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As the activities surrounding the 888 150th Anniversary celebrations wind down for the remainder of 2006, there are still interesting stories to be told.

A couple of months ago, the golden ball and three golden eights that adorn the top of the memorial, situated diagonally opposite Victorian Trades Hall building, disappeared! Many worried passers-by, fearing a conservative plot, rang the Trades Hall to report these important treasures of trade union history, missing.

But there was a simple and legitimate explanation. The Melbourne City Council had stepped in to make their own 150th Anniversary contribution. And, of course, the Victorian Trades Hall Council and Trades Hall Literary Institute, the guardians of the monument, had been duly notified.

Paul Hunt, a conservator working with the Melbourne City Council, removed the memorial components from the top of the pillar and gave them a thorough repair and clean. This included regilding work that reflected how they looked originally.

He says the process was quite involved and took several days to complete.
”There was a lot of corrosion underneath that had to be removed and treated before I actually got around to the surface. I took it back to bare metal, then degreased it and regilded the surface.”
It’s no wonder the memorial shines in the sunlight; it is gilded with 23-carat gold leaf. And despite being over 100 years old the memorial retains the capacity to surprise.

Within the globe lies a pair of time capsules, presumably left there when the memorial was unveiled in 1903. On that occasion 14 survivors of the original eight-hour-day movement were on hand and it is possible they contributed to the materials left inside. Paul Hunt says there are a number of items in the globe.

“There are two jars that have been sealed up and inside is what looks like some kind of union manifesto and coins and medals from the time. As far as I’m aware no-one knew they were there.”
It seems the memorial is more than a simple commemoration of past victories, perhaps also serving as a guide to future struggles.

The memorial, believed to have been built by Percival Ball, was unveiled in 1903. The base is granite and stone with a gold leaf and bronze monument atop. The Globe is emblazoned with the words “Labor, Recreation & Peace” and refers to the popular slogan under which the eight-hour day campaign was fought in the 1800’s. The three golden 8s are also a reminder of that victory, a world first that came to be seen as the benchmark standard for working people everywhere.

Initially the publicly funded memorial was located in Gordon Reserve on Spring St, right next door to Parliament House. Apparently the conservative members of parliament were so offended by the sight of this memorial to one of the great victories of the labour movement that they lobbied hard for it to be removed.
In 1923 the Eight Hour Day Memorial was relocated to more accommodating surrounds on the corner opposite Trades Hall and there it has remained.

"Eight hours labour, eight hours recreation, eight hours rest"
Under this slogan, in 1856, the building workers of Melbourne fought a successful campaign to shorten their working week from 60 to 48 hours. Our Labour Day holiday in March commemorates this victory for workers.

Leanne Shingles, Eight Hour Day 150th Anniversary Project Co-ordinator, says the memorial is a great reminder of the important gains won for working people in Australia. She compares the Eight Hour Day Project to the work that has been done on the memorial.

”In some ways the project’s aim was to dust off the notion of the eight-hour day and the principles and lessons it offers us today.
“Not much has changed in 150 years, working people still desire to not let work consume their lives. They want to be able to participate in wider society and have quality time with their families.”
“In 1856 they were having much the same arguments. Health and safety and quality of life issues were so important to those people in the eight-hour-day movement.”

A Global Achievement
In the early years after Melbourne’s establishment as a city working people came from all over the world, brought here by the gold rush and the promised opportunities to make a start in a new land. A number of British migrant were trade unionists escaping persecution in their home country. They brought with them a strong tradition of industrial organising in pursuit of better conditions for working people.
The building unions worked hard to convince employers of the benefits of an eight-hour day. Finally, on March 26 1856, a meeting was held attended by building workers and employers and the following motion was moved:

"This meeting is of the opinion that the time has arrived when the system of eight hours per day should be introduced into the building trades, and that the laborious nature of the trade, and the continued exposure to the excessive heat of the climate, loudly calls for such a reform.&

"Oh now, this really is beyond the pale, if you insist on taking my picture you could at least wait until I've had time to put my face on!"

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Ambassador G'kar's prosthetic appliance changed in design from the Babylon Five pilot movie and also during the series itself. I opted for a transitional impression of the two aspects, including some of the harsher elements of the pilot incarnation but mellowing them out after the later styling.

I included the gills in the sculpture, of course!