BY SUE BULL
GEELONG — On July 8, Tim Gooden was elected assistant secretary of the Geelong Trades and Labor Council for the next five years.
Socialist Alliance member Gooden was nominated by the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union, and was strongly supported by the other militant unions — the Electrical Trades Union, the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union and the Textile, Clothing and Footwear Union.
As a CFMEU delegate, Gooden is known for his prominent role in organising solidarity with the various picket lines which happen in the region. In Geelong, militant unions band together to support picket lines, regardless of which union is in dispute.
Gooden has also helped build links between unions and community activists through his support for the community pickets against the proposed Stonehaven power station.
Before moving to Geelong, Gooden had been active in both the Federated Engine Drivers' and Firemen's Association and the ACT branch of the Community and Public Sector Union. Gooden was part of a militant Members First current within the CPSU, and led the struggle for a decent enterprise bargaining agreement in ACT government. He only just missed out on being elected as ACT government section secretary after the various ALP factions joined forces against him.
From Green Left Weekly, July 23, 2003.
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