Author: Sue Rosen
This examination of Homebush Abattoir in the 1960s and 1970s has attempted via the interpretation of oral and written evidence to illuminate those aspects of its history that played the most significant part in the closure of the facility. The first section is devoted to a theoretical discussion; the second to an examination of oral evidence pertaining to Homebush Abattoir in the 1960s and 1970s, particularly regarding labour relations in an attempt to understand whether union militancy, poor management or changed market circumstances were the most significant factors in contributing to the facility's eventual demise in 1988. How workers perceived management and vice-versa is of particular concern because of conflicting views regarding the Abattoir's failure. The third section attempts to draw together and meld aspects of the two former sections in a conclusion which rejects the primacy of either oral or documentary sources as an historiographical tool and which argues for informed interpretation and use of all evidence.