Australian
Screen

an NFSA website

November Victory (1955)

play
Email a link to this page
To:
CC:
Subject:
Body:
clip
  • 1
  • 2
'A fair go for the working people' education content clip 1, 2

This clip chosen to be G

Clip description

This is a partly dramatised, newsreel-style sequence depicting the WWF’s appeal to the broader labour movement for help in fighting amendments to the 1954 Stevedoring Act. Waterside workers’ wives prepare food parcels and union organisers conduct rallies across the country, including in rural areas, to drum up support. Strikers also march on newspaper offices, speak at public meetings and broadcast from radio stations.

Teacher’s notes

provided by The Le@rning FederationEducation Services Australia

This clip from a black-and-white narrated and dramatised 1955 documentary by the Waterside Workers’ Federation (WWF) Film Unit, shows the WWF 1954 campaign to unite workers and the public behind their fight against the 1954 amendments to the 1949 Stevedoring Act. Wharfies’ wives pack food parcels for strikers. Political strategy is planned in offices. Music, editing and close-ups create drama in scenes of political meetings at building sites and meetings with rural workers. The radio and newspaper publicity campaign is also portrayed.

Educational value points

  • A planned government amendment to the Stevedoring Act would deny the WWF control over the hiring of wharf labour. This was seen to threaten hard-won improvements the WWF had gained, by potentially allowing non-union labour on the waterfront. Twice before, non-union workers brought in by governments had compromised WWF work conditions so this time the WWF appealed for broad national support to fight the plan.
  • The extent and breadth of the WWF campaign, which mobilised nationwide strike action for a fortnight, is indicated in the clip. Coordinated from Sydney, the strike involved workers on every waterfront. During these two weeks the WWF rallied workers in other unions to unite behind them by addressing meetings, making workplace visits and using the media. They especially emphasised WWF support for the coalminers’ strike of 1949 and for the Queensland railway workers in 1948.
  • Membership unity within the WWF in 1954 is celebrated in this clip at a high point in the union’s strength and influence. Labour shortages during the Second World War along with strong leadership, which had eliminated a rival labour force, had consolidated the national strength of the WWF and its capacity to improve work conditions. Members put aside factional differences, and women supported the cause ‘alongside their menfolk’ during the strike of 2–15 November 1954.
  • The campaign depicted here produced a victory seen as a landmark in the history of Australia’s labour movement. The legislation was passed but before it received royal assent the WWF, returning from strike, filled its quota of labourer vacancies on the waterfronts, as the Australian Council of Trade Unions had ensured no non-WWF workers applied for these jobs. This meant the WWF effectively retained control over the waterfront labour supply.
  • Cinematic techniques and a narration combine to create a picture of a heroic fight of right against wrong. The language of war including ‘home front’, the food parcels, the strategy room, people uniting in support of a cause, would all be parts of a narrative familiar to an audience recently engaged in a real war. Close-ups show friendly faces of women and men committed to ‘justice’ and a ‘fair go’ against a ‘conspiracy’ by the government and shipowners.
  • At the time, the WWF Film Unit was unique as a union-founded and funded film unit. In this clip the Unit depicts and celebrates a key victory in WWF history. Using workers as actors it promotes the idea of strength through worker solidarity. From 1953 until 1958 the WWF Film Unit sought to challenge what it saw as mainstream media’s distorted view of the labour movement, to give workers a voice and to educate workers about union issues.

Thanks to the generosity of the rights holders, we are able to offer 'A fair go for the working people' from the documentary November Victory as a high quality video download.

To play the downloadable video, you need QuickTime 7.0, VLC, or similar.

You must read and agree to the following terms and conditions before downloading the clip:

australianscreen is produced by the National Film and Sound Archive. By using the website you agree to comply with the terms and conditions described elsewhere on this site. The NFSA may amend the 'Conditions of Use’ from time to time without notice.

All materials on the site, including but not limited to text, video clips, audio clips, designs, logos, illustrations and still images, are protected by the Copyright Laws of Australia and international conventions.

When you access australianscreen you agree that:

  • You may retrieve materials for information only.
  • You may download materials for your personal use or for non-commercial educational purposes, but you must not publish them elsewhere or redistribute clips in any way.
  • You may embed the clip for non-commercial educational purposes including for use on a school intranet site or a school resource catalogue.
  • The National Film and Sound Archive’s permission must be sought to amend any information in the materials, unless otherwise stated in notices throughout the Site.

All other rights reserved.

ANY UNAUTHORISED USE OF MATERIAL ON THIS SITE MAY RESULT IN CIVIL AND CRIMINAL LIABILITY.

This clip is available in the following configurations:

File nameSizeQualitySuitability
novvicto1_pr.mp4 Large: 20.4MB High Optimised for full-screen display on a fast computer.
novvicto1_bb.mp4 Medium: 9.6MB Medium Can be displayed full screen. Also suitable for video iPods.

Right-click on the links above to download video files to your computer.

Thanks to the generosity of the rights holders, we are able to offer this clip in an embeddable format for personal or non-commercial educational use in full form on your own website or your own blog.

You must read and agree to the following terms and conditions before embedding the clip:

australianscreen is produced by the National Film and Sound Archive. By using the website you agree to comply with the terms and conditions described elsewhere on this site. The NFSA may amend the 'Conditions of Use’ from time to time without notice.

All materials on the site, including but not limited to text, video clips, audio clips, designs, logos, illustrations and still images, are protected by the Copyright Laws of Australia and international conventions.

When you access australianscreen you agree that:

  • You may retrieve materials for information only.
  • You may download materials for your personal use or for non-commercial educational purposes, but you must not publish them elsewhere or redistribute clips in any way.
  • You may embed the clip for non-commercial educational purposes including for use on a school intranet site or a school resource catalogue.
  • The National Film and Sound Archive’s permission must be sought to amend any information in the materials, unless otherwise stated in notices throughout the Site.

All other rights reserved.

ANY UNAUTHORISED USE OF MATERIAL ON THIS SITE MAY RESULT IN CIVIL AND CRIMINAL LIABILITY.

Copy and paste the following code into your own web page to embed this clip: