point" is regarding standards of normal "rations" (standard commodities rations, witch is millenia-long-accepted standard) [globally accepted] ratios to standard staples [universally accepted].

@shaun469 Ай бұрын

@@meljane8339 cigarettes and alcohol are taxed outside of normal inflation. Probably not a good baseline.

@meljane8339 Ай бұрын

@shaun469 it's a historic baseline, though. ...

@shaun469 Ай бұрын

@@meljane8339 historic yes. Relevant today? No

@aussiefarmer4955 3 жыл бұрын

The difference ? easier work and less shearers required over the long haul that means less members( well less $$$) going to the union..bunch of grubs.

@Chrarsh101 4 жыл бұрын

wow haha what a silly situation

@MM0IMC 2 ай бұрын

Good old fashioned union protectionism. 🙄 Don't wide combs dominate now? 🤔 Luddites. 🙄

@Rusty_coit Жыл бұрын

Good to see unions haven’t changed.. the real scabs!!

@patrickhauraki8713 2 жыл бұрын

Was silly if they turned the wide comb over ...it was made in Australia

@williamross4440 6 жыл бұрын

History aliken to or through books.(follow the herd.baa baa.hood)woofe wuf communicates e.g.of job or duty to respect for respect(police dog or just companionship)yet the voice is gauged buy the sayings actions &that of tru beat(ticka)

@flanno 3 жыл бұрын

Shudder to imagine how these blokes would have treated the aboriginal community.

@trackdusty Жыл бұрын

BS. The AWU did a lot for working aborigines. I knew a couple who organised aboriginal labor in the cotton industry.

@flanno Жыл бұрын

@@trackdusty such as?

@trackdusty Жыл бұрын

@@flanno That's private, idiot.

@Mercmad Жыл бұрын

@@flanno Who do you think mustered the flocks? as an example. I never met an aboriginal shearer but I knew a lot employed on the huge cotton farms such as Cubby Station and they were taking home big money.

@Jg-eg1hv 3 жыл бұрын

I remember my uncles talking about this when they came back to New Zealand. Was there a racial overtone to this? My uncles were all big Maoris and they would laugh about fights they would get in.