Story: Strikes and labour disputes

Centenary celebrations, Blackball (2nd of 2)

Centenary celebrations, Blackball

The unionists’ anthem ‘Solidarity forever’ (which includes the line ‘Without our brain and muscle not a single wheel could turn’, seen here on the marchers’ banner) was sung loudly and proudly in the small settlement of Blackball over Easter weekend 2008. Several hundred people celebrated the centenary of the historic Blackball miners’ strike. They held a colourful march along the main street, attended a seminar on the strike’s historic and political significance, and watched a play written to mark the occasion.

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Photograph by Simon Nathan

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How to cite this page:

Mark Derby, 'Strikes and labour disputes - 1908 Blackball strike', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/photograph/20479/centenary-celebrations-blackball (accessed 20 April 2024)

Story by Mark Derby, published 11 Mar 2010, updated 1 Mar 2016