Ray Gietzelt AO (29 September 192212 October 2012) was a major figure in the Australian union movement in the latter part of the 20th century. He led the
Federated Miscellaneous Workers' Union of Australia
The Federated Miscellaneous Workers' Union (FMWUl commonly known as the 'Missos') was an Australian trade union from 1915 to 1992. It represented an extremely diverse and disparate range of occupations, but its core support came from workers empl ...
(FMWU; later known as
United Voice
United Voice was an Australian trade union from 1992 to 2019. It merged with the National Union of Workers to form the United Workers Union in 2019. United Voice was part of the Labor Left faction of the Australian Labor Party.
The union was ...
) from 1955 to 1984. Ray Gietzelt exerted major influence in the careers of
Bob Hawke
Robert James Lee Hawke (9 December 1929 – 16 May 2019) was an Australian politician and trade unionist who served as the 23rd prime minister of Australia from 1983 to 1991. He held office as the Australian Labor Party, leader of the La ...
,
Neville Wran
Neville Kenneth Wran, (11 October 1926 – 20 April 2014) was an Australian politician who was the Premier of New South Wales from 1976 to 1986. He was the national president of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1980 to 1986 and chairman o ...
and
Lionel Murphy
Lionel Keith Murphy QC (30 August 1922 – 21 October 1986) was an Australian politician, barrister, and judge. He was a Senator for New South Wales from 1962 to 1975, serving as Attorney-General in the Whitlam government, and then sat on the ...
, and he was made a Life Member of the
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also known as the Labor Party or simply Labor, is the major Centre-left politics, centre-left List of political parties in Australia, political party in Australia and one of two Major party, major parties in Po ...
.
The former
Australian
Australian(s) may refer to:
Australia
* Australia, a country
* Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia
** European Australians
** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists
** Aboriginal Aus ...
senator and
Sutherland Shire
Sutherland Shire is a local government area (LGA) in the southern region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Sutherland Shire is located approximately south-southwest of the Sydney CBD, and comprises an area of . As at the ...
mayor
Arthur Gietzelt
Arthur Thomas Gietzelt, AO (28 December 1920 – 5 January 2014) was an Australian politician and minister.
Arthur Gietzelt was born in San FranciscoNewtown that collapsed during the
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
United Voice, SMH Obituary as his clients found themselves unable to pay their bills. As a consequence, the family had to move a number of times in search of cheaper rents.
In 1940 he went to work for a chemical company known as Incorporated Laboratories. At that time he joined the
Federated Miscellaneous Workers' Union of Australia
The Federated Miscellaneous Workers' Union (FMWUl commonly known as the 'Missos') was an Australian trade union from 1915 to 1992. It represented an extremely diverse and disparate range of occupations, but its core support came from workers empl ...
Australian Army
The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia. It is a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF), along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army ...
and served in
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...
with the 9th Field Company of the
Royal Australian Engineers
The Royal Australian Engineers (RAE) is the military engineering corps of the Australian Army. The RAE is ranked fourth in seniority of the corps of the Australian Army, behind the Corps of Staff Cadets, Staff Cadets, Royal Australian Armoured C ...
, until discharge in 1945. He married later that year. He then joined a small chemical company, Getz Products, run by his father. He resumed his membership of the FMWU despite working in a junior management position.
Union career
He became active in the campaign by a left-wing group known as the Protest Committee to wrest control of the FMWU from an entrenched right-wing faction that was seen as not accountable to the members. The matter proceeded to the Conciliation and Arbitration Court, where the Protest Committee was represented by
Lionel Murphy
Lionel Keith Murphy QC (30 August 1922 – 21 October 1986) was an Australian politician, barrister, and judge. He was a Senator for New South Wales from 1962 to 1975, serving as Attorney-General in the Whitlam government, and then sat on the ...
, and the union leadership by John Kerr. The court ruled in favour of the Protest Committee. Gietzelt became General Secretary of the Union in 1955, at the time being Australia's youngest federal secretary of a union.NSW Parliament, The Hon Lynda Voltz, Tribute to Ray Geitzelt, 23 October 2012 He remained in that post until his retirement in 1984.
Gietzelt modernised the union, facilitating rank and file participation and encouraging the involvement of women. He oversaw a change in the union's strategy to include more direct bargaining between the union and employers rather than relying on arbitration courts. During this period the union won a number of important victories. They successfully ended the degrading ″bull system″ for casual waterfront watchmen that saw workers waiting in line to be picked by the boss for work.Gietzelt, Ray (2004). ''Worth Fighting For'', The Federation Press. They also won the highly publicised Arthur Murray dispute in 1959, in which the union took up the cause of dance instructors and ran the first ever successful prosecution of a company for a lock-out in NSW. FMWU membership increased from 22,000 in 1955 to 122,000 on his retirement in 1984. It was said that, under Gietzelt's leadership, the FMWU union never lost a strike or broke its word with any employer, industrial tribunal or kindred organisation.
Political activity
He was a member of the
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also known as the Labor Party or simply Labor, is the major Centre-left politics, centre-left List of political parties in Australia, political party in Australia and one of two Major party, major parties in Po ...
and journalists named him "kingmaker" because of his influence in the careers of senior Labor figures such as his close friends
Bob Hawke
Robert James Lee Hawke (9 December 1929 – 16 May 2019) was an Australian politician and trade unionist who served as the 23rd prime minister of Australia from 1983 to 1991. He held office as the Australian Labor Party, leader of the La ...
,
Neville Wran
Neville Kenneth Wran, (11 October 1926 – 20 April 2014) was an Australian politician who was the Premier of New South Wales from 1976 to 1986. He was the national president of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1980 to 1986 and chairman o ...
and
Lionel Murphy
Lionel Keith Murphy QC (30 August 1922 – 21 October 1986) was an Australian politician, barrister, and judge. He was a Senator for New South Wales from 1962 to 1975, serving as Attorney-General in the Whitlam government, and then sat on the ...
. He was elected to an executive position on the
Australian Council of Trade Unions
The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), originally the Australasian Council of Trade Unions, is the largest peak body representing workers in Australia. It is a national trade union centre of 46 affiliated trade union, unions and eight t ...
(ACTU) in 1967. Bob Hawke credited him with being the single most significant figure in helping him gain the leadership of the ACTU.
Brian Harradine
Richard William Brian Harradine (9 January 1935 – 14 April 2014) was an Australian politician who served as an independent member of the Australian Senate, from 1975 to 2005, representing the state of Tasmania. He was the longest-serving indep ...
, a Tasmanian delegate from the Right, opposed Hawke's candidature, and Ray Gietzelt was instrumental in having Harradine censured and later expelled from the Labor Party. Hawke later became
Prime Minister of Australia
The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The prime minister is the chair of the Cabinet of Australia and thus the head of the Australian Government, federal executive government. Under the pr ...
(1983–91), and Ray Gietzelt's elder brother
Arthur Gietzelt
Arthur Thomas Gietzelt, AO (28 December 1920 – 5 January 2014) was an Australian politician and minister.
Arthur Gietzelt was born in San FranciscoPremier of New South Wales
The premier of New South Wales is the head of government in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Government of New South Wales follows the Westminster system, Westminster Parliamentary System, with a Parliament of New South Wales actin ...
), and organised numbers for Lionel Murphy to become a Senator (and later Attorney-General in the
Whitlam government
The Whitlam government was the federal executive government of Australia led by Prime Minister Gough Whitlam of the Australian Labor Party. The government commenced when Labor defeated the McMahon government at the 1972 Australian federal elect ...
). Together with Wran and Whitlam, in 1986 Gietzelt helped establish th Lionel Murphy Foundation which awards scholarships to postgraduate students of science or law with a commitment to social justice.
In July 1970 he supported federal intervention into the New South Wales Branch of the Labor Party. This led to some democratisation of the branch, including the introduction of proportional representation.
Retirement
He was appointed an
Officer of the Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...
Qantas
Qantas ( ), formally Qantas Airways Limited, is the flag carrier of Australia, and the largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations in Australia and List of largest airlines in Oceania, Oceania. A foundi ...
and as a Member of the Automotive Industry Authority. He was awarded life membership of the Australian Labor Party in 2003. He published his memoirs, ''Worth Fighting For'' in 2004.
Ray Gietzelt died on 12 October 2012, aged 90.