Of violence and chivalry: a case study of divided and oppositional masculinities in industrial conflict

In May and June 1991, a picket line, staffed mainly by men, initiated a two-week dispute against a fisheries employer in George Town, Tasmania. The picketers made several demands for the benefit of women workers at the fisheries plant, including, among other things, the cessation of the sexual harassment of women workers. This paper examines the myriad of causes of the dispute and the complex range of motives behind the men's decisions to establish and sustain the picketing. In particular, the paper considers the extent to which the men's demands for the cessation of sexual harassment transcended all other demands as the picketing progressed into its second week. The picketers' actions demonstrate important lessons for the union movement, such as the capacity of unionised men to oppose violent forms of masculinity against women.