From the 1880s until the 1980s, telephone operators were at the centre of the communications industry in Australia. Before the invention of the internet or mobile phones, virtually all telecommunication across the country and internationally took place through landline telephones. And operators, who connected calls to their intended destination, were completely essential to that process.

Employed first by the federal government and then by the government-owned corporation Telecom, operators worked in gruelling conditions – a predominantly female workforce, they were subject to low pay, a physically and mentally overwhelming pace of work, and consistent threats to their occupational health. For much of their history, they also had a union which refused to take up their interests and which saw itself as almost an arm of management. Then, in the 1970s and 1980s, this abruptly changed, and telephone operators became some of the most militant workers in Australia, staging inspiring strikes and work bans to fight for better conditions on the job.

In this episode, we talk with librarian, union activist and historian Jeff Rickertt about the extraordinary history of the telephonists. We explore how essential their work was to the everyday functioning of Australia’s economy, how the telephonists have been virtually erased from history, how it was that their union became completely co-opted and tamed by management, and how, beneath the surface of a seemingly quiescent workforce, resentment and resistance were always present, and were only waiting to explode into industrial militancy and activism.

You can read Jeff’s PhD thesis on the telephonists here. Sign up to our Patreon now to have the chance to get a free copy of Jeff’s history of the telephonists, Resistance on the line, which is currently retailing for $250. 

Opening and closing music courtesy of Glitter Rats. People’s History of Australia logo design courtesy of Nissenbaum Design design .