Compulsory Arbitration and Union Recovery: Maritime-Related Unions 1900-1912

Abstract

Until recently, conventional wisdom has had it that the introduction of com pulsory arbitration caused the revival and growth of unionism at the beginning of the twentieth century. In isolation, Peter Macarthy provided well-founded but over looked arguments in opposition to that wisdom. However; Macarthy did not develop his analysis further by systematically following unions in relation to arbitration in the context of changing product and labour markets. This article develops this type of analysis by examining the relationship between compulsory arbitration in New South Wales and trends in the memberships of four maritime-related unions in the decade to 1912. It confirms Macarthy's argument that the union recovery came before the introduction of arbitration. In this case it was due to a strong growth in shipping, an improving labour market and the organising and collective bargaining activities of the union movement. Further; it suggests that there was no 'arbitration effect' on union membership numbers before the introduction of the 1908 Act, and even where mem bership increased rapidly after 1910 this bad little to do with the New South Wales arbitration system.