Struggle Map

About

FAQ

7

What is this?

Struggles Map (name pending) is a mapping project by schmilly (schmilly.xyz) to map out struggle across Australia.
The main focus is on unions, so any strikes, industrial actions, lock outs and other activities across so-called Australia, with potential future plans for more generally showing workers struggle and activism across Australia. The idea is to show people where and how workers are organising across the country and show that even locally it is happening.
The site also wants to include larger progressive/left wing protests. We don't want to include every protest as of yet, and primarily are focused on including just the largest protests (unless they are related to specifically union activity).
The

Where do you get your information from?

Information is mostly sourced from Struggles report and FWC ballots, as well as supplemental information from other sources when needed. That being said not all Dispute Reports were used.

I contacted (via Email) Dispute Report/Sarah Missen for permission and to check they're okay with their work being injested and shown in the way it is shown on this page. I have yet to hear back.

How is the data processed?

Each Dispute Report and a collection of FWC filings is ingested into a JSON format via Deepseek. each entry is hand checked afterwards and also cleaned up and improved. AI is also unable to track long term strikes and Struggles so adding ID’s is all done manually, and additional sources as well as number of workers affected is added in manually.
I am hoping to one day not use AI at all for this project, but instead rely on collaboration and hand crafted entries.

How is this hosted?

This is hosted on a laptop in my living room and pushed to the internet via a Cloudflare tunnel. This may cause down time and access issues.
Can also be accessed at schmilly.github.io/StruggleMap/

Do you have future plans?

Yes, I have a road map here

Are you affiliated with anyone?

I am a member of a number of different left wing organisations, but are not active in any of them. However this project is in no way endorsed or supported by any of them, and any endorsement of an organisation or action from this website is purely personal.

Contact?

Get in touch with me at schmilly@proton.me if you have any thoughts, queries or questions.

Action classification

How entries are typed

Every entry in the dataset has a type field that describes the main form of action. The chart below routes a new entry through seven questions into one of 13 possible types.

Flow Chart for Categorisation of Actions A decision tree classifying industrial actions into 13 categories. Flow Chart for Categorisation of Actions Q1. Has the Struggle/dispute concluded (agreement endorsed / all action lifted)? Q2. Does the entry only add information to an existing dispute, and doesn't include information on a new action (no new action or outcome described)? Q3. Is the entry about a protected action ballot? Q4. Is this an employer-side action? Q5. Is this a rally / protest / march where participants are NOT withdrawing labour (workers still working)? Q6. Has the industrial action been planned publicly, but the specifics haven't been announced yet? Q7. What form is the industrial action taking? resolved Agreement endorsed / all action lifted update Context only — no new action or outcome ballot Announced or underway — no result yet ballotpass Majority YES — or union sought authorisation ballotfail Majority NO / tie / <50% — or union did not seek it lockout Employer refuses work / locks workers out scab Replacement / scab labour brought in protest Rally / march — no labour withdrawn planned Publicly announced — specifics pending strike Sustained, indefinite, multi-day, or ≥24h stoppage Short, bounded, rolling, or recurring <24h action Bans, work-to-rule, uniform bans other Nothing else fits YES NO YES NO NO NO YES NO YES NO Note – Q3 nuance: where a ballot fails but the union intended to authorise action (or passes without union intent), classify by union intent. See Kewco (id 9108, 2/5 participation) and Gadaleta (id 9114, tied question) for split ballots. Note - This is a rough guideline only put together recently. All entries may not always be following these guidelines and may have been set incorrectly. Also may designate something differently.
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