Joel Wilson, an Australian Manufacturing Workers Union member working at Coode Island and Stephen "Longy" Long, a Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) delegate at Coode Island spoke to Green Left Weekly's Sue Bolton about their experiences working with jailed union leader Craig Johnston, and why they call for Johnston's release.
"We were working on a warehouse, the QP2 Safeway, in 1998", said Wilson. "We had writs on us and Craig, and our union [the AMWU] sent us letters and said we no longer had the support of the union for the picket line." Despite this, explained Wilson, "Craig still kept coming down and supporting the blokes. Craig was an organiser then."
The AMWU elections were taking place at the time and the militant rank-and-file group Workers First was standing with Johnston as a candidate [for AMWU metal division secretary]. According to Wilson, the union leadership advised that it no longer supported the picket "knowing that we were supporting Workers First".
Another dispute recalled by Wilson and Long took place in 1997 at Ford, where they were both stewards. A French company, GEC Allstrom, along with Ford, decided to sack all the workers. "They sacked us all and decided they were going to finish the job themselves. Then we put a picket line on ... for about two weeks", said Long.
At the time, the workers weren't supported by the "rat of a secretary" of the Federated Engine Drivers and Firemen's Association, John Van Camp, Long explained. "Craig was probably the leading light, along with [CFMEU organiser] John Loh and [FEDFA organiser] Tommy Watson, and managed to get all the workers back on the project, with a pay rise and [pay for] lost time, and all the jobs back."
Long described this as "unbelievable, fighting a company like Ford, and a French mob like GEC Allstrom. A lot of union secretaries are more worried about legal bills than about the members. We were pretty lucky. Thanks to Craig and the others, we got everybody back on the job with a pay rise."
Wilson believes that if people don't support the campaign for Johnston's release, "they obviously don't know Craig". Wilson's belief in the union stems from Johnston's role — he was "always 100% behind you and honest".
Wilson described his past experiences as a steward when Johnston was an organiser: "The boss used to ring Craig and say 'Joel's lost the plot', and Craig would say 'what are you ringing me for? Go and tell him'. The bosses would say they wanted to meet with Craig. Craig would say 'If the steward's there, I'll meet you'. You had 100% confidence in your organiser."
This was Long's experience as well. "With Craig, there was no white-anting [of the stewards]. If the bosses rang Craig, he'd tell them to deal with the steward", said Long.
According to Wilson, "when [Craig] lost secretary of the union, we lost our best warrior. One thing Craig did bring into the union was that all the officials became accountable. He probably was a taskmaster for them. He made sure they were out there serving the members."
Wilson believes that jailing Johnston "makes it a lot easier for [PM John] Howard", as Johnston is "one of the blokes who's always organising campaigns and rallies and always leads from the front, so there's one less thorn in their side with Craig out of the way".
From Green Left Weekly, December 15, 2004.
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