Black Ties

Thomas Mayor

TACOMA: National Secretary Paddy Crumlin and Darwin wharfie Thomas Mayor were special guests at the second ILWU Celebration of Black History and Labour held in the US this March.

The national secretary was the only non-black speaker among a cast of African American writers, poets, academics, actors, singers, human rights activists, ministers of religion, TV producers and a contender for next years US presidential race.

Among them were Todd Cochran, composer and jazz pianist; Yolanda King, actress and oldest child of Dr Martin Luther King Jr; Paul Robeson Jr, author, engineer and only child of the legendary Paul Robeson; Nikki Giovanni, poet, educator, and author; Ms Shabbazz, producer, writer, lecturer and daughter of Malcolm X Shabbazz; Judy Fortier, Women's Rights Coordinator; Avery Brooks, actor, director, professor and keynote speaker Reverend Al Sharpton, Civil Rights Leader and presidential candidate.

MUA National Secretary Paddy Crumlin recalled that thousands of workers attended the Opera House while it was still under construction in the early sixties to hear the clear and wonderful notes against oppression and war sung by Paul Robeson.

"We are proud to say in the Australian labour movement that we invited him to be the first, and the greatest to sing in that house," said Crumlin, speaking also of the inspiration he took home with him from the inaugural Celebration of Black Labour the previous year.

"The long road to self-respect, self-esteem, racial pride and social and labour justice captured in such a poetic, moving and exhilarating fashion, reach into every corner of our awareness," he said. "It reaches that which makes each of us unique and special while strengthening the bonds that link us and flow between us. Of course, too, in celebrating what has been achieved we make out a road map to overcome the obstacles that remain before us."

For Patrick crane operator, Thomas Mayor, it was his first time out of Australia.

"It was awesome," said Thomas. "LA is huge. Everything in the US is huge. In the port of LA they have 300 cranes. I was blown out by the sheer size of it. But otherwise I found the people the same as us - workers like us. The solidarity, recognition and respect we have with our ILWU comrades is tremendous. Workers confront the same issues over there as we do here. The ILWU and MUA are the strongest dockworkers union in the world"

Thomas, who is Aboriginal, was not surprised to see so many African American longshore workers. Darwin too is a multicultural society and racism, he says, is not an issue in his workplace. He said he enjoyed the cultural experience and gained a greater understanding of the role union officials play.

"I was able to report back to my fellows here what it's like, how hard working our officials are and how much we have in common with workers in the US in our fight to protect our jobs," he said.

Thomas, 26, was a delegate to the ACTU indigenous conference last year. He is a union activist and delegate on the Darwin wharves. He came into the industry eight years ago under the Carmichael scheme training program.

The MUA was a sponsor of the event produced by ILWU rank and file members Willie Adams and Mike Chambers.