Building the Charitable Vote
The Eight Hour Day Anniversary Committee instituted an annual procession and celebratory fete. A profit was always made from these festivities and the proceeds were divided between charitable associations.
In 1856, 248 pounds were divided between the Melbourne Hospital and the Melbourne Benevolent Asylum. In the following years the Committee regularly made donations to up to 27 different institutions.
Many of these institutions depended for their income on subscriptions and donations and offered Life Governorships in exchange, which provided certain benefits. The Eye and Ear Hospital, for example, gave 2 tickets a year for immediate treatment. These were benefits Life Governors could pass on to the members of their unions.
Ornate wall plaques in the Trades Hall commemorate the many prominent unionists elected by the Eight Hour Day Anniversary Committee to be Life Governors.
Eight Hour Day Committee Meeting in
Trades Hall Council Chamber 1913
Photo: Melbourne University Archives
