I'm in the union

Josh Teale on the picket

PICKET VET: Josh Teale, 32, Port Botany auto electrician, job delegate and branch committee member lost his job in November for the third time in his 13 years on the waterfront. And for the third time the union got him his job back. Now the dispute with Skilled Engineering is to be settled from inside the gates and in the Commission.

A veteran of three pickets at Port Botany - the 1994 skirmish, the 1998 lockout and now, the dispute with Skilled, Josh has a sense of deja vu. Once again Patrick has put the maintenance work at Port Botany and Brisbane out to tender and once again delegates have been bypassed for a job and once more the union has had to set things right.

"We all had to reapply for our jobs, go through interviews, aptitude and medical tests," said Josh. "Long service and leave entitlements were back to zero years of service. Then Skilled said they didn't require six of us. And that included three of the four delegates."

Josh's job was on the line.

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