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PRESIDENT'S COLUMN
| I would like begin by thanking all the members of the 2008 Federal Executive for their contribution and commitment to promoting the interests of the Society and labour history more generally, as well as their efforts to implement the decisions arising from our constitutional review process. |
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I'm pleased to report some wonderful developments have occurred in this regard during the past year, all of which were foreshadowed in my last report. At the meeting of the Federal Executive held on Friday 27 June 2008, it was resolved
That the federal executive supports the move towards a national membership for the Australian Society for the Study of Labour History. Branches will collect the national membership fee as part of their branch subscription and forward $1.00 per member with a list of members to the Federal Secretary by 30 September to ensure voting rights at the Federal AGM and full voting rights of branch representatives on the Federal Executive. The rate for the Labour History subscription will remain separate.
This decision represented the culmination of a lengthy constitutional review process and it has brought to fruition the Society's transformation into a national membership based organisation. From now on the Society will provide the necessary resources to maintain a national membership register. |
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The impact of this change will no doubt become evident over time, but one of the immediate benefits has been a much closer relationship between the Federal Executive and the Branches. In practice greater exchange was made possible during 2008 through the holding of executive meetings by teleconference. As a result, all members of the Federal Executive have become more aware of each other's concerns, interests and activities. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Greg Mallory for accepting the role of Branch Liaison officer and for proposing that Branches should regularly exchange their own newsletters and other publications in order to ensure that members can be aware of and participate in each other's activities, seminars, conference and the like. In order to pursue this initiative the June meeting of the Federal Executive agreed that a standardised sheet with a list of all publications and information on their costs would be sent out with membership forms. |
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The Federal Executive has also been working to increase knowledge about the Society and the journal via the internet. During 2008 we farewelled our long-standing web support person, Nick Irving and I'd like to take this opportunity to thank him on behalf of the Executive and the Society for his contribution over many years. Given the changes noted above and the resulting need to provide Branch Secretaries with access to the Society's website, the Federal Executive set up a sub-committee to investigate the restructure and redesign of the website and to find a web manager to oversee the site. I am pleased to announce that James Bunton has been engaged to fulfil these activities. The current website will continue to function until the redesign is completed, at which time each branch will have responsibility for their section of the site. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Melanie Oppenheimer for her contribution as Website Monitor and the other members of the web sub-committee for their contribution to this outcome. |
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Over the last few years, our members in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales have been investigating the possibilities of establishing a Branch to overcome the problem of distance that separates labour historians who live and work in different towns and locales and who are interested in responding to the whittling away of labour history course offerings and labour heritage in the region. I would like to thank Rosemary Webb for taking the lead in this process and also for setting up a new 'virtual' Branch by means of the North Coast Labour History blog. The use of this medium will provide a virtual space to capture and connect regional labour history, expand links between historians and the local labour movement, and to promote the Society on the North Coast. I refer members to investigate the initiative themselves at: <http://northcoastlabourhistory.typepad.com/north_coast_labour_histor/> |
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Another important initiative is the formation of a Tasmanian Branch. We thank Michael Hess for taking the lead on this proposal and we look forward to others taking on this work following his departure from that State. We hope this will come to fruition in 2009. |
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As I reported last year the next Conference is being organised by the Perth Branch. As in the past, the Federal Executive's involvement is generally limited to providing a grant of $1,000 grant and assisting in publicity for the event. The deadline for refereed papers closed on 31 January. A total of 57 abstracts were submitted, of which 26 full papers were sent forward for refereeing. On behalf of the Society and the Perth branch, I would like to encourage members to attend the conference in Perth in July. |
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During the year I proposed that the Society formalise its relationships with like-minded societies and organisations by creating a new category of membership for affiliates. The members of the Federal Executive considered the membership fee for the potential affiliate category and concluded that it should be an amount that would be appropriate for both small and large, financially struggling and financially comfortable, affiliates. We will be working on this initiative during 2009. We believe it can help to formally recognise overlapping memberships and shared interests and assist in mobilising to protect and promote those common interests. In this endeavour we would be following the lead provided by the Australian Historical Association, with which the ASSLH has been affiliated for some time. Other organisations that could fall into this category include the History Councils in various states, the Association of Industrial Relations Academics of Australian and New Zealand, trade unions and labour movement peak bodies, political parties and associations that represented different cultural/community groups and workers who are interested in labour and social history. The brokering of such networks has the potential of improving the profile of labour history in the broader society and of overcoming the lack of value that is often accorded to (labour) history, historical knowledge and research. A very good step in this direction has been taken by our Vice President, Greg Patmore who has obtained support from the Business and Labour History Group and the Faculty of Economics and Business at the University of Sydney to launch the Academic Association of Historians in Australian and New Zealand Business Schools (AAHANZBS). |
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During 2008 we also considered relationships with like-minded organisations beyond our shores. We are looking forward to closer ties with our Trans-Tasman colleagues, as a result of new developments in New Zealand (NZ). Ray Markey drew out attention to the activities of the Auckland Labour History Group and Mark Derby informed us that the NZ Trade Union History Project had been reconstituted as the NZ Labour History Project. As its Secretary, Mark also informed us of plans to commemorate the 120th anniversary of the 1890 Maritime Strike, one of the three biggest industrial disputes in NZ history. To this end, a joint Working Party has been established to organise a Trans-Tasman seminar and the date of Labour Weekend, Saturday 23 – Monday 25 October 2010, has been provisionally suggested, since this NZ public holiday dates from the formation in 1890 of the Maritime Council, NZ's first national confederation of trade unions. The event and the ASSLH's contribution will be addressed at the next meeting of the Federal Executive. We look forward to further exchanges with both the NZ Labour History Project and the Auckland Labour History Group and co-operating in the pursuit of what Ray Markey has called an Oceanic Federation. |
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Also during the year we were informed by Marcel van der Linden from the International Institute for Social History that a labour history association is being formed in Johannesburg in order to rescue archives and undertake further research. We sent congratulations to the South African scholars engaged in this initiative and invited them to keep in touch.
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The Members of the Federal Executive for 2009, as elected by the Annual General Meeting in 2008 are as follows:
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Subsequently the Branches selected representatives to be part of the Federal Executive. The names and email addresses of the current Branch representatives are as follows:
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Also at the last AGM the Society conferred Life Membership to Terry Irving for his immense contribution to the evolution of our Society and our journal, performing a critically important role as a mentor for many of us in the process. Terry attended the first meeting of the Australian Society for the Study of Labour History in 1961 when it was established in Sydney and in 1965 he became the secretary of its Sydney branch, a position he held for three years. In 1980, together with Bob Connell, Terry published a leading text entitled, Class Structure in Australian History, which was to influence the next generation of students interested in a more radical interpretation of our country's past. This marked the beginning of Terry's study of labour history and particularly the role of labour intellectuals and their ideas. In 1986, Terry joined the Editorial Board of Labour History, becoming its Editor in 1990. Over the next eight years the journal doubled in size and became truly international in its appeal to contributors, its readership, and editorial board membership. He also joined the Federal Executive of the Australian Society for the Study of Labour History in 1990 and was President of the Society between 1999 and 2002. |
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Sadly, since my last report our community has lost two more stalwarts who contributed to the making of labour history in this country. Issy Wyner, who had been a member of the Painters & Dockers Union executive, a long-time activist in Sydney's inner west and Mayor of Leichhardt passed away in 2008. More recently, Anne Gollan, widow of the late Bob Gollan, and supporter of our Society, its journal, and an activist in her own right also passed away. We commemorate their role and contribution. |
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Finally during the year the Federal Executive sent a message of solidarity to Fairfax employees on strike <http://www.fairgofairfax.org.au>. We look forward to a productive year.
Lucy Taksa
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