Page 35 - ETU Journal Autumn 2017

I hear you’ve got a thing about not crossing picket lines?
One of the earliest things I remember about being at the school, I’d been over to New Zealand doing some training and I came back into the yard on the Monday, and as I drove through the gate I thought, shit that looks like a picket line.
My supervisor handed me a folder to say I had some underground servicing connection training to do. At the time there was a big dispute going on in Citipower.
When I was told the training was
for Citipower I refused to do the training. I wasn’t going to be part
of training people who were going
to go and break a picket line. I went back outside and there was Howard, [Worthing] and Gavin [Marshall], and Howard said, “I knew you would do that Mick!” I told them I was gonna get the arse cause I’d refused to do the training. Gavin went and spoke to the people from Country Victoria who were gonna receive the training and
they all agreed they’d go back to the country, and then Gavin said, “Now who’s this bloke who wants to get rid of you, Mick?” Then Gavin disappears into the bloke who was running the show at the time and 10 minutes later he came back out and said your job’s secure.
You trained linies for another 16 years, then what?
I was made redundant in 2012. To this day I believe it was political. We were in the middle of an EBA dispute, strangely I was the shop steward there. I’d been to a meeting a couple of weeks earlier with the CEO; this was under Ted Baillieu [Victorian Liberal Premier 2010–13] when
he gave money to drop numbers
in TAFE. The CEO assured us that there’d be nobody going from the lines school; in fact, numbers would be put up. And then three or four weeks later I was told my role wasn’t needed.
I’m pretty proud to say I’ve remained a member even though I
When I was told the training was for Citipower I refused to do the training. I wasn’t going to be part training people who were going to go and break a picket line.
was unemployed for quite some time; and all I do these days is work two or three days every now and then. I’ve got a couple of mates who’ve got their own training organisations and I still go round doing the refresher training.
Finally, when you look back over your years, what stands out?
How strong a union it has become. If I look at the union today, I see it as a very strong and united force. Very proud to be a member.
The thing I’m most proud of is that I joined a good union. I worked for the union and it was my beliefs that drove me to do it, and I like to think now when I look back that I put something into it and into the workforce. And one of the happiest things that I see these days is that a lot of my apprentices are now shop stewards themselves and young Matty Boyd, who was also one of my apprentices, is now a delegate and I’m very proud of Matty. n
Mick, you’re an inspiration. Thanks for talking to us!
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THE ETU > SUMMER 2016
35
ADV044 | April 2014