No Truck with the Chilean Junta! Trade Union Internationalism, Australia and Britain, 1973–1980
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No Truck with the Chilean Junta! Trade Union Internationalism, Australia and Britain,1973-1980 No Truck with the Chilean Junta! Trade Union Internationalism, Australia and Britain,1973-1980 Ann Jones Published by ANU Press The Australian National University Canberra ACT 0200, Australia Email: [email protected] This title is also available online at http://press.anu.edu.au National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry Author: Jones, Ann, author. Title: No truck with the Chilean junta! : trade union internationalism, Australia and Britain, 1973-1980 / Ann Jones. ISBN: 9781925021530 (paperback) 9781925021547 (ebook) Subjects: International labor activities--History Labor movement--History. Labor unions--Australia. Labor unions--Great Britain. Labor unions--Chile--Political activity. Dewey Number 322.2 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. Cover design by Nic Welbourn and layout by ANU Press Cover image © Steve Bell 1987 - All Rights Reserved. http://www.belltoons.co.uk/reuse. Printed by Griffin Press This edition © 2014 ANU Press Contents Acknowledgments . vii List of abbreviations . ix Introduction . 1 Britain 1 . The ‘principal priority’ of the campaign: The trade union movement . 25 2 . A ‘roll call’ of the labour movement: Harnessing labour participation . 63 3 . ‘Unique solidarity’? The mineworkers’ delegation, 1977 . 89 4 . Pinochet’s jets and Rolls Royce East Kilbride . 117 Australia 5 . Opening doors for Chile: Strategic individuals and networks . 155 6 . ‘Chile is not alone’: Actions for resource-sensible organisations . 181 7 . ‘Twelve Days in Chile’, 1974 . 201 8 . ‘Not one pound of wheat will go’: Words and actions . 223 Conclusion . 255 Appendix . 265 Bibliography . 269 Index . 299 Acknowledgments This book would not have been possible without the generous thoughts and memories of the oral history participants. Those who gave liberally of their time are acknowledged in the footnotes as contributors to this history. I would especially like to thank Mavis Robertson and Mike Gatehouse, whose generosity, kindness and consideration surpassed my expectations. I acknowledge the goodwill of the Rolls Royce East Kilbride Shop Stewards (2007), Mick Wilkinson, Colin Creighton, Barry Carr, Gustavo Martin Montenegro and Mike Gonzalez, who gave me access to their records. The professionals of the archives deserve a special mention for their attentiveness and endurance. I would specifically like to thank Darren Treadwell at the People’s History Museum (Manchester), Carole McCallum at the Glasgow Caledonian University Archive, Penny Pemberton at the Noel Butlin Archives Centre (Canberra) and John Callow at the Marx Memorial Library (London). I also thank those archives and others acknowledged within which have granted permission to re-print images of the time. I am indebted to Professor Paul Pickering, whose patience was exemplary throughout the process. The publication of this work would not have been possible without the contribution of The Australian National University’s Publication Subsidy Committee. The work towards this book has been the product of the curiosity, respect, social conscience and work ethic instilled in me by Helene and Garry Powell, and it is to them that I dedicate these words. vii List of abbreviations ABB Australian Barley Board ABCF Association for British–Chilean Friendship ABS Australian Bureau of Statistics ACCC Australian Competition and Consumer Commission ACTT Association of Cinematograph, Television and Allied Technicians (UK) ACTU Australian Council of Trade Unions AEU Amalgamated Engineers Union (later AUEW) (UK) AFL American Federation of Labor AFULE Australian Federated Union of Locomotive Enginemen AI Amnesty International AICD Association for International Cooperation and Disarmament (Aust.) ALP Australian Labor Party AMIEU Australasian Meat Industry Employees Union AMWSU Amalgamated Metal Workers’ and Shipwrights Union (Aust.) AMWU Amalgamated Metal Workers’ Union (Aust.) APEX Association of Professional, Executive, Clerical and Computer Staff (UK) ARU Australian Railways Union ASIO Australian Security Intelligence Organisation ASIS Australian Secret Intelligence Service ASLEF Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen (UK) ASTMS Association of Scientific, Technical and Managerial Staffs (UK) ATTI Association of Teachers in Technical Institutes (UK) AUEW Amalgamated Union of Engineering Workers (UK) AUEW TASS Amalgamated Union of Engineering Workers Technical, Administrative and Supervisory Section (UK) AW B Australian Wheat Board BLF Builders Labourers’ Federation (Aust.) BLP British Labour Party BWIU Building Workers’ Industrial Union (Aust.) ix No Truck with the Chilean Junta! CAC Chile Action Committee (Sydney, Aust.) CCCD Canberra Committee for Chilean Democracy (Aust.) CCHR Chile Committee for Human Rights (UK) CEPCH Confederación de Empleados Particulares de Chile (Chilean Employees’ Confederation) CIA Central Intelligence Agency (US) CICD Campaign for International Cooperation and Disarmament (Aust.) CIO Congress of Industrial Organizations CITU Catholic International of Trade Unions CPA Communist Party of Australia CPGB Communist Party of Great Britain CPSA Civil and Public Services Association (UK) CSC Chile Solidarity Campaign (UK) CSCC Chile Solidarity Campaign Commission (UK) CSC EC Chile Solidarity Campaign Executive Committee (UK) CSCP Committee for Solidarity with the Chilean People (Aust.) CUT Central Unica de Trabajadores (Trade unions congress of pre-coup Chile) DINA National Intelligence Directorate (Chile) EETPU Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunications and Plumbing Union (UK) ETUC European Trade Union Council FCC Free Chile Committee (Aust.) FCO Foreign and Commonwealth Office (UK) FDU Firemen and Deckhands Union (Aust.) FEDFA Federated Engine Drivers and Firemen’s Association of Australia FIEMC Federation of Building Workers FINM Federación Industrial Nacional Minera (Chilean Mineworkers’ Federation) FTAT Furniture, Timber and Allied Trades (UK) GCDC Glasgow Chile Defence Committee GDR German Democratic Republic (East Germany) GMWU General and Municipal Workers Union (UK) ICFTU International Confederation of Free Trade Unions x List of abbreviations ILO International Labour Organisation IMF International Metalworkers Federation IMG International Marxist Group (UK) IS International Socialists (UK) ISTC Iron and Steel Trades Confederation (UK) ITF International Transport Workers’ Federation ITT International Telephone and Telegraph Company JWG Joint Working Group (UK) LCPC London Co-op Political Committee LCS London Co-operative Society LCS-PC London Co-operative Society Political Committee LHASC Labour History Archive and Study Centre (Manchester) LPYS Labour Party Young Socialists (UK) MAPU Movimiento de Acción Popular Unitario (Popular Unitary Action Movement) (Chile) MIF International Federation of Miners MIR Movimiento de Izquierda Revolucionaria (Movement of the Revolutionary Left) (Chile) MWU Miscellaneous Workers’ Union (Aust.) NAFTA North American Free Trade Agreement NALGO National Association of Local Government Officers (UK) NATFHE National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education (UK) NATSOPA National Society of Operative Printers and Assistants (UK) NCB National Coal Board (UK) NGA National Graphical Association (UK) NOLS National Organisation of Labour Students (UK) NSWBLF New South Wales Builders’ Labourers Federation NUDBTW National Union of Dyers, Bleachers and Textile Workers (UK) NUGSAT National Union of Gold, Silver and Allied Trades (UK) NUJ National Union of Journalists (UK and Ireland) NUM National Union of Mineworkers (UK) NUPE National Union of Public Employees (UK) NUR National Union of Railwaymen (UK) xi No Truck with the Chilean Junta! NUS National Union of Seamen (UK) NUSMW National Union of Sheet Metal Workers (UK) NUTGW National Union of Tailors and Garment Workers (UK) PGEUA Plumbers and Gasfitters Employees Union of Australia PLP Parliamentary Labour Party (UK) POEU Post Office Engineers Union (UK) PSNC Pacific Steam Navigation Company (UK) RREK Rolls Royce East Kilbride RREKSS Rolls Royce East Kilbride Shop Stewards RREKWC Rolls Royce East Kilbride Works Committee RRSSEK Rolls Royce Shop Stewards East Kilbride SLADE Society of Lithographic Artists, Designers, Engravers and Process Workers (UK) SOGAT Society of Graphical and Allied Trades (UK) SPA Socialist Party of Australia STUC Scottish Trades Union Congress SUA Seamen’s Union of Australia SWL Socialist Workers’ League (Aust.) SWP Socialist Workers’ Party (UK) SZOT Hungarian Solidarity Campaign TGWU Transport and General Workers’ Union (UK) TGWU GEC TGWU General Executive Council TUC Trades Union Congress (UK) TWU Transport Workers’ Union (Aust.) UCATT Union of Construction, Allied Trades and Technicians (UK) UDM Union of Democratic Mineworkers (UK) ULS University of London Students UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation UNHRC United Nations Human Rights Council UP Unidad Popular (Popular Unity Government) USDAW Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (UK) WCL World Confederation of Labour WFTU World Federation of Trade Unions xii List of abbreviations WUS World University Service (UK) WWFA Waterside Workers’ Federation of Australia YCL Youth Communist League (UK) xiii Introduction1 Figure 1 Chile