Focus question 2: How did groups of Australian workers bring about improvements in their working conditions?

Teaching and learning activities

2c Provide a brief outline of the context of the Eight-hour Day movement, using an OHT of Handout 4. These men lived and worked in Australia about 150 years ago.

• Identify the men's jobs. (Clue: Look at each worker's tools and materials.) The jobs are, clockwise from the top left, builder (stonemason), bootmaker, mechanic, roofer, baker, blacksmith, carpenter.
• Some workers wanted:

Shorter working hours: Many employers demanded ten or more hours per day, six days per week.

Trade unions: Workers support one another, and bargain as a group with employers to improve working conditions and wages.

Working men in parliament: Men who did not own land or have much money were unable to vote or stand for election to parliament in most colonies. The rules were changed in Victoria after the miners' struggle at Eureka in 1854.

3a Read the fictionalised account of the Melbourne Eight-hour Day movement below then distribute Handout 5 (one between two) for students to complete the story. Students listen for information about, and take notes on:

• the injustice the workers experienced
• the action taken by the Eight-hour Day Men.

	The Eight-hour Day Men James Stephens is my name. One of my friends is also called James. He's James Galloway. Some people call us the 'Eight-hour Day Men'. Yesterday, 12 May 1856, was a wonderful day for us. With most of the working men of Melbourne and their families we celebrated the gaining of the Eight-hour Day. Let me tell you how we achieved this, and why it is so important for all workers. Then I'll tell you about our grand celebration, which ended with the biggest fireworks displays ever seen in Melbourne. James and I immigrated to Victoria during the goldrush. I'm from Wales, he's from Scotland. We're stonemasons - we cut and shape huge blocks of stone for Melbourne's great public buildings, and put them into position. Sometimes we work on scaffolding high above the ground. Once I fell ten metres to the ground from unsafe scaffolding. These public buildings are built of sandstone on foundations of 'bluestone', which is volcanic rock. It's very, very hard to cut. Sandstone is softer, but it has to be worked into fine shapes and decorations. We are very proud of our skills.

3b Read the remainder of the story from Handout 5. Examine the ten-hour day background to the Eight-hour Day movement. Direct attention to paragraph 1, which describes James Stephens' ten-hour working day. As a class construct on the board a 24-hour timeline of James Stephens' day.

• Why did James Stephens think his hours of work should be made shorter?
• Can you suggest a few words to describe the injustice of a ten-hour day for builders' labourers?

3c Ask students to write in their journals (under the heading 'Eight-hour Day movement'):

• what the Eight-hour Men wanted
• why this was important to them
• what the students think - should people work only eight-hour days? Why?

4a Organise students into six groups to prepare a simple dramatisation of the actions of the Eight-hour Day Men. Using Handout 5 allocate a section of the story to each group.

• Groups should read their section of the story and prepare a short play (about two minutes) in which:
  • each student has a role
  • students make up dialogue that shows the knowledge they have gained from the story.

4b After the dramatisation, ask students to list three important actions that helped the Eight-hour Day Men to win shorter working hours in their journals.

4c Complete the 'Action' cell in the 'Eight-hour Day movement' row in the 'People Power' matrix. Ask students to suggest a few words to describe the action taken by the Eight-hour Day Men. Add the most appropriate suggestions (eg unity, persuasion, demonstration, strike) to the matrix.

4d Relate this story to the lives of adults we know, by setting a homework task.

• Each student is to ask an adult to describe the main activities of a 'typical' day. Students should present their data in a 24-hour timeline (or pie graph) in their journals. The findings will be used in Activity 7c.

Activity 6: Celebrating the Eight-hour Day movement (90 min)

6a Explain that Australia and New Zealand were the first countries in the world in which workers won shorter hours. The workers were very proud of their success in the Eight-hour campaign. Workers in all colonies (now the states and territories) celebrated:

• what they had won (shorter working hours and a better quality of life)
• how they had won (through unity, organisation, negotiation with employers, electing a working man to parliament etc).

6b Display the Eight-hour Day Movement poster.

• Draw attention to the symbols, banners, procession, badge, ribbon and medals (the 44-hour medal and the 40-hour badge refer to the workers' next goals, after they had achieved the eight-hour day, ie a 48-hour week).

6c Distribute copies of Handout 6 (one between two students).

• Direct attention to the dates when some workers won the Eight-hour Day. On what date this year is/was the Eight-hour Day remembered in our State or Territory? Why do you think the success of the Eight-hour Day movement is still remembered one hundred or more years after it happened?

6d Prepare art materials (sheets of paper and paints or markers).

• Organise students to design an Eight-hour Day graphic as outlined on Handout 6.

6e Arrange for students to show and explain their products.

Activity 7: Rounding up (40 min)

7a Complete the 'Eight-hour Day movement' row on the 'People Power' matrix. Ask students to suggest a few words to describe the results of the Eight-hour Day movement. Consequences should include 'shorter working day', 'better quality of life', 'a worker in parliament' etc.

7b Using the Eight-hour Day Movement poster and 'The next steps' information on Handout 6, draw students' attention to further outcomes of the movement:

	After the success of the Eight-hour Day movement, working men continued their campaign for a better quality of life. By the 1960s most men worked eight hours a day for five days, and received a fair minimum wage, higher pay for overtime etc.

7c Examine current patterns of work. In a class discussion ask students to share the information they collected on an adult's day (Activity 4d):

• Does 'eight hours labour, eight hours recreation and eight hours rest' still apply today?
• What does this mean for the quality of life of workers today?
• Can you think of any benefits for workers today of the Eight-hour Day movement?

Assessment

Assess students' understanding of the Eight-hour Day movement using their journal entries. The student can:

• identify some key strategies used by the stonemasons to win the Eight-hour Day
• demonstrate an understanding of the 'quality of life' factors that motivated the Eight-hour Day Men
• present a value judgement on this issue, supported by evidence.

ESL activities

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