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Pilbara Strike stall a success

YMAC Senior Anthropologist Stephen Morgan, left, and Marlpa artist and author Rose Murray at the Pilbara Strike stall during NAIDOC Week. Picture: Ross McCallum

A high level of interest was shown in the Pilbara Strike stall during NAIDOC Week activities in Perth’s Wellington Square in early July.

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The 1946 Pilbara Strike on 1 May saw hundreds of Aboriginal workers walk off the job from dozens of pastoral stations across the Pilbara to fight for better treatment and better wages and living conditions.

Lasting three years, the strike is recognised by the Australian Council of Trade Unions as the longest in Australia’s history. The NAIDOC Week stall raised greater awareness about the Pilbara Strike – many shared their personal stories while others were surprised they had no knowledge of it.

Numerous people were supportive of efforts to introduce the strike’s history to WA schools, along with other projects, and signed up for a newsletter to be informed of progress, as well as future film nights, talks, seminars and concerts.

For more details, go to pilbarastrike.org.au or visit the Facebook page “Remembering the 1946 Pilbara Strike”.

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