"A bloody migrant who thinks he can run a union" : The case of Jerzy Bielski, a migrant trade unionist in 1950s Australia

Journal article

Nilsson, Ebony Grace and Persian, Jayne. (2024). "A bloody migrant who thinks he can run a union" : The case of Jerzy Bielski, a migrant trade unionist in 1950s Australia. Labour History: A Journal of Labour and Social history. 126, pp. 97-115. https://doi.org/10.3828/labourhistory.2024.7
AuthorsNilsson, Ebony Grace and Persian, Jayne
Abstract

Jerzy Bielski, a Polish displaced person (DP) who resettled in Australia in 1949, was the first post-war migrant to work for an Australian trade union. He was recruited in 1951 by the Australian Workers Union (AWU) as a migrant unionist and, some years later, established his own migrant trade union: the New Citizens Council. The council faced heavy criticism from within the trade union movement, including by right-wing DPs who, acting as Cold War warriors, were instrumental in the Labor Party split in the mid-1950s. Ultimately, this article argues that migrant trade union activism has a longer post-war history than is commonly acknowledged.

Keywordsdisplaced persons; trade unions; migrant activism ; migrants rights; assimilation
Year01 Jan 2024
JournalLabour History: A Journal of Labour and Social history
Journal citation126, pp. 97-115
PublisherLiverpool University Press
ISSN0023-6942
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.3828/labourhistory.2024.7
Web address (URL)https://muse-jhu-edu.eu1.proxy.openathens.net/pub/105/article/926302#info_wrap
https://www.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/doi/10.3828/labourhistory.2024.7
Open accessPublished as non-open access
Research or scholarlyResearch
Page range97-115
Publisher's version
License
All rights reserved
File Access Level
Controlled
Output statusPublished
Publication dates
Online30 Apr 2024
Print01 May 2024
Publication process dates
Accepted2024
Deposited30 May 2024
ARC Funded ResearchThis output has been funded, wholly or partially, under the Australian Research Council Act 2001
Additional information

Copyright © 2024 Australian Society for the Study of Labour History

This research was supported by funding from the Australian Research Council, DP130101215.

Place of publicationUnited Kingdom
Permalink -

https://acuresearchbank.acu.edu.au/item/9083w/-a-bloody-migrant-who-thinks-he-can-run-a-union-the-case-of-jerzy-bielski-a-migrant-trade-unionist-in-1950s-australia

Log in to edit

Restricted files

Publisher's version

  • 41
    total views
  • 0
    total downloads
  • 6
    views this month
  • 0
    downloads this month
These values are for the period from 19th October 2020, when this repository was created.

Export as

Related outputs

Displaced Comrades : Politics and Surveillance in the Lives of Soviet Refugees in the West
Nilsson, Ebony Grace. (2024). Displaced Comrades : Politics and Surveillance in the Lives of Soviet Refugees in the West Bloomsbury Academic.
Repatriation of Postwar Migrants from Australia to the Soviet Union : the Australian View
Nilsson, Ebony Grace. (2023). Repatriation of Postwar Migrants from Australia to the Soviet Union : the Australian View. In When Migrants Fail to Stay: New Histories on Departure and Migration pp. 67-83 Bloomsbury Academic.
Real and imagined encounters in the social history of surveillance : Soviet migrants and the Petrov Affair
Nilsson, Ebony. (2023). Real and imagined encounters in the social history of surveillance : Soviet migrants and the Petrov Affair. Journal of Social History. 56(3), pp. 583-606. https://doi.org/10.1093/jsh/shac031
On the left : The Russian Social Club in early Cold War Sydney
Ebony Nilsson. (2019). On the left : The Russian Social Club in early Cold War Sydney. Australian Historical Studies. 50(1), pp. 63-80. https://doi.org/10.1080/1031461X.2018.1551908
Spies and hooligans : Pro-communist Soviet displaced persons in Australia
Hutchin, Ebony. (2018). Spies and hooligans : Pro-communist Soviet displaced persons in Australia. Australian Historical Association Annual Conference 2018. Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 02 - 06 Jul 2018 Australian Historical Association.