Story: Strikes and labour disputes

Crowds jam Auckland’s Queen Street to cheer tramway workers who went on strike in 1908 to protest against the sacking of one of their members without explanation. After four days the men returned to work and a special investigation found their protest was justified. The tramway workers’ union was not registered under the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act 1894, so it could legally go on strike. Such effective direct actions greatly damaged the reputation and authority of the act.