Central Queensland University researcher Gordon Stewart has revealed that the first recorded strike at Lakes Creek Meatworks in Rockhampton laid the foundations for a new system of industrial relations to be established, one that will continue once the abattoir reopens.

Mr Stewart presented his research paper recently to members of the University and meat industry communities.

“The legacy of the 1907 strike saw the entrenchment of a new system of industrial relations at the abattoir – a system of collective bargaining between the meat union and the employer,” Mr Stewart said. “And the occasional dispute came as part of this bargaining system".

“This system was still in place at the time of the closure of the abattoir last year. History suggests that it will also continue once the abattoir reopens.

Mr Stewart said the establishment and continuance of such a system owed much to the political and industrial circumstances of the time.