The union was formed in 1889 to represent unskilled workers on the Fremantle wharves when the Adelaide Lumpers' Union started a recruiting drive to the west. Many workers joined, thought to be inspired by the London Dock strike of 1889 and the solidarity shown between the workers.[3] The inaugural secretary of the union was Mr. Clifford.
J.P. Rasmussen was the secretary of the union in 1895.[7] The lumpers went on strike in 1899[8] as a result of non-union labour being used on the wharf;[9] the strike lasted for over four weeks.[10] Rasmussen remained as secretary until 1899 when he left the position.[11]
The union was involved in the 1919 Fremantle Wharf riot when the state had been isolated by an outbreak of the influenza virus and a waterside workers strike. Premier Hal Colebatch, had intervened in a dispute involving the unloading of a coastal trader, Шаблон:SS. The violence escalated when Lumpers Union members threw missiles at a launch carrying Colebatch and strikebreakers who were attempting to start unloading the vessel. Police retaliated and shots were fired. During the violence a lumper named Tom Edwards was fatally injured and died three days later.[12]
In 1910 the Lumpers Union joined the Waterside Workers' Federation but broke way again in 1933 following a dispute with the Federation executive over collection of union dues. They reaffiliated in 1946.[3]
In Fremantle Cemetery there are 39 headstones that were erected by, or with assistance from, the Union.[13]
