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Robert (Bob) Griffin (?–?)

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Griffin, Robert (Bob) (?-?) slag tapper and trade union official 

  • Slag tapper, Day Dream smelter, Broken Hill, 1885, gave major impetus to establishment of Amalgamated Miners’ Association, possessing militant streak and animus towards particular BHP managers.
  • First full-time secretary. Antagonised mine management by seeking reduction of hours of local engine drivers, disturbing paternalistic consensus imposed by employers, finally exchanging words and blows. Resigned as secretary in January 1887.
  • Dismissed by management and unpopular with conservative rank and file.

Sources
Brian Kennedy, Silver, sin and sixpenny ale; a social history of Broken Hill (Melbourne, 1978); Barrier Daily Truth, Centenary Souvenir Edition.

Citation details

'Griffin, Robert (Bob) (?–?)', People Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/griffin-robert-bob-33886/text42444, accessed 14 March 2025.

© Copyright People Australia, 2012

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