The Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union (CFMEU) hosted a farewell tribute to Allan Sargent at Geelong Trades Hall on June 14. They presented Allan a lifetime membership award for his dedication and service to the union movement, over nearly five decades.
Allan’s family, friends and comrades from various unions, as well as members of Socialist Alliance, attended.
Zac Smith, the former CFMEU National Secretary, presented the award and many spoke of Allan’s many accomplishments. Lisa Zanatta, women’s organiser for the CFMEU Vic/Tas Branch, fondly recalled Allan being her first union organiser in the Building Workers Industrial Union (BWIU). She said he was a staunch advocate for women’s equality, always respectful and someone who could be relied on for help. She said Allan was a role model for young workers starting out in the building industry.
Although he trained at a young age as a mechanic, Allan could turn his hand to any trade. It meant he had the ability to reinvent himself many times over.
Having learnt the building trade from his father, Allan later became a farmer in Victoria’s Western District and, in between times, even tried professional boxing. Allan, along with his wife Lyn and three children, built a rich and fulfilling life.
Allan was never far from politics, joining Labor in 1975. He worked as a research officer from 1978 to 1985 for then Victorian Senator Cyril Primmer, while maintaining his farm and providing for his young family.
He became a union organiser for the BWIU (which later merged into the CFMEU) in 1985 until 1992. During this period he became Secretary of the South West District Trades and Labour Council (SWDTLC), a position he held for five and a half years. For three of those, he was also Victorian Provincial Trades and Labour Councils Association Secretary.
In 1988, Allan became a credentialed delegate of the BWIU/CFMEU, beginning his relationship with the Geelong Trades Hall Council (GTHC). He later serving as a SWDTLC fraternal delegate, until his death on June 28.
Even though Allan was nearing the end of his life after a long battle with cancer, he attended his last meeting on May 6 — testament to his stoicism and dedication to the working class.
One of Allan’s great legacies is his book 100 years of Struggle. The History of Geelong Trades Hall Council 1909-2009.
It was a labour of love; he spent countless hours pouring through archives, conducting interviews and combing through the GTHC minutes. It is a brilliant account of not just GTHC’s history, but Australia’s rich union history and workers’ struggle, including some quirky, early stories about individual disputes in craft unions.
Allan, an accomplished poet and artist, was also a long-term and highly-valued member of Socialist Alliance, joining in 2003. His donation of his extensive book collection to the Socialist Alliance Geelong Branch means it will be available for others to study and learn from.
Allan was a true intellect, a humble and kind person, and he is sorely missed. He is survived by Lyn, his three children, Doug, Karl and Jody, his siblings Fred and Barbara and his six grandchildren.
[The author acknowledges the help of Doug Sargent in writing this obituary. Copies of Allan Sargent’s 100 years of Struggle. The History of Geelong Trades Hall Council 1909-2009 are available through Geelong Trades Hall.]