Wellington writer Mark Derby has written a great obituary of Pat Mackie, a little known New Zealander who played a big role in Australian labour history. Here’s a brief excerpt:
Pat Mackie was born Eugene Murphy, but he altered his first name because it sounded too sissy for a big, vigorous young man who sometimes earned a living as a professional wrestler. His surname also changed a number of times due to blacklisting by employers and misspelling on pay slips. At a young age Pat left New Zealand as a seaman and for the next 15 years he roamed the world. Standing six foot five and a solid 18 stone, he was able to make a living between voyages as a successful semi-pro wrestler. Shortly before World War Two he settled in Vancouver and was an active unionist in its shipyards, soon becoming a fulltime organiser for North American unions.
These were the McCarthy years and Pat was often forced to use direct and creative tactics. At a New York laundry employing cheap labour, he and his mates posed as customers and poured excess soap into the washing machines. Next morning the whole building was covered in soapsuds. He says, “I had to live and work there, especially on the east coast and New York, to grasp the fierce reality of the class struggle and to know how ruthless the employers are, constantly on the attack against workers’ conditions and wages, and the need for the never-ending day-to-day fight with no holds barred, for workers to maintain what standards they achieve.”
Read the full story at the Labour History Project.
This a great story , made my day
Phil, thanks for putting this up. Pat Mackie is well deserving of his place in New Zealand and Working Class History.
Cool
Thanks for the great read Phil…. two of my Uncles still live in Mnt Isa – Dad went for a year to support them. My Grandfather Jack ‘Yorky’ Harrison was heavily involved in the printing/ distribution of union info for Wharfes & Harbor Bridge workers in N.Z.
If it wasn’t for nuggety men of principle like these I wouldn’t be here.