Alexis Vassiley

In the 1970s, workers in Western Australia’s Pilbara iron ore mines went on strike more than the notorious coal miners. ‘We had industrial muscle and we used it,’ recounted one union delegate. Grassroots-led strikes often provoked the ire of union officials and politicians but dramatically improved workers’ lives. Yet, this former bastion of militant unionism is today virtually un-unionised. An...