Working Class Idols

Cooper Silk

While Australian Idol has been attracting record crowds in recent years, the MUA has been quietly holding a talent quest of its own -- not for the latest rap or rock singer, but for wharfies and seafarers who could help relaunch the union film unit first set up in the fifties.

Entries for MUA Working Class Idol closed on March 15 with a panel of eminent film makers selecting the winners from 10 entries from ships and ports around the nation.

Tom Zubrycki (Diary of a Strike), John Hughes (former SBS Commissioning editor, Centre for Moving Images, Melbourne), Norma Disher (a member of the fifties union film unit) and Dr Lisa Milner (author of Fighting Films: A History of the WWF Film Unit) settled on three winners on March 29.

Viron Papadopoulos, 30, a casual wharfie, freelance film-maker and honours graduate in film studies at Flinders University, has been working on documentaries and TV series for the past 10 years (including the Working Lives series for ABC TV, McLeod's Daughters and The Secret Life of Us). He has also taken out awards for short films in state festivals.

Cooper Silk, 29,a Sydney wharfie, works full time for P&O, Darling Harbour while also doing a bit of acting for a film-making friend. "One of my mates was in Race Around the World on ABC and freelances for television," he said. "I've done stuff for him in front of the camera. So when I saw the union was running a film competition I thought I'd be good at it and I'd give it a go."

John Teague, actor and wharfie, is studying part time at the Actors' PlayHouse in Melbourne while working part time for Toll Stevedoring, Geelong. He took out third prize for his entry MUA News. John has appeared on Blue Heelers and on stage as well as in short films including the 2002 Dendy Awards winner, China Face. He also appears on Hard Yakka and Fox Footy.

"It's hugely important that working people have their say," said John. "A lot of people just clock on and clock off. Work can be really mundane. I guess I like the idea of unions being popular and reaching people on the ground at the workplace. So I thought I'd highlight some really positive things happening around the place."

All three MUA idols joined a delegation of maritime workers attending May Day in Cuba and the International Mining and Maritime Conference in Los Angeles in May. They filmed both events and collaborated on films highlighting political, cultural and industrial issues from a working class viewpoint.

"Our union has a long history of supporting workers in developing their full potential in every aspect of their lives," said National Secretary Paddy Crumlin. "Cultural issues are inseparable from industrial and economic issues and we must record and preserve what is ours, ensuring our national identity is not lost in this age of globalisation."

Letters have gone out to all entrants in the competition thanking them for their enthusiasm, interest and talent.