The Life and Times of Bill Anderson

Named Gordon Harold Andersen, Bill was the youngest son of the late Hans and Minnie Andersen. Bill's father, an experienced seafarer, emigrated from Denmark and settled in Grey Lynn. Bill attended primary school in Panmure and then Otahuhu College. At 16 he followed in his father's footsteps and went to sea, sailing on coastal vessels and getting his first taste of unions. The seafarers attempted to hold a ship up over conditions on board but were not supported by the President Fintan Patrick Walsh. He told them it was not on to be taking industrial action in war time. In 1942 Bill got a job on the Pamir and set sail for San Francisco. The Pamir was an unarmed sailing ship taking wool to America. They were lucky to avoid the Japanese subs operating in the Pacific. He got into a bit of strife on the trip over, getting appendicitis and being admitted to hospital. It was pretty awful, as there were no ship's doctors in those days. When he went back to the Pamir they wouldn't re-employ him as he was seen as a bit of a union troublemaker.

He continued sailing in foreign-going vessels for the rest of the war, seeing lots of different countries and poverty he had never seen before, especially in the Middle East.

The suffering of people convinced him something was radically wrong when there was so much wealth on one side and so much misery on the other.

Everywhere he went it was the same. The wealth was being taken out of the country leaving the poverty behind. But it wasn't just the poverty that formed Bill's world view. He made friends with workers in all the countries he sailed to and they were just workers like himself, entitled to a fair days pay for a fair day's work. When he was in the Suez Canal he got friendly with Arab workers. Bill said they were good people who used to help him out and they would lend him money when he was broke, yet Arabs were seen as an inferior race. These experiences were to be the catalyst for Bill to find out more about politics.

When Bill came back to NZ he sailed the coast as a ship's fireman as his eyesight wasn't too good. He was involved in holding up a ship in Westport and was expelled from the seafarer's union which was still under the control of Fintan Patrick Walsh.

In late 1948 Bill got a job at the Westfield Freezing Works and did two seasons as a mutton butcher. It was there he led a strike because mutton butchers were paid less than beef butchers. They didn't take him on for a third season.

Kings Wharf freezing chambers was his next job and in 1949 the carpenters were in dispute. Despite the railway workers supporting them, some butter was railed to the wharf. Bill and two others refused to unload it but they got the dump, as they were a minority. He then became a wharfie. In those days they unloaded asbestos in hessian bags and often went home itchy. If they knew then, what we know now!

Bill was elected to the 1951 lockout committee and his job was getting all the printing done about the strike. It was in secret as it was illegal for the wharfies to print their side. But that's another story.

No ex wharfies need apply. The 1951 waterfront lockout and supporting strikes saw Bill unemployed again. It was hard to get a job so he and a mate started cleaning shops. By this time Bill was married with children and the cleaning wasn't paying the bills so he got a job driving for Winstones with 120 drivers. He was elected on to the driver's executive in 1953 and became an organizer in 1954. He was elected Secretary of the Northern Drivers Union in 1957, putting an end to the right wing leadership. Under his leadership the Drivers Union fought for above award conditions for sick pay, average rates for holidays, ruling rates and was involved in national issues like the $20 campaign. The Drivers Union became a democratic union with the rank and file running it.

In 1974 seafarers were in dispute and held up the ferries to Waiheke. They asked the drivers not to deliver oil to the boats. In those days the oil drivers were a militant bunch.

When the drivers did as asked the late Justice Mahon issued a court order and had Bill arrested, but he continued to refuse supply of oil and was locked up in Mt Eden. While he was locked up workers were mobilising for a national day of strike action.

Twenty thousand workers marched up Queen Street in Auckland in retaliation for his arrest and around the country workers were planning for further action.

It was simple. The seafarers asked for support and that's what they got. The government got involved and Tom Skinner (FOL President) was sent to see Bill in prison. And it was there in Mt Eden that the Seafarer's claims were met. Bill said the irony was that he was a union rep on the Government Oil Commission and when they went to inspect the refinery the workers had stopped in support of the blue.

The settlement was presented to a stop work meeting by Tom Skinner and once endorsed a court hearing was held and he was set free.

In the 1978 Bastion Point struggle the Drivers Union green ban was effective and this was an issue dear to Bill's heart with his affection for the Maori people and their struggles to win back land and have decent housing, health and education.

In 1986 the Drivers Union amalgamated into the Northern Distribution Union and later Bill was elected President, a position he held until his death.

I once asked him what was the most successful struggle he had been involved in and the answer was the Kinleith strike in 1980. This dispute lasted for three months and Bill was involved as we had engine drivers, store workers and drivers taking action. He was on the executive of the Federation of Labour and gave leadership on the strategy and tactics. The strike broke the 1980 wage and price freeze. As Bill said, they were still trading stocks and shares, there was no freeze on them.

The strike was very successful as it showed what rank and file involvement could do. Waitangi Day was also won from Kinleith.

Bill was always a communist party member. Openly being a communist in the 80's was a brave stance as Muldoon was in power and felt threatened by the trade union movement and all who stood for it. Muldoon was a scaremonger and ran a smear campaign against Bill and other trade union leaders. It was the old 'reds under the bed' carry on. There was a newspaper article saying Bill was like the bubonic plague. Prominent business people were also saying hateful things about Bill. One transport boss said the only way to shut Bill Andersen up was with a 303.

The fact that Bill and other trade unionists visited the Soviet Union was also made out to be a brainwashing exercise. Bill was hosted by the Soviet Trade Union Federation. As he said there was no secret squirrel stuff and they weren't being trained to come back to New Zealand and take over.

In his leisure time Bill gardened and it wasn't uncommon for him to give you a bag of spuds or beans. He enjoyed cooking and often brought his homemade soup for lunches when he socialised.

Bill enjoyed writing and produced many books on the class struggle. He was working on his memoirs when he died. Bill Andersen dedicated his life to making New Zealand a better place. A caring generous man who always went the extra mile. You'd find him at the gym on a Saturday morning and often during the week. He reckoned you had to keep fit and healthy to be able to fight the boss.