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Dare To Struggle Dare To
Win
If You Don't Fight You
Lose
Dare To Struggle Dare To
Win-
Deregistration of the BLF By
Liz Ross
Part I The origins of the
BLF
Terry
Costello
In April 2004 the book about the Builders Labourers Federation
Deregistration Dare to Struggle Dare to win which was written
by Liz Ross was published. This book documents the fighting spirit
of the BLF as well as the sellout class collaboration politics of
the Hawke and Cain Governments, the ACTU and various union
leaderships that left the BLF for dead.
The attacks on the BLF in the 1980’s were not the only tragedy
of the ACTU’s Prices and Incomes Accord which also led to a decline
in the living standards of working people and has considerably
weakened trade unions and the trade union movement.
The ACTU then as today has a lot to answer for and we will be
exploring the sellout politics of the ACTU in the coming weeks.
The Book Dare to Struggle Dare to win was launched on April 30
2004.
The BLF did not start out as a militant union. I asked Liz Ross
how the BLF built its Power base
Well Liz we're talking today
about your book Dare to Struggle Dare to win. I guess with
the BLF they weren't always militant that
in the 1950's the union wasn't in a good way how was the BLF built
up to where it was in the 70's?
Liz Ross
Right well I mean one of the reasons why it came under attack
because it was the most militant union at the time was because from
the 50's on when in various states they the reform groups took over
from the gangster leadership of the union what people did was
basically fight on the job and try and build up their strength on
the job amongst the rank and file they went around talked to people
joined people up, made sure that people realised workers there on
the job found out what the union could really do and then they
moved politically. The union stood against people in the elections
and stuff like that so that they'd built up from this rank and file
base to be able to then challenge the leadership and that was all
very democratic and all the rest of it but basically building up
from the ground up
Terry Costello
The rank and file of the BLF played a vital role in the affairs
of the BLF as Liz Ross Explains.
Liz Ross
and Marco Masterson one of the organisers and one of the leaders
of the BLF said at one occasion it was celebrating things that the
BLF had done and he said that the BLF was a strong as it was
because it has a strong rank and file and I think this is something
else that the BLF has left as a legacy that a union is only as
strong as its rank that the rank and file are the ones who - and
there's a whole history within the BLF which we haven't really gone
into unfortunately haven't had time to but to go into how the BLF
built up that rank and file within you know how there were a
whole lot of people in different branches within the union that
made it a union that was much more controlled by the rank and not
form the top down but from the bottom up. The rank and file decided
what action they were going to take on the jobs where the rank and
file could discipline the leadership where they had their regular
monthly general meetings of members where the members things had to
go to the members and if the members knocked it back then the union
couldn't do it and its that kind of strength of the Rank and File
that actually fuelled the struggle for the deregistration because
this was a rank and file that was schooled in struggle and that's
what made it possible for the union to be as strong as it was
and I don't think we can talk about any aspect about of
the struggle of the BLF without acknowledging the role of the rank
and file of the BLF, because they are the ones that actually make
the union
Terry Costello
Another way in which the BLF built its power was its ability to
recognise the bosses weak points in the production process and use
this as leverage to make gains in conditions. The most well known
of these was the use of concrete on the job as Liz Ross
explains
Liz Ross
The questions about the concrete pours why that was
so potent is that apart from anything else you are talking about
thousands and thousands of dollars worth of work and if it was
stopped halfway through then it would set and they would have to
jack hammer it all out again and do the whole job again, but it
wasn't always that they actually stopped the concrete pours that
was the thing they did as the last resort. Often they just had to
threaten it but also they would do things like if you had a
work to rule where it made it very difficult , particularly if you
had something that was a concrete pour that was going to go on for
several hours then if you had people working to rule so that they
had their breaks at morning and afternoon tea time at lunchtime all
of those kind of things then it made it very difficult for them to
actually pour the concrete but the concrete because it became such
a crucial part of building a building then being able
to stop the concrete pour was somewhere where you had maximum power
on a building site if you couldn't do the concrete pour that
meant the floors weren't there you couldn't keep on the work so
that's why it was all so crucial in terms of the whole timetable of
the job and everything like that and that's why when the BLF at
various times as they expanded their membership as they became more
militant and as the technology changed one of the things that they
did which gave them a pivotal role in the workplace it wasn't
always the most pivotal but allot of the time it was the reason
they had the pivotal role is because they actually ended up
covering the people who did the concrete work and so that
meant that they then had that power in the same way as down
in Melbourne as opposed to NSW the BLF controlled the crane crews
as well and again that was another job within the whole building of
a building that was crucial and was very powerful and if the crane
crew wouldn't move anything then nothing could happen on the
multistory building sites so it was really when the multi story
building sites came on that they really , that was when if you had
control of the concrete work that's when you had your power.
Terry Costello
The 3CR Concrete Gang show’s moving tribute to the Late
John Cummins also known to Concrete Gang listeners as Harold
included an exploration of how a concrete pour was stopped as
a member of the Concrete Gang explains.
Concrete Gang Tribute to
John Cummins
One of my most vivid memories of Harold was down at Kensington
Flour Mills. I remember the day quite vividly. A number of BLF
people on site said a lot of people are coming down gee there is
going to be trouble. We geared up for a big big blue against
Buckley Brothers and i remember quite vividly saying to Ivor
Lawrence how many BLF people are going to come down. He said
Dozens. When it came to the day one person showed up. It was John
Cummins . he put the car in the middle of the drive way, stopped
the concrete and then everybody from the site there were two
buildings on site everybody came down and stood in the middle of
the site the site was surrounded by scaffold. Cummo then walked
around the scaffold. Four coppers were chasing him because they had
to get to him to ask him to leave before they could do anything.
The coppers had no idea where the scaffold led to. The whole
charade lasted for about 30 minutes. Finally the coppers realised
after 30 minutes that Cummo had vanished. Cummo was by then around
sitting with us watching the whole charade. The cops worked out
where he was, came down to see him he stood off site then turned
around to the guys because once he was off site the coppers
couldn’t do anything and the concretes going off and he
turned around to the guys and said let’s go and have lunch.
Terry Costello
The BLF did not only make gains for its members. The BLF also
advocated a more just society and raised the level of working class
consciousness and working class solidarity by supporting the
struggles of other unions.
At the Dare to struggle Dare to Win Book Launch Liz Ross
explains why the BLF’s style of militant unionism is a
style of unionism which progressive unions today should be
striving to emulate.
Liz Ross
Then you know we wouldn't be here tonight if this was all there
was in that famous song about Joe Hill is the line, what they
couldn't kill went onto organise and it is this that makes dare to
struggle dare to win the story of the BLF such a powerful history
while the attack on the BLF was relentless the determination of
people like rank BL Don Rust to fight for a principal the right for
the union of your choice and to fight for the right to decent wages
and conditions for safety even when the BL's knew they couldn't win
each round is why we're here. Disability rights activist
Lesley hall said the BL's were leaders even today you look at a lot
of their conditions what we're fighting for now in our unions were
won a long time ago by the BL's. With all they've won Lesley adds
and this is what is crucial you can see what struggle could
actually do. In campaign after campaign as I outline in the book
the BL's fought with their guerrilla tactics the bans the work to
rule and of course the strikes and rallies. Kevin Reynolds from
Western Australia who you all probably know about said the
union learned to pick its moment like the wharfies he says you wait
till the ships in the harbour before you hit so simple work to rule
over starting times and knock off times when there was a concrete
pour in the offing would hit the mark and not only did they take up
the fight in their own union the solidarity and actions spread to
other unions in 1984 just a year after Hawke gained power the
government laid into the Food preservers union for daring to demand
a decent wage rise. The BLF rally to the cause with the usual
visits for the picket lines and fundraisers and so on. There was
one rather spectacular show of support that former food preservers
organiser Dennis Evans vividly remembers and he says I’m standing
outside the Arbitration Commission which was the now the industrial
Relations Commission waiting for some of the busses with members
from the Rosella factory to turn up and I see about 2000 blokes
coming up the hill with John Cummins in front and so as he thought
naturally he says He thought they were having their own campaign
rally so he cheers them on and he said then they got to about 100
metres of me and Cummo said that's him that’s Evans follow him and
Dennis said it was a fantastic feeling and the BLs went upstairs to
give the IRC a lesson in class solidarity and because of this and
because the Food Preservers were absolutely rock solid in their
campaign the Rosella workers went on to win their claim
applause
Terry
Costello
The BLF’s successor the Construction Forestry Mining &
Engineering union the CFMEU was also heavily involved in supporting
the independence struggle of East Timor and its reconstruction. The
Concrete Gang Show’s moving tribute to the late John Cummins
included a recollection of Warren of a CFMEU protest at Melbourne
airport in the late 1990’s against Indonesian atrocities in East
Timor that brought the plight of the East Timor people into the
national public spotlight. Protests in Australia against the
Indonesian occupation of East Timor such as the CFMEU protest at
Melbourne airport got under the skin of the then Australian Foreign
minister Alexander Downer.
Concrete Gang
Tribute
Cummo at Melbourne airport in the middle of the East Timor
debacle which the Howard government stood aside and let happen and
we were trying to do something to support the East Timorese against
the Indonesian government. Garuda airlines at Melbourne Airport
wasn’t going that well and Harold’s famous quote in this situation
you’d never get away with it these days – you would be arrested for
terrorism he said fuck it lets go and stand in front of the plane
and so we walked down to the gates there was no security there
whatsoever we walked onto the asphalt and all of a sudden security
came from everywhere admittedly only 5 or 6 of them but still
but imagine if you did it these days you would be shot in the back
of the head before you could get 2 steps on the airport I think. I
remember at the time Alexander Downer was on the radio and he was
scratching around he was at pains to get front and centre of the
running of the issue and he said it is the Australian government
that runs the foreign policy of Australia not the CFMEU and that
was the sort of impact the union was having. We did alot better
than you Sir Alexander you toffee bastard you. The fact that he
tried to come out and tried to take the issue away from us showed
just how much they were behind the 8 ball. They certainly had
reason to dislike us.
Terry
Costello
BLF and now CMFEU Stalwart David Kerin explains the values that
underpinned the operation of the BLF and the progressive trade
union movement and why they were important and still are important
today.
David
Kerin
The BLF would never have survived even the 3 months of the
lockout if it hadn't have been for one important factor and that
was a politically educated minority of the membership. Regardless
of what you may or may not think about Norm and i want to get onto
that in a minute the fact is that politics was something that they
always spoke about they read about and they discussed it wasn't
separate from their industrial life, it was something that
underpinned it was something that provided the values that put them
out there every day of the week facing the sort of conflict that
most of you in this room face. As old Ted Bull said to me The only
difference between the class war and open hot warfare is one bullet
and that class war will grind you it will grind you every day and
it will grind you down unless you are guided by values and you
stand alongside comrades so if we learned anything out of the 70's
again out of the 80s was whatever else happens in our struggle we
have to make sure that we provide structures that mean we always
rely upon each other we build in the trust that can ensure that and
that enables us to fight
I do want to say something about Norm. I probably had as many
blues with him as some of the bosses around town but I respected
him and I know that he wasn't a thief, and indeed if he had of been
a thief the BLF would probably be still there today
I know that the BLF wasn't corrupt, and indeed if it had of been
corrupt and indeed if it had of been corrupt it would still be
there today
The important question is what are the values that underpin that
politics and I think they are the values that we've always lived by
they are the values of solidarity they are the values of a sharing
economy they are the values of an economy that meets people's needs
and the profit of the market. They are the values that see men and
women as equal they are the values that will stand in the way of a
punch of a gay basher, They're the values that will stand in the
way of a punch or a police baton against our black brothers and
sisters. There’s the values that underpin our movement, that's our
politics that’s global that’s international
John Cummins
but we reckon the history of the union was a proud history and
we were around in the 60s the 70s and the 80s and the 90s but our
forefathers and people before them had a very vital and exciting
contribution that they made and we thought it ought to be
acknowledged and I'm a bit Victorian with blinkers but we've got a
rich history the BLF Australia all over applause
Terry
Costello
Many of the BLF Rank and File members in the 70’s and 80’s are
no longer with us as Margaret Cain from the BLF Women’s committee
explains
Margaret
Cain
was just reflecting for a moment we mustn't forget our comrades
that have passed away. names like the black rat old Les
Doyle, Bill Kenny, Joe Bolton , Uray and Antic the bear burger Tony
Sproule a matter of fact Ray Beattie Dave Pillar Barry Kenny Eddie
Masterson Big Norm Johnny Loh the mighty Marco Masterson JR Johnny
Rotten Kyran Nicholls and of course our Gaylene and now one more of
our comrades has got to go on the flag and that's Jimmy Fleming
Vale to all our comrades and in conclusion I have made
many a long standing friends both in the men and the women
and I with my association with the union I'm also very proud to be
a Builders labourer's wife
Terry
Costello
Part II will explore the mass media’s misrepresentation of
the BLF, its successor the CMFEU and other militant unionists such
as Craig Johnston as CFMEU legend the late John Cummins
explains
John Cummins
and Dare to struggle Dare to win is a very timely book because
from my point of view and I'm sure from yours we just don't want to
celebrate our past We don't mind celebrating our histories but
there has got to be a bit more and really what we're about what
we're about now and I'm sure it keeps knocking you out as you flick
through the book is really how current the issues are they say
history repeats itself it is really a demonisation happening all
over again and its the violence and thug accusations that are
really being dusted off again and they've been directed at the
CMFEU
Part II Corporate Media
demonise the BLF
In Part I we commenced our analysis of Liz Ross’s
fascinating and inspiring history of the Builders
Labourers Federation called Dare to Struggle Dare to win. In Part I
we looked at how the BLF built its strength and power
in the workplace and how this paid dividends for its members in
terms of better working conditions and a more just society. It also
must be noted that many of the gains made by the BLF flowed on to
other workers in other industries
BLF Stalwart the late Marco Masterson explained how the BLF
built up its powerbase on Melbourne Building sites in the 1960’s
under the watchful eye of the then Secretary Norm Gallagher. Here
is Marco Masterson’s tribute to the Late Norm Gallagher which he
made at a function at the Harry Danaher Hall in September 1999
shortly after Norm’s passing.
Marco
Masterson
Greetings comrades it gives me the greatest pleasure to be
amongst you all after so many years and being on such an occasion
that brings sadness to the hearts of all of us, the passing of one
of our leaders. We have had some great leaders in the BLF believe
you me but we also had some great rank and filers in t he BLF to
back those leaders to achieve what we achieved. This building you
stand in was a printing works. We bought it through the agency of
Normie Gallagher. He bought it he saved up and looked at our money
like all secretaries do as if it is their last shilling and sent
our organisers out to get more and more and if you brought back 10
thousand in a week which I did and the late Terry O’Connor through
the money in the city and the boom period when we had the
sign no ticket no start and that’s how it should be and if
you have got a job with a non union on it send the bludger home.
And on top of that we want to put Oomph and solidarity into the
Rank and File of the Builders Labourers and the whole of the
Building Industry is to restore the work of the great Lenin and
Marx Socialism the only way forward nothing less and nothing under
it because with unity in struggle that gives us what Gallagher gave
us leadership and we were respected not because we were weak but we
were respected because of our strength. The bosses hated our guts
in the main and we are proud to know it because that is the
division between labour & worker – history created it.
But i must say there are some people who are here who were on
the opposite side but i must pay tribute to them in all sincerity.
With all the negotiations we had with the lot of them they meant
well and they were honest enough to mean well to us and when
agreements were struck we were able to pot hole them and that what
Normie did. He never broke an agreement without signing it whether
he did or he didn’t that is part of his history, that is part of
the tradition of honesty in the BLF. They can say what they like
and try to condemn us but as long as I live and as long as I have
got a voice the Builders Labourers will always be Dare To Struggle
Dare To Win. Long Live the BLF and now i wish to propose a toast. I
wish to propose a toast to Normie Gallagher and at the same token i
would like to pay respects to his family for their loss and i would
like to say this that it is an honour he was a great mate of mine
and many others and i am not going to go back into that and i say
lets have a beer to Normie Gallagher. May his great work be
continued forever and may the BLF come back stronger and better
inside the CFMEU – Dare to Struggle Dare to win if you don’t fight
you lose
Terry
Costello
The BLF’s winning of better working conditions for construction
workers in the 1960s and 1970’s which flowed on to most other
Australian workers as well as BLF’s role in agitating for a
more just society made the union a target for the mainstream
media which then like today is controlled by a concentrated, anti
worker corporate elite.
Part II will be explore the methods used by the mainstream
press to demonise the BLF. The methods used by the mass media back
in the 1960’s 1970’s and 1980’ to attempt to discredit the BLF are
eerily reminiscent of the mainstream press coverage of militant
unionists such as Craig Johnston. As well as the BLF’s successor
the CMFEU. Generally speaking the mainstream bosses media operated
hand in glove with the state and federal government’s of the day.
The mainstream media was out to nail the BLF right from
the start. The major tactic the mainstream print and electronic
media used against the BLF involved the reporting of half
baked and untrue allegations about the BLF and its officials. The
BLF was able to refute these scurrilous remarks but surprise
surprise the mainstream media were not interested in publishing the
union’s denials and or evidence. So much for unbiased and objective
reporting.
Dare To Struggle Dare To Win Author Liz Ross explains how
Conservative state and Federal governments of the early 1980’s used
the forces of the state to spy on the BLF and when that
didn’t work called a Royal Commission which was used to dish
out unsubstantiated dirt on the BLF.
Liz Ross
however unlike the other unions what they did with the BLF was
to take them on through the leader Norm Gallagher because Norm by
that stage was the General Secretary as well as the Victoria
Secretary and they had an inquiry some time before about
getting finding out it was about corruption in Melbourne City
Council and what had happened there was they had found all these
things that have been happening and one of the findings had been
some allegation against Norm about some plants . It was all very
obscure Now the whole inquiry basically got dropped and nothing
came out of it but that was enough to start the police watching
Norm all the time, obviously at the direction of the government.
Out of that then they decided that they would get Norm on so called
corruption charges and so they tried in various ways to send the
police into the various building companies and ask them for
paperwork and things like that to find out any information and they
couldn't find anything , in the normal course of events under
normal criminal law they could find nothing against Norm so what
they then decided to do was to have a Royal Commission and of
course the Royal Commissions have powers under the criminal law you
don't have and so they then started again and basically it was a
whole process as all Royal Commissions are of demonising and making
unfounded allegations a whole range of people and in this
particular case obviously they were going for Norm and a whole
range of the union officials and they were accusing them of
corruption of receiving goods and that kind of thing of using union
money and they would make these major allegations that would be
faithfully be reprinted in the press any refutation of that
anything that the union could bring up to say to show that this
didn't happen was ignored by the press and so what you go was this
incredibly one sided picture of somebody effectively slandered in
the press and this was absolutely relentless it just went on for
week after week after week and they went round every single
state of Australia with this Royal Commission timing their
hearings to being just before various state elections all of this
was designed to whip up a feeling against a union that they called
corrupt from the top down all of that and of course it wasn't just
those allegations that they investigated they investigated a
whole range of other allegations about industrial action very much
the same as the Cole Royal Commission did they claim they are going
after corruption etc in the industry and really they were after is
the union and Norm and the union said this to the members and said
this to everybody who would listen. Basically the Royal Commission
are after the union because its a militant union and that was
basically it and so as I said there was this relentless war
against them where all the publicity in the papers
always painting the union in a bad light and they use
examples of industrial action where they claim that the union said
that they were above the law. Just one particular case where a
builder hadn't paid the BLF members in NSW they hadn' t paid them
their proper rates so not surprisingly people go on strike about
that then the employers brought in scabs and the union naturally
responded to that as well. the employer then called the police and
the union said we don't want the police. The police shouldn’t be
here. This is an industrial matter. This was portrayed as the
union's standing above the law that so this is a kind of
slant and this was the use to which the Royal Commission was
put , to put a slant on everything the union was never ever
reported as equally as the commission allegations.
Terry
Costello
But despite all that the BLF basically was able to continue in
the 70's how was it continuing to service its members
Liz Ross
Yes this was in the 80's of course this was from 81 when Fraser
started the Royal Commission and yes the union did that but
although they decided not to be part of the Royal Commission they
said this is a kangaroo court basically and we don't want to be a
part of it. Despite them feeling that about the Royal Commission
they still were being called up and they still had to be on top of
what was happening, they still had to have legal representation
within the Royal Commission so that they knew what was happening
there, and of course this meant allot of resources for the union
went into that as well which is not what the union particularly
needed and it meant that they were they had to confront all these
issues on the job as well so while it wasn't crushing it was
certainly took away some of the focus they had , it certainly
didn't stop them from keeping on with the militancy at all, if
anything it fired up certain people to be stronger as far as the
union was concerned.
Terry
Costello
Part II is exploring the mainstream mass media’s
demonization of the Builders Labourers Federation in the 1970’s and
upto the deregistration battle in the 1980’s.
BLF Women’s Committee member Margaret Cain talks about her
treatment by Channel 9
Margaret
Cain
Rosy Chris and I did some TV coverage. We were supposed to go to
Sydney but we were on the plane but it was fogged in at Sydney so
it was a setup we ended up out here at GTV anyway we were asked
some pretty hairy questions what was Norm doing down at McLaughlins
Beach how do the hell do I know you know we were there to give
recipes of Baked beans and tell them about them we cared and it was
just the women and children that qualifies for doing it hard anyway
the women were there to support the men and a couple of times we
had sit ins and we went to the MBA and we all sat in and made a
nuisance of ourselves anyway memories come flooding back at a time
like this there were two cranes besieged by Don and John
in the Lonsdale Street and then at the Market Street
Site there was killer the black rat and Bill Kenny. Now Bill
Kenny told Killer he could work that crane Killer found out the
hard way anyway I didn't know a thing about it and at 6 O’clock
that night I was watching the news on the TV and wow did I know
where killer was
Terry
Costello
The mass media does not
report the gains made to the working conditions of workers covered
by militant unionists , or the contribution militant unions such as
the BLF then and now unions such as the CMFEU and the
AMWU under the control of Workers first and other progressive
unions have made in taking up social justice
issues.
There is a clear link between the Mainstream Mass Media’s
treatment of the BLF in the 70’s , 80’s and 90’s and the
treatment of the CMFEU and progressive unionists such as Craig
Johnston according to David Kerin followed by John Cummins
David
Kerin
If it hadn't been for the leadership of the BLF we would be
still be pick up and carry donkeys when I started in the industry
at the end of 1970 that's what we were we still had the remnants of
that if it hadn't of been for Normie and some of the older faces I
see here tonight that's what we still would be and yes it was
important the employers will always oppose that but why did they do
it at the time if it wasn't because we were corrupt if it wasn't
because Norm was a thief why We're still got to go into discussion
on that because its all happening again the setup of the CMFEU the
same thing the setup of Craig people like that why is it because we
are bad evil corrupt no of course not its because its part of this
process of globalising capital of moving beyond the nation state of
putting in place the new state,
John
Cummins
We don't mind celebrating our histories but there has got to be
a bit more and really what we're about what we're about now and I'm
sure it keeps knocking you out as you flick through the book is
really how current the issues are they say history repeats itself
it is really a demonisation happening all over again and its the
violence and thug accusations that are really being dusted off
again and they've been directed at the CMFEU
Terry
Costello
The demonisation tactics used against the BLF in the 1970’s and
1980’s have being recently used by the now defunct Howard
Government against the CMFEU through the Cole Royal Commission and
the Australian Building & Construction Commission and by
the Bracks and Howard Governments against Craig Johnston.
No doubt these demonisation tactics used by anti worker
organisations such as Federal and state governments and the Murdoch
press will be dusted off and used in the future against workers who
fight for their rights and for a better world. The lessons of
the BLF deregistration battle in the 1980’s covered in Liz Ross’s
Book Dare to Struggle Dare to Win provide an insight into how
the bosses and anti worker governments spin and propaganda
campaigns operate and how they can be neutralised.
Liz Ross’s book Dare To Struggle Dare To Win is published by
Vulgar Press. The book can be purchased On Line by logging onto the
web at www.vulgar.com.au/blfbook.html
Part III will be looking at the role of the ACTU and it’s
dreaded Prices and Incomes Accord played in the deregistration of
the BLF.
Terry
Costello
Dare to Struggle Dare To Win
which analyses the Deregistration of the BLF in the 1980’s. Apart
from the book being a cracking read it is very well researched as
Liz interviewed many of the surviving Builders labourers and had
access to archival material. The book has clearly exposed the class
collaboration of the union bureaucracy and the ALP
hierarchy as well the tactics used by the mainstream media to
demonise the BLF. Acts of class collaboration by members of the
Union Bureacracy and ALP elite involve them acting against
the interests of working people as a class. Supporting the
deregistration of the BLF was not in the interests of working
people as this along with other results of the accord led to a
decline in working conditions and a decline in the power and living
standards of the working class.
Class collaboration is alive and well today and if working
people are going to defend themselves they will need to recognise
that in some circumstances not only are they up against
the Boss, they have got the ALP and elements of the union
bureaucracy to contend with as well. Coming up with effective ways
to fight back in this scenario
is the $64,000 question. You are listening to the class Actions
program
One of the key members of the then BLF and now CMFEU John
Cummins spoke at the launch of the book back in 2004. Sadly John is
no longer with us having passed away in 2006
John Cummins put the interests of the members ahead of his own
and on two occasions went to gaol in doing so.
The union movement needs more people like John Cummins who are
willing to stand up against injustice and unfairness by defying
anti union laws. Perhaps one of the main reasons why the former
Howard Government’s Workchoices legislation had such a devastating
effect onworking conditions of many workers is due to most unions
unwillingness to take industrial action to fight it due to
Industrial action being made illegal and the possibility of
the union & union leaders being subjected to massive
fines and possible jail penalties. As the concrete gang say every
week if you don’t fight you lose.
In the Concrete Gang’s moving and inspiring tribute to
John Cummins the BLF poet George Despard wrote a poem about
John. Here it is.
Poem Johnny Cummins By
George Despard
In Memory of John Cummins. This is a poem I never ever wanted to
write and even when he was really crook I didn’t even think of
writing it because
Like us all we are all very cut up about this today
Johnny Cummins
Johnny Cummins I thought of you today
Its Saturday I just got home from work
I should have backed El Secundo
but I backed the lad of the manor instead
I see that wry grin of yours and I see you shake your head
Johnny old Mate I remember the Northcote brickyard
When I pushed the bricks off the belt
They were sending too many down.
There was a young bloke in a white singlet
When I looked around
He yelled out at the foreman don’t send so fucking many down
That’s when I met Johnny Cummins
Back in 1970 or somewhere around
The next time I seen Johnny was 1975
On the Underground Loop Picket Line
Three Months and we drove John Holland into the ground
And I remember Johnny all the other battles we fought
The Scaffolders picket in 76
Then you went to Carratha another battle you fought
Then there was Portland , the scissor lifts , the valley
Omega the great compo battle of 79
And many more battles to boot
The day you got the crane driver to drop the shed
Over the driveway of the good old public works
Jesus what a hoot, the huge battle of 86
Then you stood up for the workers at 417
And they jailed you again for that
From the BLF to the CFMEU Johnny you done all that
But one thing we admired you for
In all the time you were here
You loved to have and bet and loved to have a beer | 