Description1913 Great Strike - Urgent Memorandum sent by Premier Massey (10567658896).jpg
"On 5 November 1913, amidst a class war that, arguably, has yet to be matched, the Battle of Featherston Street was fought between Wellington strikers and their supporters, and mounted special constables. The specials (dubbed 'Massey's Cossacks' in honour of then-Premier and farmer William Massey) were escorting a large number of horses to Queens Wharf, due to be shipped to a Cup Day in Christchurch. Clashes occurred all along the route, including a number of trams that were driven into the column by drivers sympathetic to the strike, but violence erupted in earnest at the corner of Grey and Featherston Streets. Here the specials turned and mounted a baton charge against the crowd, who had been harassing the specials with bricks, bottles and other 'missiles'.
The Great Strike of 1913 was the largest and most disruptive in New Zealand’s history, involving over 14,000 workers. It was triggered in October 1913 by a miners’ strike at Huntly over the sacking of unionists, and a separate dispute in Wellington over shipwrights’ conditions. Yet the real issue at stake was industrial power. Militant unionists affiliated to the United Federation of Labour (UFL)—the ‘Red Feds’—had earlier rejected the existing arbitration system and put their faith in direct action. They were confronted by organised employers and farmers determined to break their power.
The urgent memorandum above was sent by Premier Massey to the Chair of the Auckland Harbour Board. It describes some of the scenes witnessed in Wellington, and notes the employers' desire to end the strike with unions back under the arbitration system. The file—rich with further memos, as well as transcripts of union delegations to Parliament—is from the Prime Ministers' Department record group (www.archway.archives.govt.nz/ViewEntity.do?code=AECO). This series includes records relating to the activities of Premiers such as Massey, Richard Seddon and other notable figures from c.1861-1975.
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