Under Pressure: The Whitlam Labor Opposition and Class Struggle, 1967-72 (Essay‪)‬

A major rise in industrial disputes occurred in Australia between the late 1960s and the mid-1970s. Focusing on the period of Labor Opposition from 1967-72, this article argues that one of the most visible effects of the biggest upsurge in trade union unrest since World War I was the militant, class-conscious rhetoric of many Labor Members of Parliament (MPs). The effects were not, however, simply rhetorical: in the aftermath of the Clarrie O'Shea strikes in 1969, Labor adopted a firmer policy on the abolition of penal clauses; also, as a direct result of union pressure, the party leadership was forced spectacularly in 1971 to remove strike penalties from its policy program. More generally, the opposition's formulation of an industrial relations policy dominated by collective bargaining is intelligible only in the context of growing disenchantment with arbitration and greater enthusiasm for direct action. Parliamentarist politics did not appear to be a barrier to endorsing strikes--an action which social democratic parties such as the ALP would normally shy away from as part of their general desire for class peace and mediation. It is argued, however, that the overtures to the union movement were borne of self-interest for Labor which sought not only to benefit electorally from the upheaval, but also to contain working-class discontent by promising legislative changes to quell the unrest. Through its ties to organised labour, the ALP was able to position itself as the party best equipped to negotiate industrial harmony.