John Maynes and the Movement

John Peter Maynes OAM, who died in April, was a leading member of the anti-communist forces within in the Australian labour movement. Commencing activity in the 1940s, he later became national president of the Federated Clerks Union (FCU). He also became the chief industrial officer of the Movement, later the National Civic Council (NCC). Born in 1923 in the inner Melbourne suburb of Clifton Hill, he attended Christian Brothers College in East Melbourne. His Catholic background helped in his response to the communist challenge emerging in the trade union movement.

In The Split, Robert Murray begins his analysis of that problem as follows: “Between 1935 and 1945 … the Communist Party directed a massive campaign to penetrate the Australian trade union movement, and for a few years was almost able to control it.” The fightback against communist penetration took various forms, starting in 1938. The Catholic-organised “Movement”, which began in 1942, is the best known. By 1945 the ALP was sufficiently alarmed to organise Industrial Groups, beginning in New South Wales.

Discharged from the army on medical grounds in 1942, John Maynes took up accounting work at a Melbourne radio station. In 1946 at the age of twenty-three he helped organise an Industrial Group within the FCU, becoming its first president. The group then set out to win control of the union from the communist-aligned incumbents. In a 1949 ballot for the Victorian branch the returning officer, Fred Farrell, burnt the ballot papers instead of declaring the result, which he presumably did not like. This provided an opportunity to invoke federal legislation for a ballot controlled by the Arbitration Court. This legislation had been passed by the Chifley government, following lobbying by the Industrial Groups. A new ballot in 1950 gave the victory to Maynes and his colleagues. After further court action, and a victory by the Industrial Group in New South Wales, the pro-communist Left was reeling.

In 1954 Maynes became National President of the union. Meanwhile, Industrial Groups were having successes in other unions. To co-ordinate the work of the Industrial Groups in different states an Interstate Group Liaison Committee was formed in 1952. John Maynes was secretary, Jack Kane, New South Wales ALP Assistant State Secretary, was chairman, and Laurie Short, who had won control of the Federated Ironworkers Association in 1949, became vice-chairman.

In 1954 the blow fell. Dr Evatt launched his attack on the Movement. The Industrial Groups were disbanded. The ALP split began, with major political consequences especially in Victoria and Queensland, leading to the formation of the DLP. Anti-communist activity was sneered at, sectarianism was widespread. In the union field, communists and their supporters seized the opportunity. According to John Maynes in his 1961 pamphlet Conquest by Stealth, the communists had by then made a spectacular comeback. He described the key areas they controlled.

Part of the communist propaganda offensive in the early 1960s involved “reciprocal visits” by unionists. Unionists from Australia would be sent to visit “unions” in the Soviet bloc or China. In return, delegations from these bodies, which were in fact phony unions under state control, were to be hosted in Australia under ACTU auspices. Maynes and the FCU led the opposition, along with the Shop Assistants (SDA), Ironworkers and others, refusing to pay the levies to fund the trips. Non-payment meant the unions concerned were excluded from the 1961 ACTU Congress. Later the issue was quietly shelved.

In the 1960s John Maynes and Federal Secretary Joe Riordan began to build the union’s membership by seeking preference clauses in industrial awards for union members, beginning with a successful case in the oil industry. On the waterfront, the FCU’s tally clerks division was used to pressure employers. Businesses previously hostile to unionisation began to endorse membership agreements. The FCU membership rose. By 1974 it was the largest white-collar union in Australia.

Maynes enjoyed international travel, and was much criticised for it. But he was a genuine internationalist. He led the FCU into the international union federation covering white-collar workers, known as FIET, its French acronym. He developed links with trade unions in developing countries in South-East Asia, and was a founding member of FIET Asia-Pacific. He saw the early effects of globalisation on employment and wages as multinational companies moved production to low-wage developing countries. He believed unionism was the best protection for workers in those countries.

John Maynes was a friendly person, capable of great kindness and generosity. But he could be abrasive, and was at times hard on his union staff. He did not appear often in the media. That was mainly a matter of choice: he did not want a high-profile media image. He maintained an office at the FCU, but for a long time his position was unpaid. For three decades he also had a room and secretarial assistance at Movement or NCC offices where he spent part of his time. He was paid a modest wage as an NCC employee, which he supplemented by investment interests. At NCC conferences he would usually give the second major address after B.A. Santamaria, dealing with industrial and political questions.

From 1978 to 1982 John Maynes was confronted with an internal division in the NCC initiated by Santamaria. A summary of these events is available in Patrick Morgan’s second book on the Santamaria papers, B.A. Santamaria: Running the Show. In my view, the surreal atmosphere at the top levels of the NCC at that time almost defies description. Long-standing trust and friendliness suddenly evaporated, civility regularly broke down, fallacious rumours circulated and the emotional level was high. John Maynes was deeply troubled by the course of action adopted by his long-standing colleague but rarely showed it.

Retaining his inner steeliness he studiously adopted an attitude of serenity. He radiated calmness, counselled patience, and offered constructive suggestions and compromises to maintain unity. The best outcome would have been a restoration of unity and trust, but this seemed unlikely. Failing that, he wanted to secure the employment of those officials under threat, and access to NCC funds and assets for industrial work. He bought time—two years or so—but the door closed on negotiation and the final severance took place. Legal action ensued and the difficult tasks of establishing ourselves independently began. Social Action became our monthly paper. The most urgent requirement was to restore morale. At the initial meetings of stunned members, John Maynes used a piece of homespun philosophy: after a disaster “you pick yourself up, dust yourself down, and start all over again”.

In August 1980 a new development emerged in Poland which was to have far-reaching effects. A free trade union, outside state control, was formed in the Gdansk shipyards. Solidarnosc or Solidarity spread rapidly throughout Poland. In December 1981, General Jaruzelski placed Poland under martial law, and arrested the Solidarity leadership. In support of Solidarity, the FCU and the SDA jointly organised a nationwide tour in 1982 by two Solidarity activists. With the ACTU leadership on stage, an overflow meeting at Melbourne’s Dallas Brooks Hall gave them a rousing reception. Substantial sums of money were raised, and sent to the International Confeder-ation of Free Trade Unions in Brussels. Fax machines, copying machines, tape recorders and other technology of the 1980s found their way into the hands of activists in Poland, ultimately breaking down the censorship imposed by the regime.

John Maynes was involved in the final healing of the ALP split, which was at its most bitter in Victoria. Since 1955, four key unions had remained apart from the ALP: the FCU, SDA, Carpenters, and Ironworkers. These unions had always held the view that they would rejoin the ALP in an honourable reunion, but the process might take some time. The idea was revived in the late 1970s but the victory of Bob Hawke in the federal election of 1983 created new opportunities. Hawke was faced with a subversive Marxist faction within the party and wanted the unions back. The move was bitterly opposed by the Socialist Left in Victoria, and a propaganda war began. Following a decision by the ALP National Executive, delegates from the four unions entered the Victorian ALP Conference in April 1985, greeted by a barrage of tomatoes from some sections of the Left.

The move gave Hawke increased support within the ALP, but it had two other consequences. The unions brought with them skilled individuals capable of ideological infighting. The effects were not confined to Victoria. From 1985, the ALP Right showed new confidence in South Australia and Western Australia, with the SDA playing a leading role. The re-affiliation was also symbolic, representing a reconciliation with those who still felt estranged from the ALP because of the 1954 split and its aftermath.

Maynes was not afraid to get involved in policy issues. While no intellectual, he was a kind of practical visionary. One major issue was technological change. He saw the value of higher productivity leading to a wealthier community, but was concerned about the effects on workers, and on the nature of work itself. After a long legal battle, the union succeeded in gaining the right for employees to be notified and consulted about the introduction of new technology. For the majority of members of the FCU who were women, Maynes believed the concept of equal pay for work of equal value would provide the best result for women in pay claims (other concepts were in vogue at the time). Ultimately the ACTU adopted this position in 1972.

As industry superannuation funds, jointly run by employers and unionists, began to be established, Maynes initiated the idea for the FCU. In 1985, CARE Super (Clerical Administrative & Retail Employees) began, with Maynes as foundation chairman.

In 1981, Maynes was elected as a member of the ACTU Executive. But in the FCU, things were starting to go wrong. In 1982, the Central and Southern Queensland branch was won by the Left. The Socialist Left took an interest in the Victorian branch, and in 1985 a team led by Lindsay Tanner (now Finance Minister in the Rudd government) contested branch elections. They were soundly beaten, but a technical invalidity in the case of the Assistant Secretary led to a by-election for that position in 1987, which Tanner re-contested. In a major lapse of judgment, Maynes believed a low-key, low-resourced campaign would be sufficient. Tanner won, and was then inside the citadel. In the 1988 branch election, Tanner’s team won control of the branch.

While Maynes remained National President, for three years factional wars raged. Then a truce was agreed to for the various branch elections in 1991. In 1992, Maynes stepped down, and his anointed successors led the FCU into an amalgamation, creating the Australian Services Union (ASU) with two local government unions. In some ways it was a less than glorious career end. Yet it does not invalidate the impressive contributions he made to trade unionism and public life over forty-six years.

In the 1940s John Maynes took up a challenge: communism was attempting to penetrate key institutions of democratic societies, and ordinary people needed to respond. Through the ups and downs of the ensuing years he showed energy, imagination, long-term thinking and moral courage. To borrow a phrase from St Paul, he ran the race to the finish.

It helped to have the patience and good humour to sit through hours of tedious meetings. And it especially helped to have a loving and supportive family. His wife Therese (Tess) and three children pre-deceased him. He is survived by Pam, Brendan, Kevin, Phillip and Lisa and their families.

Gerald Mercer was National Secretary of the NCC from 1968 to 1980, then editor of Social Action.