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Issue Number 25/26, December
2005
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Kapatiran Issue
No. 25/26, December 2005
OBITUARIES
BILL ANDERSEN
- Paul Watson
Although Bill
Andersen himself was never a PSNA member, and I have no
idea if he ever visited the Philippines, the National
Distribution Union (of which he was President until his
January 2005 death) has had a close association with PSNA
for many years. Of the four speakers from the Philippine
progressive movement that we have toured through NZ since
the mid 1990s, two were leaders of the Kilusang Mayo Uno
(KMU - May First Movement) trade union confederation. The
NDU played a leading role in both those speaking tours,
by Crispin Beltran and Emilia Dapulang, in terms of
money, people, access to members, resources and time.
Bill personally was a great practitioner of proletarian
internationalism, a concept that has largely vanished
from the rest of the NZ trade union movement. And as a
struggle-based militant union, the NDU has always been
open to its comrades from the frontline of the
workers’ struggles in the Philippines. Ed.
In writing this it‘s difficult to condense into a
few hundred words the life of Bill Andersen. I am
assisted in this process by material that featured in our
Union’s December 2004 edition of The Express (a
publication circulated to all members) that came from an
interview that our Union’s publicity officer had
with Bill only a few months prior to his death. My
personal views of the man are also featured here. I
worked at a very close level with Bill as part of the
national leadership of the National Distribution Union. I
regarded him as a good friend and comrade.
Bill was born in 1924 - the year Lenin died. There is
something poignant and quaintly historical about those
events as Bill’s subsequent politics evoked much
Marxist-Leninist thought. To begin with, Bill, as he was
known, was named Gordon Harold Andersen by his parents.
He was the youngest son of the late Hans and Minnie
Andersen. His father was an experienced seafarer who had
emigrated from Denmark and settled in Grey Lynn,
Auckland.
1940s: A Graduate Of The School Of Hard Knocks
After attending primary school in Panmure and then
Otahuhu College, at the age of 16 Bill left to follow in
his father’s footsteps and went to sea. He got a job
sailing on coastal vessels and there began his first
experience of unions. This, of course, was during World
War 2 and he became pretty quickly introduced to union
politics when the Seamen’s Union attempted to hold a
ship up over conditions on board but were not supported
by the Federation of Labour (FOL) President, Fintan
Patrick Walsh. Walsh believed it was not on to be taking
industrial action in wartime. This would not be the first
time that Walsh and Bill were to have differences.
In 1942 Bill got a job on the Pamir and set sail for San
Francisco. The Pamir was an unarmed sailing ship taking a
load of wool to America. It was during this voyage that
further issues arose over seafarers’ conditions and
Bill got into a bit of strife on the trip. Before docking
in San Francisco he got severe appendicitis and was
admitted to hospital. When he went back to the Pamir they
wouldn’t re-employ him as the employer saw him as a
union troublemaker.
He continued sailing in foreign-going vessels for the
rest of the War and visited lots of different countries
and saw poverty he had never seen before, especially in
the Middle East. Such suffering convinced him something
was radically wrong with the social and political order
with so much wealth on one side and so much misery on the
other. These experiences were to be the catalyst for his
study of Marxism and subsequent Communist beliefs.
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 Seamen’s Union, which was still
under the control of Fintan Patrick Walsh. In late 1948
Bill got a job at Auckland’s Westfield freezing
works, working two seasons as a mutton butcher. It was
there he led a strike over mutton butchers being paid
less than beef butchers. They never took 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 into the
wharf. Bill and two others refused to unload it but they
got the sack as they were a minority. The work on the
wharf was hard and dirty. In those days they unloaded
asbestos in hessian bags and Bill would recall often
going home itchy.
1950s-70s: From Locked Out To Locked Up
The 1951 waterfront lockout was the next struggle and
Bill was elected on to the 1951 lockout committee and had
the job of getting all the printing done and worked
closely with Dick Scott (who a few years later years
published “151 Days” the famous book on the
lockout). It’s interesting to note that Bill was one
of only two unionists who stood up and supported Dick
Scott when Walsh sought Scott’s expulsion from the
1954 FOL Conference, because of what Walsh called
“vicious propaganda and vile words” against the
Labour Party and FOL.
A number of militant unionists were blacklisted following
the 51 Lockout and Bill was one of them. He found it
difficult 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', working with 120 other drivers.
He soon created an impression among his workmates as a
confident dedicated unionist. For example, upon receiving
news of his death, a retired Winstone's worker felt
compelled to write a letter of condolence to the family
and express his admiration and appreciation for the work
Bill had done back then. He hadn’t seen Bill for
some 50 years.
Bill was elected on to the Drivers Union Executive in
1953 and became a union organiser in 1954. He was elected
Secretary of the Northern Drivers Union in 1957, which
meant the end of the Rightwing leadership. Under his
leadership the Drivers Union fought for above-award
conditions, sick pay, average rates for holidays, ruling
rates and were involved in national issues like the $20
campaign*. The Drivers Union became a democratic union
with rank and file meetings and member decisions running
the union.
* Average rates or average weekly earnings for holidays
means a week’s holiday pay based on an average of
your total years earnings divided by 52 (which could
often be greater as a result of working overtime hours
during the year) than just being paid an ordinary normal
hours weekly wage for holiday pay. Ruling rates were the
percentage wage rates set by “the lead Award
negotiations” during bargaining rounds (pre-1991
Employment Contracts Act). The Drivers were often at the
forefront of the wage round and their settlements tended
to always set the ruling rates for other unions’
bargaining that followed. The $20 campaign related to
support (in the form of a levy) from other unionists to
help combat the intervention in the industrial dispute by
the 1975-84 Muldoon government in locking out the
Kinleith Pulp and Paper Mill workers. Muldoon lost –
the trade union movement won.
Perhaps one of the finest moments of solidarity in his
life occurred in 1974 when the Seamen’s Union was in
dispute and held up the ferries from Auckland to Waiheke
Island. The seamen had asked the drivers not to deliver
oil to the boats and they duly obliged. This action led
the late Justice Mahon to issue a court order for the ban
to be lifted. The Drivers Union refused to lift the ban
so Mahon had Bill arrested by court order and he got
locked up in Mt Eden. His arrest caused outrage and many
Unions around the country were mobilising for a national
day of strike action.
In fact 20,000 workers marched up Queen Street in
Auckland in protest at his arrest. The (Labour)
Government eventually got involved and Tom Skinner (FOL
President) was sent to see Bill in prison and it was in
Mt Eden that the Seamen‘s claims were met. The
settlement was presented to a stop work meeting by Tom
Skinner and once endorsed a court hearing was held and
Bill was let out.
Bill’s commitment to social justice wasn’t just
reflected in union activity. His support for the tangata
whenua was strong and unwavering. This was demonstrated
over many decades. From support in the late 70’s
during the Bastion Point struggles to the foreshore and
seabed issue today, Bill demonstrated a clear and deep
understanding for Maori and their battle to win back land
and have decent housing, health and education (indeed, I
last met Bill whilst accompanying PSNA’s touring
speaker, Marie Hilao-Enriquez, at the hikoi [Maori
protest march), about the foreshore and seabed law, in
Auckland’s main Queen Street, in October 2004. Ed.).
Similarly his support for the Pacific Island community
earned him great respect.
1970s & 80s: He Was Muldoon’s Bete Noire
In 1986 the Drivers Union amalgamated into the Northern
Distribution Union and later Bill was elected President,
a position he held up until his death. Bill was involved
in helping all sorts of organisations. If people were
being dealt to, no matter what the cause, Bill was there.
Whenever there was a picket on you could guarantee Bill
Andersen was offering advice behind the scenes and would
often turn up to those pickets and stand in solidarity
with the workers in struggle.
When recently asked what he thought was the most
successful struggle he had been involved in the answer
was the Kinleith Pulp and Paper Mill strike in 1980. That
dispute lasted for three months involving, from our
union, engine drivers, store workers and drivers taking
action. The strike broke Muldoon’s 1980 wage and
price freeze. The strike was very successful as it showed
what rank and file involvement could do.
He was also on the national executive of the Federation
of Labour and for many years President of the Auckland
District Trades Council. He was active in all levels of
the trade union movement and was involved in many
progressive campaigns including opposing US imperialism
in the 1960s and 70s war in Vietnam. Bill always had been
a member of a Communist party since he returned from his
seafaring days overseas (he started in the former
Communist Party of New Zealand, then went with the
pro-Soviet Socialist Unity Party when the Sino-Soviet
split occurred in the 1960s. He had a very high public
profile as a national leader of the SUP. Following the
1990s demise of the Soviet Union, and the “collapse
of Communism”, Bill became a founding leader of the
Socialist Party of Aotearoa and remained so until his
death. Ed.).
In the 80’s Muldoon and Bill often clashed publicly.
The Auckland District Law Society in 1971 even organised
a public debate between two of them on “Unions and
the Law “. Bill once stood against Muldoon in his
true blue Tamaki electorate in a general election. He
gained less than 100 votes. When Muldoon publicly gloated
about this result Bill’s retort was “Well, Mr
Muldoon, you stand for President of the Northern Drivers
Union and see how many votes you get!!”.
Muldoon was a scaremonger and ran a smear campaign on
Bill and other militant trade union leaders. An article
in Truth (which was then a formidable national weekly,
devoted, in equal parts, to scandal and hysterical
anti-Communism. Ed.) said that Bill was like the bubonic
plague. Prominent business people vied for the spotlight
on this bandwagon. The late Bob Owens, for example, from
Owens Transport, said the only way to shut Bill Andersen
up was with a .303 bullet. He received some hate mail as
well but some of it Bill found amusing and kept. One
bogus 1981 letter, purporting to summons him to an
appointment for an “optrectomy operation” at
Auckland Public Hospital, is a beauty. “The purpose
of this delicate operation is to sever the cord that
conects (sic) your eyes to your rectum and hopefully get
rid of your shitty outlook on life”.
1990s- 05: Leading The Struggle For Unions To
Survive
My close personal association with Bill has been
relatively short, only since the mid 1990’s. It was
in this period that the union movement in Aotearoa was
sorely tested. The Right had introduced the draconian
Employment Contracts Act (ECA) in 1991, a number of
unions amalgamated and with Bolger‘s National
government re-elected in 1993 we experienced an
incredibly difficult and challenging time.
It was a period where Bill worked tirelessly to organise,
consolidate and buffer our union against the effects of
the ECA. He saw the vital importance of enhancing
education and training of workplace activist delegates,
building broader links with progressive organisations and
working with the Centre Left political parties to
campaign against all that was oppressive and anti-union
in that vicious legislation.
Bill worked actively to secure a number of amalgamations
in the 90’s to form what is now the National
Distribution Union (NDU) of some 20,000 members. The
South Island Clothing Workers Union. Northern Apparel
Workers Union, the Wood Industries of Aotearoa, and NZ
Food and Textile Union were just some examples. Also
after a period of NDU disaffection with the NZ Council of
Trade Unions (NZCTU) leadership, resulting in
disaffiliation in the 1990’s, Bill supported
reaffiliation under the CTU’s new leadership and
direction.
Organise, Organise, Organise
Bill’s dedication in advancing the interests of the
working class was unswerving. He had that particular
ability to forcefully advance reasoned argument in an
objective way and he was absolutely dogged in his
determination at times. A characteristic I found
particularly attractive (and many others have recently
commented on this) was his clear, calm objective thinking
and his genuine interest in encouraging and promoting in
delegates, members and officials the critical need to
organise, organise, organise.
He constantly reminded us, whether in delegate training
forums, National Conference meetings, delegate
conferences or at stopwork meetings somewhere, of the
importance of thinking, objectivity and carefully and
calmly taking in all the facts and drawing conclusions
from those facts which hopefully developed the best
possible tactics and strategy in any given situation. He
disliked arrogance, subjective thinking and personal
attacks.
Bill was truly a man of the people who took a genuine
interest in what was happening in their lives, their
families, kids’ sport (particularly if it was rugby
league) and was compassionate and generous towards others
in times of need. For example an NDU organiser told me
recently that Bill phoned her every day for several weeks
to enquire into the welfare of her father who was
seriously ill at the time. He did the same with me when
my late mother was critically ill in 2004. He also gave a
lot of unqualified financial support to those in need
and, as I understand, to a point at one stage where his
own financial viability was close to being seriously
threatened.
Bill’s loathing for all for all forms of oppression
and exploitation was centred in his politics – he
was a dedicated Communist and an amazing humanist. His
love for people was as strong as his distaste of the
social & economic inequality of capitalism. He worked
tirelessly for social and economic change.
Bill was also an incredibly hard worker. Prior to his
fatal heart attack he was still working extraordinarily
long hours. Hours that unionists 40 years younger would
find difficult to sustain (he was a couple of days short
of 81 when he died. Ed.). A tribute to that fact was made
by a long- serving delegate at a union seminar in 2004
where he said: “I have never seen a harder working
trade unionist than Bill Andersen”, and he was
absolutely right.
It has to be said Bill was not the shining example of a
good work/life balance – in fact it was the reverse
- work was his life and life was his work. Sadly Bill was
also a victim of ageism – there were some that
thought he should have retired long ago – for my
money, however, he was a taonga – a living treasure
that continued to offer our union huge historical
experience and perspective, and inject fresh ideas,
strategies and tactics right up to the very end –
and those contributions will be greatly missed.
He Wasn’t A Dour Old Commo
Before finishing this I have to mention Bill’s great
sense of humour. One example of his wry wit was when he
and Finance Minister Michael Cullen were talking with
each other at a CTU function in Hawkes Bay in 2004. A
press photographer interrupted them and asked if he could
take a picture for the local newspaper. Michael nodded
and Bill turned to the Minister with a smile and said:
“Are you sure about this– this could mark the
end of your political career!“. The humour
didn’t end there though. The photo duly featured in
the paper along with an article, which referred to Mr
Bill Andersen as National President of the Engineering
Printing & Manufacturers Union (which doubtless
produced apoplexy in the Engineers’ Union, which is
definitely not headed by Communists. Ed.)
Lastly I want to say that Bill Andersen was a good friend
and a comrade - a good and decent man - an inspirational
workmate and mentor to many of our staff. He will be
sadly missed and he is a great loss to the working class.
I finish with a poem written for Bill and sent to him
anonymously some years ago by a person who encountered
upon him at an airport terminal. I believe this poem
captures nicely the essence of Bill Andersen.
To Bill
Met a friend called Bill the other day
At the airport out of town, a five minute plane delay,
He ambled across to me in his own quiet way,
And we greeted each other in the old Maori way,
On this wintry afternoon, we both talked, sat down,
And he seemed quite at ease, barely a frown
We embraced each other’s ideas, hopes and
aspirations
For our time was short, due to other destinations.
He’s too far ahead of his time, I could see
As this giant- hearted man sat talking to me,
On into dusk, two generations, two cultures, reached out
to each other.
And I knew in my heart, when Bill’s gone there
won’t be another.
As I said, I met a friend called Bill the other day…
One brief, warm meeting, changed my whole outlay…
Bill died on January 19th, 2005 and was survived by his
two sons, Karl and Glen and daughter Rochelle and his
partner Jennifer Francis.
Paul Watson is a PSNA committee member, who visited
the Philippines in 1991. He is the Southern Region
Secretary of the National Distribution Union.
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