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Pilbara, Western Australia

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Strelley Literature Production Centre Collection

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School of Design

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The Pilbara Strike

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Alternative titleThe 1946 Pilbara StrikeDescriptionThe 1946 Strike was the first strike by the Aboriginal people and involved the walk off of over 800 Aboriginal Pastoral workers across the Pilbara.

For many years the workers were denied wages, underpaid, or compensated with rations of tea, flour sugar and tobacco. Two Aboriginal lawmen, Dooley Bin Bin and Clancy Mckenna, approached white contractor and active unionist Don McLeod with an idea.
It was decided that at the beginning of the shearing season, when workers were needed most, a peaceful walk-off was needed. Don McLeod created a calendar, and Dooley Bin Bin and Clancy McKenna copied it on whatever could be found, then told stations to mark off one every day until it got to the marked day. The day of the walk off.
With contribution from about 200 elders and 23 different groups, more than 800 workers left their stations on May 1st, 1946. Some were forced to return to work but many let themselves be taken to jail. Very quickly the jails filled up, whilst work was still in need of doing. The police soon realised it wasn't working.
Once the strike finished in 1949, many Aboriginal workers refused to return to their old roles, and instead formed communities gathering bush tucker and skins, and most commonly surface mining across the Pilbara to provide food and money to the people.
Eventually enough money was made to buy back stations, including Warralong, Strelley and Yandeyarra, where the descendants of the strike mob still live today. Location^[1]Date of event1946-1949

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