Melbourne stonemasons brought the eight-hour-day movement to prominence after their march in 1856.
On April 21, 1856, stonemasons and building workers in Melbourne stopped work and marched to the Melbourne Trades Hall site. They were protesting long working hours and demanding the division of the day into eight hours of work, eight hours of recreation, and eight hours of rest.
The building trades’ action became one of Australia’s most influential early labor victories. Skilled workers in Melbourne won the eight-hour principle, and the achievement later influenced Labour Day and Eight Hours Day celebrations across Australia.
The movement was not identical in every colony or occupation. Different Australian regions adopted their own public-holiday dates and commemorations. The Melbourne stonemasons’ march is nevertheless the event most closely associated with the Australian eight-hour-day tradition.