Abstract
On 1 May 1946 Aboriginal workers on Pilbara sheep and cattle stations staged a ‘sit-down’ strike for better wages and conditions. Over the following months people began moving away from stations to form two new independent communities. Why did the ‘sit-down’ strike become a walk-off? This article examines the conditions of Aboriginal labour in the Pilbara in the years leading up to the strike to develop an understanding of how labour conditions influence the form of industrial action available to workers. It also examines the extent to which the establishment of independent communities was a means of achieving better labour conditions on stations, and the extent to which autonomy itself became the strikers’ goal.This article has been peer-reviewed.
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