Federated Ship Painters and Dockers Union

Australian shipbuilders trade union (1900 – 1993)
the trade union

The Federated Ship Painters and Dockers Union (FSPDU) was an Australian trade union which existed between 1900 and 1993. It represented labourers in the shipbuilding industry, covering "mostly work associated with chipping, painting, scrubbing [and] cleaning [ships], working in every size of tanks, cleaning boilers, docking and undocking vessels, and rigging work".

The Painters and Dockers' Union had its origins in the New South Wales Associated Laborers Union, also known as the Balmain Labourers Union, which was established in Balmain in May 1883. The new union was formed to represent all unskilled workers or labourers in the area, but was focussed mainly on shipbuilding and ship repair, the main industry in Balmain. The union gradually grew in stature over the next decade, affiliating with the Trades and Labor Council of Sydney in 1889 and establishing the Balmain Trades and Labor Hall in 1890. The union achieved federal registration in 1916, giving it access to the federal system of arbitration and conciliation courts.

Working conditions and pay for ship painters and dockers in the early 20th century were poor, with 80 percent of the union's membership in 1939 earning less than the basic wage. Ninety percent of painters and dockers were employed as casuals, under the free selection of labour system. This meant workers had to wait outside shipyards and port workshops, where foremen would choose different men to work each day, depending on the requirements of the employer. The union made significant efforts to regulate this system of hiring, including introducing limits on the minimum length of employment and the number of hours workers would wait each day, but with little success. Conditions changed dramatically during World War II, as increased demand in the shipbuilding industry led to a labour shortage. The membership of the union grew rapidly, increasing in Sydney from 880 in 1939 to 2792 in 1945. For example, despite representing only 15 percent of the workforce in the shipbuilding and ship repair industry the FSPDU was involved in 40 percent of all industrial disputes between 1975 and 1978. The FSPDU was also notable for being the only union in Australia after 1976 to have more than 5 percent of its members in the shipbuilding and ship repair industry. Before de registration members of the Dockers had been transferred to what are now the Maritime Union of Australia and the AMWU. Several prominent former members were involved in the Melbourne gangland killings. Lewis Moran and Graham Kinniburgh were both former members and met on the Melbourne waterfront. Five persons who were members or associated with the Union were connected with the attempted robbery of Trans Australia Airlines Flight 454.