The Big Blue

Snapshots of the 1951 Waterfront Lockout (in NZ)

In working class parlance, a 'blue' was the term for an industrial disruption - a strike or a lockout. The 1951 waterfront lockout in New Zealand was, up until that time, the biggest 'blue' of them all and still holds attention today as a seminal event in the nation's industrial and political history.

It also spilled across the Tasman involving Australian seafarers and waterside workers.

Lasting for 151 days, and at its peak affecting 22,000 workers, the lockout influenced industrial relations in New Zealand for the following 40 years, and had a major impact on the history of trade unions and the progressive left in New Zealand.

Divisions surrounding the dispute polarised the union movement and left a bitterness that still exists.

This anthology presents 1951 from insights and approaches not previously explored. These include the experience of women and the families of waterside workers, the clandestine activities of the dissenters, the perspective of union leaders who took part in the lockout as young men, and that of government officials and one major political figure.

Contributions include 1951 lockout veterans Ted Thompson, Bill Andersen and Bill 'Pincher' Martin, activists Rona Bailey and Dick Scott, trade union leaders Ken Douglas, Chris Kenny and John Whiting, prominent public servant Noel Woods, oral historian Judith Fyfe, veteran Australian unionists Alwyn Allport, Alistair Couper and Harry Black, diplomat Sandra Lee, historians Bruce Brown, Anna Green, Melanie Nolan Jock Phillips, Patt Walsh and Redmer Yska, cartoonists Max Bollinger and Len gale, poet Bill Sewell and several anonymous poets of the time.

National Secretary Paddy Crumlin, who rote an introduction to the book, highly recommends it to members.

"The MUA and the Maritime Union of New Zealand have formed the Trans Tasman Federation. Our histories of militant political and industrial action is virtually the same. The unions identified at the time of the Big Blue that workers can only be properly protected by united front activity. The same goes today.

The Big Blue: Snapshots of the 1951 Waterfront Lockout, edited by David Grant sells for $39.99 including postage. It can be ordered by mail or email at

Canterbury University Press

Private bag 4800,

Christchurch, New Zealand

mail@cup.canterbury.ac.nz

www.cup.canterbury.ac.nz