Peak labour organisation in the Hunter Valley of New South Wales 1869-1990

This research thesis traces the development of peak union organisation in the Hunter Valley from its beginnings in 1869 through to 1980, with a postscript covering the more recent years. The study is placed in a political and economic context with the early developments culminating in the formation of the Newcastle Trades Hall Council (NTHC) in 1926. The following chapters trace in some detail the fortunes of that organisation from then on. Although it is a chronological study, it addresses the various themes to emerge from the literature as important to peak union organisations and their historical development. These themes are discussed in the first chapter and they encompass the relationship of the NTHC to the broader labour movement within which it was operating, the degree to which authority and independence were able to be exercised and the critical inter-relationship with community. As well, it also looks at where such a peak union council was placed in respect of the competing ideologies 'socialism' and 'laborism' and the associated struggles to win the hearts and minds of the region's working class. In order to achieve this, the study takes into account the totality of the regional organisation including its industrial, cultural, community, and political involvement. Although it is primarily the history of a peak union organisation, in the process of understanding it, important aspects of the political and cultural life of the working class in the region comes to the surface and allows us a small insight into the social history of the labour movement and of the Hunter Valley's working class as a whole.