At the recent ‘Weaving Three Stories’ workshop at Fishermen’s Bend in the Port of Melbourne, 95 year-old Jim Beggs spoke from his 41 years of working in the Port, starting as a 19 year old wharfie, and then stepping up till he was elected President of the National Waterside Workers Union, now the Maritime Workers Union. His union has always strongly supported First Peoples in their struggle for recognition and justice. Jim’s remarkable story of being part of change is told in Mike Brown’s book ‘No Longer Down Under’. Jim wrote this report from a conference of First Nations/Indigenous maritime workers in Sydney in late July, where he spoke as a special guest:
I have been a working member of the Maritime Workers Union of Australia for 75 years and over this time I have attended many national and international conferences. Last week I attended a four day conference in Sydney for the MUA. The conference theme was hearing from First Nation people from around the world, who are working in the maritime industry so included seafarers and dockworkers. There were North American and Canadian First Nation people, Longshoremen from Hawaii, Chile, New Zealand and other countries. To say it was the most challenging and inspiring conference I have ever attended would be an understatement. 150 delegates met in Sydney 2 weeks ago and all were under the age of 50. I was privileged to be one of the few non-indigenous people invited to attend.
The four day conference was chaired by Thomas Mayo, the National Assistant Secretary of the Maritime Union of Australia and a leading advocate for The Voice. Thomas is known to many of us. His chairmanship of the meeting was amazing. Thomas showed great care of the delegates, making sure everyone got a fair go. This was particularly true with the younger attendees. Thomas encouraged them not only to give their reports on their ports but to also explain why, as a First Nation person, they wanted to take on the difficult union positions in one of the world‘s most challenging industries. One example was a young Darwin seafarer who decided to take on responsibility, and was elected as the first Aboriginal woman to be bosun of an Australian flagship.
Most union conferences are about material things, wages, conditions etc, but Thomas wove into the discussions the more humane side of our industry. He invited a guest speaker who was a former rugby player with the Robittos, a boxer and a recovering alcoholic, to talk. He had been depressed for seven years and his theme was ‘the enemy within’. His talk was based on listening to the inner voice, and how his constant listening had brought him through the difficult times in his life. He is now giving his time as a leading speaker on issues of the heart. He is challenging organizations to look at the moral and spiritual as well as the material issues. Sometimes we unionists get so set on our ideologies, that we take ourselves too seriously and lose our sense of humor. The negative takes over from the positive. In a vote of thanks to the speaker I was able to tell the conference how (my wife) Tui and I had followed the idea of listening to our inner voice and that had brought us through difficult times which had inspired me to take on the leadership of this great union.
Our union’s belief has always been that the wealth and the work of the world should be available to all people with the exploitation of none. A number of delegates shared that this message was what brought them to the union movement and was the idea keeping them in the struggle.
The conference gave me great hope for the future of our union. There was a new energy and passion for us all to stand alongside our First Nation family in hope for fairer world and in Australia for the Voice to be revisited.
Header image: The group of participants at the 'Weaving Three Stories' workshop standing with the backdrop of the Melbourne Port
Jim Beggs at the 'Weaving Three Stories' workshop at the Port of Melbourne, June 2025 - Photo Credits: Kate Spencer