The NSW Labor government has responded positively to a four-year campaign by the Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) Retired Members to have the former Australian Railways Union headquarters in Redfern known as Transport House included in the States Heritage Register.
The campaign drew upon a wide cross section of support which included Unions NSW, a former occupant of Transport House, the radical theatre company Performance Space, MPs and individuals.
The fight to have Transport House heritage listed has been part of the RTBU Retired Members overall campaign for the recognition of workers’ history. It has several threads: ensuring the reuse of the Eveleigh Locomotive Workshops included the workers’ and unions’ stories about their numerous struggles, the heritage listing of the former ARU headquarters, Transport House, and significant changes to the outdated NSW Heritage Act.
The common element has been the recording and recognition of the contribution made by workers and their unions in the development of NSW. For far too long the emphasis on heritage has focused on historic buildings and machine collections whilst ignoring the contributions made by workers and their unions.
The NSW labour movement historically has played a significant role in preserving the state’s historic buildings especially through the Jack Mundey led Green Bans movement of the late 1960s and 1970s when the Builders Laborer’s Federation challenged the wrecking ball, pro-developer approach of the then conservative government.
Transport House was the former headquarters of the of the NSW Branch of the Australian from 1932 to 1969. Although opened at the height of the Great Depression, the building was renovated and was seen as a bold expression of a modern union providing a full range of services to the members. These included a hall for the staging of plays and films, meeting rooms, and a library which specialised in socialist publications.
The documentation prepared by the NSW Heritage Council for assessing the heritage listing succinctly and powerfully summed up the importance of the Transport House to the ARU in the following terms:
the site and its acquisition represented a coming of age for the ARU. It could put behind its years of bitter memories, entrenched resistance to unionism by railway management and conservative governments. Successive deregistration of the union, sacking and imprisonment of union officials, factional infighting, economic depression, a distant and devastating world war, and the catastrophe of the Great Strike of 1917. Through its education program the ARU emboldened workers to challenge management and the status quo … it brought self-realization and an understanding of rights.
Transport House had historic associations with several significant political struggles. The ARU Branch Secretary in the 1930s and 1940s Dr Lloyd Ross was a central figure in the Movement Against War and Fascism and Transport House was an important center for the Spanish Relief Committee in the worldwide movement against the rise of fascism in Spain. The leadership of the ARU during this period included communists and socialists.
The ARU sought to educate members about their position in society. The Union established a 28-piece band, football, and cricket teams. It was amongst the first unions in Australia to establish a women’s auxiliary which was active in industrial campaigns for women rail workers. In 1948 the ARU established the first trade union holiday camp in NSW at Sussex Inlet on the South Coast. It was opened by the NSW Labor premier James McGirr and offered rail workers an inexpensive holiday by the sea.
Transport House was associated with numerous campaigns to improve the working lives of rail workers who, in many circumstances, suffered under appalling working conditions. This was an era when there existed no Occupational Health and Safety Legislation.
Transport House and the ARU were for many years an integral part of the local community. The largest employer in the Redfern and Darlington districts was the Eveleigh Railway Workshops which employed many thousands of workers, the overwhelming majority of whom lived locally. Political and social activities were very much a local affair with ARU and other workshop unions prominent in local social, sporting, political and religious organizations
The building which contained Transport House has had three major phases. Initially built in 1874 as a stately Victorian residence for a significant Australian manufacturer and philanthropist from 1932 through to 1969 it was modernized and reused as union headquarters for the ARU. The third major phase of the building’s history, from 1980 to 2020 was as a center of radical and experimental theatre, dance and performing arts in Sydney. The theatre company Performance Space was known as a centre for ‘new form’, ‘cutting edge’ theatre with new works and major productions being performed. Performance Space was nationally recognized and played a major national role in the performing arts with visiting overseas artists, conferences, and events. It was a vital part of Sydney’s cultural life.
The campaign waged by the RTBU retired members for the heritage listing of Transport House highlighted the rich industrial, social, and political history achieved by railway unionists over many generations. The heritage listing is a significant step in the recognition of their contributions to the development of NSW.
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