The 1951 waterfront dispute
- When
- 13 February 1951 – 15 July 1951
- Where
- Wellington waterfront · Te Whanganui-a-Tara
- Reach
- Nationwide
Lockout and strike ran for 151 days. Emergency regulations made it a crime even to give food to a watersider’s children.
Sid Holland’s government declared a state of emergency, deregistered the union, sent troops onto the wharves and censored the strikers’ publications. Around 22,000 workers were out at the peak. It was the most disruptive industrial confrontation in New Zealand history and it split the labour movement; Holland called a snap election in September and won it comfortably. The regulations’ reach — criminalising assistance to strikers’ families — is still cited in debates about emergency powers.
Regions affected
Sources
Written for this project from these references rather than copied from them. Follow a link to check the account against the original.
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