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Jack Mundey : the Global Responsibilities of Labour, in Global Citizens : Australian Activists for Change, Cambridge University Press, Port Melbourne, Vic., Pp.65-79

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Jack Mundey : the Global Responsibilities of Labour, in Global Citizens : Australian Activists for Change, Cambridge University Press, Port Melbourne, Vic., Pp.65-79 Deakin Research Online This is the published version: Leach, Michael 2008, Jack Mundey : the global responsibilities of labour, in Global citizens : Australian activists for change, Cambridge University Press, Port Melbourne, Vic., pp.65-79. Available from Deakin Research Online: http://hdl.handle.net/10536/DRO/DU:30016561 Reproduced with the kind permission of the copyright owner. Copyright: 2008, Cambridge University Press Ja ,ck Mundey Jack Mundey is a trade unionist and environmentalist. He was secretary of the New South Wales Builders Labourers Federation (NSW BLF) in the early 1970s during the (green ban' movement, leading the protests against the destruction of inner-city heritage sites such as The Rocks and Kelly's Bush. Mundey was instrumental in creating alliances between local community groups and the trade unions to protect the urban environment. He continues to campaign on environmental issues, arguing the need for unions and communities to band together to create a better quality oflife for all citizens. In 1997 he was named an Australian Living Treasure. In 2000 he was made an Officer of the Order of Australia. He joined the Australian Greens in 2003. The University of Sydney has created a Master of Environment degree to honour Mundey's work. Trade unionist and green bans leader Jack Mundey continuing his work to protect urban 64 heritage in later life. (Courtesy ofNSW Historic Houses Trust Members.) 4 Jack Mundey: The Global Responsibilities of Labour Michael Leach! Jack Mundey is well known as a trade unionist, environmentalist and urban campaigner. As he has always maintained strong notions of the moral obli­ gations of citizens belonging to a global community, and argued that politi­ cal action should foster recognition of a common humanity, he may also be called a global citizen. VVhile this is not the only way to understand Mundey,s lifetime as an activist and radical thinker,2 this chapter offers a complemen­ tary perspective on Mundey as a cosmopolitan activist, whose political ideas were expressions of a universalist civic and ecological concern. In particu­ lar, Mundey and the leadership group3 of the New South Wales Builders Labourers Federation (NSW BLF) in the early 1970s spoke of the 'social responsibility oflabour'. By this they meant that industrial struggles should be linked to ecological sustain ability, and to broader social and moral obli­ gations of solidarity with progressive international political movements (see e.g. Mundey 1980: 280-3). The most well known of these actions were the innovative 'green bans' on socially and ecologically damaging development, which had dramatic impacts both nationally and overseas. It is argued here that Jack Mundey's long life of activism has been characterised by an appeal to universal values and responsibilities, which he sees as a means for citizens to address political problems within and beyond Australia. This chapter first examines -the political and historical context of the green bans, and then suggests five key themes of Mundey's political thought and activism which identify him as a global citizen. These themes cover Mundey's pub­ lic commitments to the preservation of the urban environment, the 'social responsibility of labour', a critique of 'growthmania', solidarity within and beyond national borders and to re-enfranchising forms of direct, participa­ tory democracy. 65 The green bans in context u'"' In the early 1970s, urban planning and heritage protection controls were virtually non-existent. In the midst of an unprecedented building boom, many areas of Sydney came under threat of development, including Kelly's Bush, Woolloomooloo, Centennial Park, the Rocks area and Victoria Street in Kings Cross. An important context to the rise of the green bans was the failure of local and state governments in New South Wales to address widespread concerns over the social consequences of unfettered develop­ ment. It was an era of unprecedented building expansion, and the then Askin Liberal government of New South Wales was notorious for its close personal and political ties with developers. At the time, planning regulations gave residents affected by development proposals no genuine avenues for appeal (Burgmann and Burgmann 1998: 46-9). In this context of 'state failure' to address mounting public concerns over unfettered development, the BLF's coverage of over 90 per cent of builders' labourers gave it considerable influence. Equally, as Mundey put it at the time, builders' labourers had a unique influence by virtue of being the 'first on and last off site'. By the early 1970s, the NSW BLF had already established itself as a radical union, having taken an active stance on Aboriginal land rights, opposition to the Vietnam War, and other social issues. At this time, the NSW BLF leadership began to express the view that unions should be involved in wider ranging social and environmental issues. In this sense, the actions of the NSW BLF may be understood within the context of New Left politics, which ventured beyond the traditional 'Old Left' focus on class to question other forms of social oppression and disenfranchisement. This generational shift included a wider questioning of the future of the cities (see e.g. Stretton 1970), and a renewed interest in urban politics with the rise of the Whitlam government in 1972. As a trade union, the NSW BLF had particular significance as a bridge between these 'old' and 'new' social movements. With distinctive ideological influences, it was a union particularly suited to this task. Part of the context to the green bans lies in the wider history of trade union political action. As a member of the then non-aligned4 Communist Party of Australia (CPA), Mundey came from a union tradition which saw broader social and political action as core aspects of union activity. Under the leadership of the Communist Party, important precursors of this tradition included Waterside Workers Federation bans to prevent pig-iron exports to Japan in 1938 (Mallory 1992: 44) and to support the Indonesian independence 66 struggle in the late 19405. As this chapter seeks to demonstrate, Mundey and the leadership group of the NSW BLF transformed this existing CPA tradition of 'political action' into a broader form of global citizenship, in the universal interest of people from all classes. Notably, the popularity of these new forms of urban envi­ ronmentalism saw Mundey's political influence survive the dissolution of the Australian CPA in 1991. Several important universalist themes emerge from Mundey's long history of political and environmental activism. The following point distinctively to Jack Mundey as a cosmopolitan political thinker and activist. 5 Preservation of the urban environment Responding to requests from local residents to stop an A. V. Jennings hous­ ing development in Kelly's Bush - one of inner Sydney's few remaining green spaces - the NSW BLF leadership sensed the opportunity to 'turn theory in practice' (Mundey 2004). Within a short time of the initial Syd­ ney ban in June 1971, the concept of the 'green ban' was articulated. These were union work bans to prevent destruction of urban green space, his­ toric and heritage buildings, and the corporate redevelopment of inner­ city working-class neighbourhoods (see e.g. Burgmann and Burgmann 1998; 1999; Mundey 1980). It has been estimated that these innovative actions prevented around $5 billion of ecologically destructive develop­ ment (Burgmann and Burgmann 1999: 44), most famously in the cases of Kelly's Bush and the Rocks in inner Sydney. Over the next three years, forty­ two separate bans were imposed and some sixty heritage buildings were saved. These interventions added a new strength and focus to the conserva­ tion movement, by highlighting the universal problem of quality of life and socially and ecologically responsible planning in the cities (Mundey 197 6b). This innovative focus on the built environment as a conservation issue occurred at a time when inner cities were ceasing to be the exclusive domain of the working class. The green bans had a unique capacity to unite middle class concerns for 'quality ofHfe' issues, with working class concerns over loss of housing and community in the inner city. This twin focus on preventing the destruction of older working class areas, and maintaining urban green space, gave the green bans a broad appeal. Ultimately, these actions had the effect of encouraging greater citizen participation in urban planning, and would be credited with the renovation of planning processes in Australia and the 'democratisation' of heritage protection (Freestone 1993). Impor­ tantly, the green ban movement was explicitly articulated in the context of 'state failure' at all levels of government, necessitating a new urban politics 67 involving the coordination of trade union and resident action groups. More broadly, the emerging focus on 'socially useful' development (Mundey 1980: ..... u 285) prompted calls from the BLF for a building industry commission 'to determine which and what kind of buildings were to be constructed and to do this in a planned, and not in an anarchic manner' (Mundey 1980: 284). The green ban movement encouraged more socially responsible develop­ ment and ultimately transformed the culture of urban planning. Crucial to these actions was Mundey>s conception of the 'social responsibility of labour'. Social responsibility of labour . [the green bans] were different because we weren't fighting to increase wages and conditions, but we were responding to a request to use our strength in a new way in the interests of the environment ... it was a more noble, honourable action than just looking after the hip-pocket nerve (Mundey 2004). Mundey and the NSW BLF in the 1970s spoke of the 'social responsibility of labour': the idea that industrial struggles should be linked to broader issues of ecological sustainability, and solidarity with international political movements. Most distinctively, the NSW BLF leadership boldly envisaged a new role for the union movement as a 'social conscience' in the protection of the natural and built environment (Mundey 1980: 280).
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