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John Keys (?–?)

John Keys (?-?) presser and trade union official (Melbourne) 

Birth: details unknown. Death: details unknown. 

  • Employed as a presser in Melbourne. After he became secretary of the Pressers' Union (Melbourne) in 1883 the union grew rapidly. As Labor Call reported, “After the maritime strike in 1890, the union again fell away in membership. Messrs Keys, Noseda, Barker, Pinkerton and Mr Bullen did admirable work to keep the members together until better days came for the union in 1897”.
  • In 1902 the Cutters and Trimmers Union amalgamated with the Pressers’ Union under the name of the Victorian Clothing Operatives Union. Keys remained organising-secretary of the Victorian Clothing Operatives' Union until 1908, when it amalgamated with the tailors and tailoresses and became the Federated Clothing Trades Union, of which Bert Carter became secretary.
  • Was a presser, living at Lynch Street, Carlton, Melbourne, with Clara Alice Keys, a machinist, in the 1914 electoral roll.

Sources
Bradon Ellem, In women’s hands? A history of clothing trades unionism in Australia (Sydney, 1989).

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Citation details

'Keys, John (?–?)', People Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/keys-john-34653/text43584, accessed 27 April 2025.

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