48 lines
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48 lines
2.0 KiB
Markdown
The '''Mount Isa Mines Strike '''was a
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[strike](List_of_Strikes "wikilink") at Mount Isa,
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[Australia](Commonwealth_of_Australia "wikilink") from [1964 to
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1965](Timeline_of_Libertarian_Socialism_in_Oceania "wikilink"). Although
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starting as a simple dispute over wages, it quickly turned into a
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complex struggle for control of [trade unions](Trade_Union "wikilink"),
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being a contest for control of the mine either by the
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[IWW](Industrial_Workers_of_the_World "wikilink"), [communist-controlled
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unions](Authoritarian_Socialism "wikilink"), [liberal
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unions](Liberalism "wikilink") and the desire of the mining corporation
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to have little union influence at all.
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## Background
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At the time, Mount Isa Mines was one of the largest
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[mines](Mining "wikilink") in Australia, producing copper, zinc, lead
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and silver. As it was a hugely-profitable operations and required many
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workers, there had been unrest in the past over pay and bonuses
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disputes, and the strike erupted when the mine rejected the unions push
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for a $4 an hour wage increase during collective bargaining
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sessions.\[1\]
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## Events
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The striking miners employed many tactics during the strike, notably [go
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slows](Go_Slow "wikilink"). There had also been a car chase at some
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point, killing an unknown individual. The miners were led by IWW member
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[Pat Mackie](Pat_Mackie "wikilink"), who was born in New Zealand and
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spoke with an American accent, leading the news to say that he was a
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foreign agent trying to make it easy for China to invade Australia. He
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was eventually expelled from the [Australian Workers'
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Union](Australian_Workers'_Union "wikilink") and fired from the site,
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whilst local [police](police "wikilink") were given the power to search
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houses without a warrant and seize strike materials.\[2\]
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## Results
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The strike eventually resulted with the police loosing many of the legal
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powers and the original demands of the strikers being met.\[3\]
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## References
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<references />
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1. [Wikipedia](Wikipedia "wikilink") -
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<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1964_Mount_Isa_Mines_strike>
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2.
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3. |