1951 Waterfront Dispute papers and ephemera

This collection of 27 original pamphlets, newsletters and newspapers relating to the 1951 Waterfront Dispute was donated as a single collection to Wellington City Libraries in the 1980s. It consists of a selection of different source material, much of which would have been printed on 'underground' printing presses and would have been illegal under emergency regulations passed by the government. Though most of the material relates to the dispute in Wellington, some Auckland material was also included in the donation and this has been included to maintain consistency.

The 151 days of the 1951 Waterfront Dispute was a longest serious industrial action ever taken in New Zealand and  involved more people than any other strike in our history. Over 22,000 members of the Waterside Workers Union and other sympathetic unions were involved. It was a deeply divisive  and polarising event with different sides accusing each other as being "communists" or "fascists", with many of the attacks becoming increasingly personal and vindictive. Even the name and nature of the event was in dispute with the Government, port authorities and ship owners calling it a 'strike', and the waterside workers calling it a 'lock-out'. The union movement also divided as break-away groups of workers willing handle goods on the wharves were formed. In an era where shipping was hugely important to the economy, the event had a dramatic effect on people's lives as shortages of goods began to occur and disrupted coal supplies threatened electricity production and the ability to heat homes, schools and businesses during the winter. The freedom of speech and the press was curtailed by the government under emergency regulations with any public statement supporting striking / locked-out workers deemed to be illegal. Offering any financial or material support to those workers or their families (to the point of even feeding their children) was a prosecutable offense.

You can read more about the dispute and this collection here.

See also this link from the Ministry of Culture and Heritage for further information.

A documentary directed by John Bates marking the 50th anniversary of the dispute in 2001 is also avaiable to view via NZ On Screen.