Cornelius "Con" Devitt (21 September 1928 – 13 July 2014) was a Scottish-born New Zealand trade unionist.

Early life and family

Born in

Greenock Greenock (; ; , ) is a town in Inverclyde, Scotland, located in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. The town is the administrative centre of Inverclyde Council. It is a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, and forms ...

in 1928 to Annie (née Muldoon) and Cornelius Devitt, he grew up in

Clydebank Clydebank () is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. Situated on the north bank of the River Clyde, it borders the village of Old Kilpatrick (with Bowling, West Dunbartonshire, Bowling and Milton, West Dunbartonshire, Milton beyond) to the w ...

. He began working as a plater at a local shipyard and soon became involved in defending workers' rights. After World War II, Devitt served in Egypt with the 1st Battalion

Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders (Princess Louise's) is a light infantry company (military unit), company (designated as Balaklava Company, 5th Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland) and was a line infantry regiment of the British Army tha ...

for his national service. He emigrated to New Zealand in 1953.

Life in New Zealand

After his arrival in New Zealand, Devitt worked on the building of the Tasman pulp and paper mill at

Kawerau Kawerau is a town in the Bay of Plenty Region on the North Island of New Zealand. It is situated 100 km south-east of Tauranga and 58 km east of Rotorua. It is the seat of the Kawerau District Council, and the only town in Kawerau Distr ...

. In the 1970s and 1980s, he served as the secretary of the Wellington branch, and then national secretary, of the Boilermakers' Union. During this period, the union was involved in a number of high-profile disputes involving heavy engineering projects—most notably the building of the

BNZ Centre The Aon Centre is a commercial office building at 1 Willis Street in Wellington, New Zealand, formerly named the BNZ Centre then the State Insurance Building. When completed in 1984, it was the tallest building in New Zealand, overtaking the 87m ...

in Wellington and the expansion of the Marsden Point Oil Refinery and the pulp and paper mills at Kinleith and Kawerau—and the Wellington and Kawerau branches were deregistered by prime minister of the day

Rob Muldoon Sir Robert David Muldoon (; 25 September 19215 August 1992) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 31st prime minister of New Zealand, from 1975 to 1984, while leader of the National Party. Departing from National Party convention, Mu ...

. He became the head of the New Zealand Trade Union Federation, which later merged into the

New Zealand Council of Trade Unions The New Zealand Council of Trade Unions (NZCTU or CTU; ) is a national trade union centre in New Zealand. The NZCTU represents 360,000 workers, and is the largest democratic organisation in New Zealand. History It was formed in 1987 by the m ...

. Devitt died in Wellington in 2014, and his ashes were buried in

Karori Cemetery Karori Cemetery is the second-largest cemetery in New Zealand. It opened in 1891, and is located in the Wellington suburb of Karori. History Karori Cemetery opened in 1891 to address overcrowding at Bolton Street Cemetery. In 1909, it recei ...

References

1928 births 2014 deaths People from Greenock Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders soldiers Scottish emigrants to New Zealand New Zealand trade unionists Burials at Karori Cemetery {{NewZealand-bio-stub