Unionist and State Labor politician Grace Grace was the first woman General Secretary of the Queensland Council of Unions, serving from 2000-07. Prior to working in this position, Grace served in several union positions as well as being an advisor to Gary Johns, Assistant Industrial Relations Minister in the Keating federal government. Following the retirement of Premier Peter Beattie in 2007, Grace campaigned for and won the State electorate of Brisbane Central in a by-election and held the seat for the ALP until 2012.
Trade Unionist Wallace Trohear was a member of the Building Workers Industrial Union (amalgamated into the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union in 1991) from 1973 to 2006. During that time he held a number of key positions in the union, including Queensland State Secretary from 1987-2006. He reflects on his many years experience in the building and construction industry and discusses the issues and challenges he faced during his career, from wage disputes to royal commissions.
Trade Unionist Vince Dobinson was elected as a delegate of the Queensland branch of the Builders Labourers Federation in 1959, serving as an organiser 1962-72. He was elected as State Secretary from 1972-90. At federal level, he was the President of the Australian Builders Labourers Federation from 1974 until its deregistration in 1986. He reflects on his roles at both a state and federal level, discussing the changing nature of the construction industry and unionism within Queensland.
Unionist John Battams was the General Secretary of the Queensland Teachers Union for 21 years, from 1990-2011. A member of the QTU since 1976, he has been part of and witnessed many changes within the QTU and the teaching sector including the transformation of the QTU from a conservative, letter-writing organisation to a dynamic union. John Battams has been President of the Queensland Council of Unions since 2009.
Queensland Trade Unionist Michael Weise has been a member of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) in the Mining and Energy division since 1989. He discusses his career within the union, as well as significant CFMEU campaigns and efforts such as the re-unionisation of the Pilbara mining region in Western Australia and the Let's Spread it Around campaign.
George Britten was a Plumbers Union delegate across various workplaces in Mount Isa, Townsville and Brisbane from 1950 until the mid-1980s. He was a member of the Communist Party of Australia. He reflects on the changing nature of unionism in Queensland and his involvement in industrial campaigns including the Springboks tour of 1971, the Plumbers Union campaign for the 38 hour week in 1982 and the strike calling for the Federal Award to apply in Queensland from 1976-79.
Stan Heilbron is a member of the Communist Party of Australia (CPA). He is notable for his work in the Townsville community as a member of the Federated Clerks Union (FCU), Secretary of the Gulliver Progress Association and as a member of the Parents and Citizens Association. He was involved in many social issues including public transport and housing.
Howard Guille was the Queensland State Secretary for the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) from 1993 to 2006 and was involved in the 1993 amalgamation of academic unions which formed the NTEU. During his union career he was involved in enterprise bargaining, the Indigenous Stolen Wages Campaign and the Papua New Guinea National Minimum Wage Case.
Mary Kelly was President of the Queensland Teachers Union (QTU) from 1986 until 1994. Only the second woman to ever lead the QTU, and the first to do so full-time, she had been a longstanding executive member of the union. In both of these capacities, she worked to improve conditions for all involved in education, but for women teachers and students particularly. She was the Vice-President of the Australian Education Union, an active member of the Working Woman's Charter Committee, and one of the first women executive members of the Trades and Labor Council.
Robert (Uncle Bob) Anderson was the first Indigenous Australian to work as the State Organiser for the Building Workers Industrial Union (later amalgamated with other unions into the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union) from 1963 to 1978. He took an active part in many industrial disputes including the Mount Isa Copper Mine Lock-Out 1964-65, mines in Papua New Guinea in the late 1960s, and the controversial South African Springboks rugby tour in 1971.
