All workers should be grateful for their contribution in the fight against apartheid,French nuclear testing in the Pacific,and the two biggest general strikes in our history (in 1976 and 1982),both over Medicare. They helped forge the campaign for universal entitlements to superannuation,and the use of building industry minimum rates,to establish the highest minimum rates for all workers in the world. These achievements should not be forgotten.
The building industry is a tough industry,and produces tough union officials. But largely,the industry is one of subcontractors and employers who can be evasive and transitory.The union is often the ballast in the industry as the employers come and go.
There are good employers and there are bad employers. It should not be regarded as unthinkable that good employers can work with good unions. It is not surprising that good unions fight bad employers. What is untenable,is when bad employers seduce,or are seduced by corrupt union officials for personal gain. This is the line of demarcation that cannot be crossed. The more militant the union,the greater the onus is on the union to abide by this fundamental ethos of honesty.
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The recent revelations about the CFMEU have revived discussion about the demise of the BLF in the early 1980s,and its leader Norm Gallagher. It’s true there was a finding of corruption about Gallagher but it was not an ACTU finding. We came to a different view about the incident that led to his jailing. Three major building companies,one led by Lloyd Williams and another by Max Bec told us the building materials given to him were not kickbacks but the remnants of building projects. When we visited his beach house “mansion” it was self-evidently built from second-hand materials. Norm lived at the back of the BLF union office for a long time and was an avid patron of the Queen Victoria Markets. There was nothing in his lifestyle to suggest he was on the take.
Much to the annoyance of John Cain,the newly elected Labor premier of Victoria,we were prepared to underwrite continued registration of the BLF when federal Labor won power in 1983. It was both a collective and a personal underwriting.
In part,it came about because we worked near and with many BLF officials,among them Jim Bacon,who became premier of Tasmania,and John Cummins,who became a much-respected leader of the CFMEU. These officials were strong and tough. In today’s world they could be regarded as too tough. I think they would resent being associated with criminals because for the most part,they made criminals look meek and mild.