Acubra hats were very much part of everyday dress in New Zealand during the 50s and were an every present feature of demonstrations during the waterfront disputes of 1951.

Hugó Scheiber (1873-1950) was a Hungarian painter who vociferously believed that the role of art was to reflect on the needs and expectations of ordinary people.

This relief features a well tailored coat of the type considered to be very fashionable amongst those that could afford one in 1951. Meanwhile striking waterfront workers were campaigning for a living wage that might at least put food on the table.

The title refers to the call to waterside works to push on with the Waterfront strike and not give up. But there is a play on words with the appearance of a Tern at the top of the composition that is clearly sounding its own call.

John Foster Dulles (1888-1959) was an influential American diplomat who visited New Zealand in 1951 and advised the government on how to end the Waterfront Strike.

Isidora Dolores Ibárruri Gómez (1895-1989), also known as la Pasionaria , was a Spanish Republican politician of the Spanish Civil War and a communist known for her slogan "No Pasarán" ("They shall not pass!") issued during the Battle for Madrid in November 1936.

Les 51 was a commission undertaken during the period that Phill explored the 1951 Waterfront strike.

Traditional classical European portrait painters often place a noble figure in an idealized landscape to produce social comment or promote the interests of a specific social and political class.

Clothing is a frequent device in Phill's work without the identity of the wearer being revealed. The aim is often to provide a way of dressing (or addressing) an underlying body of concerns.

Waterfront workers and unionist activists where often described in derogatory terms as 'seagulls' during their 1951 strike.

This work reflects on the process of developing a visual language and iconography through which to reflect upon and explore the implications of working people taking a stand against the political and social mood of their time.