News Archive

December 2 Eight Hour Day Banners added to the Victorian Heritage Register November 8 Eight Hour Monument added to the Victorian Heritage Register
September 28 We Built This City Launch

Eight Hour Day Banners added to the Victorian Heritage Register
Friday 2^nd December

Banner: Amalgamated Society of Carpenters & Joiners, Vic branch

Yesterday the Heritage Council of Victoria added the Eight Hour Day Banners to the Victoria Heritage Register. The group of eight banners are of historical, social and aesthetic significance to the state of Victoria.

The first Eight Hour Day procession held in Melbourne in May 1856 celebrated the winning of the eight hour working day by building workers, some of the first workers in the world to achieve these conditions. They marched behind a banner declaring "Eight Hours Labour, Eight Hours Rest, Eight Hours Recreation". Although the right to an eight hour day did not immediately apply to all workers, the movement provided the impetus for other trade unions to agitate for similar conditions.

The Eight Hour Day Trade Union Banners are of historical and social significance for their important associations with the history of trade unionism in Victoria. The banners are important historical documents visually depicting the concerns of workers, the nature of their work, and the social and cultural aspirations and identity of trade unions. Some of the banners demonstrate the evolving nature of industry in their representation of trades that have disappeared and craft unions that have been subsumed within bigger unions. For trade unionists and many others in the community, the banners are powerful symbols of the role played by unions in advancing conditions and wages of working people.

Museum Victoria holds the largest collection of Victorian trade union banners used in Eight Hour Day processions from the late 19^th century to the First World War. The collection comprises the following eight banners: Amalgamated Society of Engineers, Blacksmiths, Fitters, Patternmakers, Turners & Machinists, Ballarat Branch, now the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union; United Ironworkers Assistants Society of Australia, Ballarat Branch, now the AMWU; Australian Railways Union, Victorian Branch, now the Rail, Tram & Bus Union; Manufacturing Grocers Employees Industrial Union of Victoria, now National Union of Workers; Amalgamated Society of Carpenters & Joiners, Victorian Branch, now the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union; Operative Painters & Decorators of Australia, Victorian Branch, now the CFMEU; Australian Tramway Employees Association, Victorian Branch, now the Rail, Tram & Bus Union; and Australian Boot Trade Employees Federation, Ballarat Branch, now the Textile Clothing & Footwear Union of Australia.

According to the Chair of the Heritage Council, Ms Chris Gallagher, "The granting of the Eight Hour Day was one of the most important industrial reforms won by unionists in the 19^th century, contributing towards the image of Australia as the "working man's paradise" in the late 19^th century and the development of organised labour."

If you have an enquiry, please contact Jane Davidson, Public Affairs Officer, Heritage Council Victoria, on (03) 9637 9303.

Eight Hour Monument added to the Victorian Heritage Register
Tuesday 8^th November

Eight Hour Monument

Last week the Heritage Council of Victoria added the Eight Hour Monument to the Victoria Heritage Register. It is of historical and social significance to the state of Victoria.

According to the Chair of the Heritage Council, Ms Chris Gallagher, "The granting of the Eight Hour day saw the development of organised labour in Australia, and the granting of wages and conditions that lead to Australia being seen as the 'working mans paradise' in the late 19^th century."

The Eight Hour Monument is of historical significance to the state of Victoria for its association with the Eight Hour day movement.

It is of historical significance as a part of the commemorative process of colonial history, the desire to commemorate the Eight hour movement was a part of the process of creating a uniquely Australian identity and the monument itself is an important artefact of the making of Australian history.

The Eight Hour Monument is of social significance for many people as a symbol of labour activism and a place where the Eight hour movement continues to be remembered and celebrated.

The Eight Hour Monument is of aesthetic significance as a simple and elegant monument by the prominent sculptor Percival Ball in 1903.

The listing means the monument has the highest level of cultural heritage recognition in the State and is protected under the Victorian Heritage Act (1995).

If you have an enquiry, please contact Jane Davidson, Public Affairs Officer, Heritage Council Victoria, on (03) 9637 9303.