Issue No 81 | 08 December 2000 | |
NewsVale Cliff Dolan: A Lifelong Commitment
The trade union movement is today mourning the death of fromer ACTU President Cliff Dolan who died in Melbourne last night.
Dolan was ACTU President from 1980 to 1985. He was also a Vice-President and served on the ACTU Executive for nine years. Mr Dolan became ACTU President after Bob Hawke moved into Federal politics. ACTU President Sharan Burrow said Cliff Dolan had a lifelong commitment to working people and to promoting the role of unions in Australian society. "Cliff started his working life as an electrician and went on to become one of the most respected people ever to represent working people," she said. "He was hard-working, a good negotiator, and a person of great integrity. Cliff had a vision of a better future for Australia and he always worked towards that vision." Cliff Dolan began his work for unions when he joined the Electrical Trades Union. He became a full-time officer in the NSW branch of the ETU in 1949 and became Federal Secretary in 1964. Mr Dolan was also a member of the tripartite National Labour Consultative Council, and the governing body of the International Labour Organisation, based in Geneva, Switzerland. ACTU Assistant Secretary Bill Mansfield, who worked on the ACTU Executive with Mr Dolan, said he made an important contribution to improving Australia's skills base by promoting vocational training and skills development, particularly in the electrical industry. "Cliff's legacy has been to enrich the working lives of young Australians through vocational training. That is an outstanding contribution and one that his family will always be proud of," said Mr Mansfield. "Personally, I will always remember Cliff for his great personal dignity and his unfailing desire to help people in any way he could." The Federal Secretary of the ETU, Peter Tighe, also paid tribute today to his predecessor. "Electrical workers today will shed a tear of sorrow when they hear that Cliff has passed away," he said. "No greater servant have they had. Cliff's work for ETU members and other unionists will long be remembered."
|
Interview: Back to Work After a stretch of unemployment following the 1996 election, former Keating Minister Robert Tickner is now helping others find work. Media: Reality Check Aiden White, head of the international journalists' union, argues that online journalism presents a new set of challenges for organising. Economics: In the Same Boat In an unprecedented move, a coalition of industry, community and trade union groups have joined forces to address long-trerm unemployment. International: Nepalese Hotel Workers Ask for Support Hotel workers in the small Himalayan nation of Nepal have finally decided to vent their anger and call a general strike for Monday - over a 21 year old dispute. Unions: Speaking in Tongues Labor Council's Mark Morey outlines the successful campaign by local government workers for a community language allowance. History: Fighting Words The anti-conscription campaign of 1914-18 tore the ALP apart; but this was not the first time the labour movement took a militantly anti-war stance. Politics: A New Socialism In an extract from his new book, political economist Frank Stilwell argues the need for a new radicalism to counter the Third Way Satire: Roy Slaven on the Rampage John Doyle's history of the ABC stretches back to a 1958 evening in Lithgow on which he was "scared shitless" by Blackboard on Mr Squiggle. Review: Mauled in the Bear Pit Vengeance may be sweet but it is always made better when you are able to write a book about yourself that also provides the opportunity to dump a bucket load on those who undertook your removal.
Notice Board View entire latest issue
|
© 1999-2000 Labor Council of NSW LaborNET is a resource for the labour movement provided by the Labor Council of NSW URL: http://workers.labor.net.au/81/news1_cliff.htmlLast Modified: 15 Nov 2005 [ Privacy Statement | Disclaimer | Credits ] LaborNET is proudly created, designed and programmed by Social Change Online for the Labor Council of NSW |