The Confectionery Workers' Union of Australia (CWUA) was an Australian trade union which existed between 1925 and 1992. Until 1986, it was known as the Federated Confectioners' Association of Australia (FCA). Throughout its existence, it represented factory workers in the confectionery industry, including a high proportion of women. It was also notable for its involvement in the landmark Dollar Sweets Dispute.
Background
During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, confectionery production expanded dramatically in Australia. Large domestic companies such as MacRobertsons were established. After the Federation of Australia, these companies grew as they gained access to a national market. Later, World War I saw Britain's share of the market decline rapidly as shipping lanes were disrupted.
As the domestic industry grew, production became increasingly mechanised, and the composition of the workforce changed as a result. While in the 1880s, confectionery was a male-dominated industry, by 1900 women and girls accounted for about half of all confectionery workers. By 1920, they outnumbered men and boys two-to-one.
Working conditions within the industry were generally poor at this time. While some employers such as Macpherson Robertson stood out for their support for reasonable working conditions and safety, there remained public concern over conditions within the industry as a whole. In 1917, the "sweating" (i.e. heavy exploitation) of women and girls in the confectionary industry was the subject of a Royal Commission.
In response to these changes within the Australian confectionery industry, two important unions were formed. The first was the Female Confectioners' Union, which was formed in 1916 in response to many female unionists' perceptions that the male-dominated unions at the time were not adequately representing their interests. Another was the Federated Confectioners' Association of Australia (FCA), the CWUA's main predecessor, which was registered in 1925.
History
Formation of the Federated Confectioners' Union of Australia
The CWUA was originally registered as the Federated Confectioners' Association of Australia (FCA) in 1925, incorporating a number of predecessors including the NSW Confectioners Society and the NSW Journeymen Confectioners' Union. While attempts at unionising the industry have been recorded as early as 1880, the FCA was the first to establish a lasting organisation at the national level.
Ideologically, the union was influenced by the debates of the day over the merits of forming "One Big Union". This idea was popularised in many countries by the revolutionary syndicalist IWW, but in Australia it had also gained traction within more conservative unions such as the Australian Workers Union. Adherents of the One Big Union school of thought argued that, as corporations became more powerful and centralised, labour unions ought to follow their example if they were to remain a serious force. However, the FCA's insistence on the One Big Union principle would become a source of tension with the Female Confectioners' Union, who until 1945 insisted on separate organising.
The Female Confectioners' Union
The Female Confectioners' Union was founded in Victoria in 1916. It was one of several women's unions that emerged in Victoria following the success of the women's suffrage movement in 1908. It was formed as a result of concerns among female confectionery workers that the main trade union in the industry, the Victorian United Confectioners' Society, was not adequately representing their interests. While the workforce was by this stage composed predominantly of women and girls, the Victorian United Confectioners' Society remained male-dominated. A tipping point for female confectioners' frustrations came in 1914, when several male trade unionists signed off on a wage determination made by the Victorian Wages Boards which undermined pay and conditions for women in the industry.
Isaac Johnston, a male trade unionist with no background in the industry, was elected as the women's union's first Secretary (although this was not an uncommon occurrence among similar unions at the time). All other positions were held by women. The bulk of the organisation's work was undertaken by shop stewards and unelected rank-and-file members. Margaret Wearne, who would later become a key player in the advancement of women's rights in the trade union movement, was notable for her work as a shop steward in the union. At one point in time, she had managed to enrol 95% of female employees at the MacRobertson's factory in Melbourne.