Victorian Trades Hall Council. The voice of Victorian workers since 1856.Victorian Trades Hall Council. The voice of Victorian workers since 1856.

Eight Hour Day Exhibition opens at Trades Hall

VTHC Secretary, Mr Brian Boyd, officially launches the It’s About Time! 8 Hour Day 1856 – 2006 exhibition

A new exhibition commemorating 150 years of the winning of the Eight Hour Day has opened at Trades Hall in Melbourne.

Victorian unionists gathered beneath the historic Eight Hours Day monument on Tuesday 11 April opposite Trades Hall as part of ongoing celebrations of the anniversary of this significant historic achievement.

The exhibition, It’s About Time! 8 Hour Day 1856 – 2006, will be open for two weeks in the lead-up to the Anniversary of the Eight Hour Day on 21 April.
It highlights the importance of the world-first historical success and tells contemporary stories of work.

Launching the event Victorian Trades Hall Council Secretary, Brian Boyd, said, “It is worth celebrating this achievement in its own right.”
”The symbolism of the eight hours work, eight hours recreation, eight hours rest goes to the heart of the employee-employer relationship. Nothing has changed in that regard in 150 years."

He pointed the need to put this history to good use in the current industrial climate.
”The draconian IR laws recently enacted must be defeated, just like the French workers and students have done recently”
Mr Boyd called on the Victorian State Government to make April 21 a public holiday in recognition of this unique achievement.

Museum Victoria CEO, Dr J Patrick Greene, spoke of the importance of recognising the achievement.
“On 21 April 1856, stonemasons and building workers marched through the city of Melbourne. Gathering supporters on the way, they headed to Parliament to demand regulated working hours with no loss of pay. Their demands were granted, and today, the eight-hour working day stands as a symbol of the democratic rights of workers.”
“The Eight Hour Day gained by stonemasons is recognised internationally and 150 years later eight hours is still considered to be the ideal standard working day. The Eight Hour Day is one of the labour movement's finest achievements, a world first achieved here in Victoria and 150 years on, the issues of balancing work, rest and play are just as relevant.”

The gathering also heard from Martin Kingham, Chair, Eight Hour Day 150th Anniversary Committee who invited people to attend a re-enactment of the Eight Hour Day March from Melbourne University to State Parliament on Friday 21 April.

 
Museum Victoria CEO, Dr J Patrick Greene, speaks beneath the 8 Hour Day Monument at the launch.
To celebrate the 150th anniversary, Arts Victoria in partnership with Museum Victoria, State Library Victoria, Victorian Trades Hall Council, University of Melbourne, RMIT University, Melbourne Workers Theatre, Australian Centre for the Moving Image and City of Melbourne are organising a series of arts, cultural and educational events throughout the year.

The exhibition includes a Worker’s Storybook and visitors are encouraged to add their own stories of working time, as the exhibition travels. The Worker’s Storybook will be added to Museum Victoria’s collection at the conclusion of the tour, in order for it to be retained for Victorians in perpetuity.

The exhibition is supported by a website, which has resources for Victorian primary and secondary teachers and students, and details of the full Celebrate 888 program of events. Visit www.8hourday.org.au for more.
The exhibition has travelled through regional Victorian centres before landing at Trades Hall. It will travel to other regional centres including Geelong, Portland, Churchill, Wonthaggi, Mildura, Shepparton and Albury / Wodonga.

Gaining the Eight Hour Day

"Eight hours labour, eight hours recreation, eight hours rest"

Under this slogan, the building workers of Melbourne fought a successful campaign to shorten their working week from 60 to 48 hours.
The building unions worked hard to convince employers of the benefits of an eight hour day. Finally, on March 26 1856, a meeting was held attended by building workers and employers and the following motion was moved:
"This meeting is of the opinion that the time has arrived when the system of eight hours per day should be introduced into the building trades, and that the laborious nature of the trade, and the continued exposure to the excessive heat of the climate, loudly calls for such a reform."
The motion was passed unanimously and the Eight Hour campaign was won.
This was a world first which spurred on other workers to organise and campaign for improved conditions of work.
Our Labour Day holiday in March commemorates this victory for workers.
On April 21 1856 Stonemasons working at the University of Melbourne marched to Parliament House to press their claims for an eight hour working day. Eventually an agreement with employers for a 48 hour week was reached, a significant world-first that inspired workers the world over to push for similar conditions.
The eight-hour day has become the accepted ideal worldwide as a fair split between work, rest and recreation and is aspired to by many.

 
Important events coming up include:

10.00 am Friday April 21 2006
Re-enactment activities starting at Melbourne University Law Faculty Courtyard and including a march through the city to Parliament House.

7.00 pm Friday 21 April 2006
888 150th Anniversary Banquet at Melbourne Museum.
Book tickets now via Anastasia Shianis at Trades Hall. Call 9662 3511.
Watch the 8 Hour Day movie


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