A labour icon: The Hungry Mile to be recognised.

A mile of remembrance

A realigned section of Hickson Road, Darling Harbour will be renamed The Hungry Mile.

The section of road will be from the King Street wharves to the Walsh Bay wharves.

The Hungry Mile had been suggested for the name of a new suburb at East Darling Harbour that will accommodate 330,000 square metres of office and retail space, but the New Harbour Headland Committee, charged with the naming of the urban renewal project, dismissed the suggestion as unsuitable, prompting a campaign by the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA).

In the Great Depression workers walked from wharf to wharf seeking work, some days being granted a 24-hour shift, but on other days going hungry, giving rise to the term "The Hungry Mile".

The MUA describes The Hungry Mile as a labour icon and "marks the spot of some of the union movement's proudest solidarity protests", such as black bans on Japanese shipments pre-WW2, the Black Armada of Dutch arms during the Indonesian independence war in the 1940s, the French and US wars in Vietnam in the 1950s and 1960s, apartheid in South Africa, French nuclear tests in the Pacific and the Indonesian invasion of East Timor.

The MUA's website describes it as "a place where waterside workers time and time again took a stand".

MUA Secretary Robert Coombs said Premier Morris Iemma made a "comprehensive announcement" about the new road being named The Hungry Mile and had agreed to discuss the naming of a park, ferry wharf and the placing of a number of plaques referring to maritime sites of historical significance.

"He [Mr Iemma] understood that there was wide feeling about recognition for The Hungry Mile.

"We're quite pleased with the result," Mr Coombs said.

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