3 December 1886 - Queensland has followed the other colonies of SA, NSW and Victoria in legalising trade unions and protecting their funds.
Premier Samuel Griffith’s Trade Unions Act was passed last night, providing trade unions in Queensland with legal rights based on the Act modelled in the British Parliament in the 1870s.
Until now trade unions have been illegal in the colony and their funds have not been protected in the courts.
Introducing the Bill, Mr Griffith said: ‘We know perfectly well that under existing conditions they [trade unions] are admitted, not only in Great Britain but in most civilised countries, to be societies of advantage to trade, and serve many useful purposes; and it is manifestly absurd that combinations of this kind should be unlawful in consequence of a rule of law established centuries ago.’