James (Jim) Healy

Struggle, Solidarity and Unity: 150 Years of Maritime Unions in Australia

James (Jim) Healy was born in Manchester, England. In 1925, he migrated to Mackay with wife Elizabeth and their three sons, where he worked as a firefighter, boiler attendant and then wharf labourer. He was elected to the Waterside Workers' Federation Mackay Branch Committee of Management and served as delegate to the Australian Labor Party Mackay Branch. He also joined the Mackay Trades and Labor Council and was elected WWF Mackay Branch President. Jim became frustrated with the Queensland Labor Government’s response to the plight of the unemployed during the Depression, and following a study trip to the USSR, he joined the Communist Party of Australia. 

Healy focused on improving wharfies’ wages and conditions at a national level. In 1936, he relocated to Sydney and was elected General Secretary of the WWF in 1937. He instigated a series of changes to craft a modern trade union including relocating the head office from Melbourne to Sydney, introducing national policies, and establishing a national journal, The Maritime Worker. None of this came easily, particularly with wharfies split between two rival trade unions, the WWF and the Permanent and Casual Wharf Labourers' Union of Australia. Many WWF members loathed the PCWLU, with its membership largely comprised of ‘scab’ labour. One of Healy’s greatest achievements was the amalgamation of the two unions, a process that took nine years.   

Healy was a formidable figure who led the WWF through many significant campaigns. This included campaigns in the 1930s and 40s in which Sydney and Port Kembla waterside workers refused to load scrap metal and pig iron destined for Japan. He also led the WWF boycott on Dutch ships carrying goods that could be used to crush the Indonesian independence movement during 1945-49. 

Healy took on the Menzies Government in their attempts to ban the Communist Party of Australia and their introduction of the Stevedoring Industry Act (1954) and subsequent committee of inquiry into the industry.  

He was well supported in his endeavours by his wife Betty, who was also active in the union, taking a key role in the WWF Women's Committee. 

Jim Healy died in Sydney on 13 July 1961. He was given a ‘comrade’s farewell’ at the WWF Hall on Sussex St in the Sydney CBD. His funeral cortege stretched for almost a mile and blocked city traffic for an hour. 

 

 

References

Lockwood, R 1951, Jim Healy: Leader of the Waterside Workers' Federation, Current Book Distributors, Sydney

Markey, R and Svensen, S 1996, James (Jim) Healy (1898-1961), Australian Dictionary of Biography, volume 14, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, <http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/healy-james-jim-10470>  

 

Waterside Workers' Federation General Secretary Jim Healy, c. 1950s (N409-163-16).

Waterside Workers' Federation General Secretary Jim Healy, c. 1950s (N409-163-16).

Jim Healy (centre) leads Waterside Workers' Federation members in May Day march, Sydney, New South Wales, 1953 (Z432-86).

Jim Healy (centre) leads Waterside Workers' Federation members in May Day march, Sydney, New South Wales, 1953 (Z432-86).

Dick Hackett, George Goss, George Curtin and Jim Healy, c. 1950s (Z432-86).

Dick Hackett, George Goss, George Curtin and Jim Healy, c. 1950s (Z432-86).

Jim Healy speaking with members at the Waterside Workers' Federation Sydney Branch Christmas dinner, Sydney, New South Wales, 1965 (Z248-82-4-10).

Jim Healy speaking with members at the Waterside Workers' Federation Sydney Branch Christmas dinner, Sydney, New South Wales, 1965 (Z248-82-4-10).

Jim Healy and wife Betty Healy, c. 1950s (Z248-80-12). Photographer - Max Shepherd Studio.

Jim Healy and wife Betty Healy, c. 1950s (Z248-80-12). Photographer - Max Shepherd Studio.

Jim Healy addresses industrial groupers in the Waterside Workers' Federation Melbourne Branch, Melbourne, Victoria, 1953 (Z248-86).

Jim Healy addresses industrial groupers in the Waterside Workers' Federation Melbourne Branch, Melbourne, Victoria, 1953 (Z248-86).

Jim Healy addressing a meeting during the 'Oust Menzies' campaign, The Domain, Sydney, New South Wales, 1954 (Z248-86)

Jim Healy addressing a meeting during the 'Oust Menzies' campaign, The Domain, Sydney, New South Wales, 1954 (Z248-86)

Mourners attend the funeral of Jim Healy, Sydney, New South Wales, July 1961 (N388).

Mourners attend the funeral of Jim Healy, Sydney, New South Wales, July 1961 (N388).

Mourners line George Street for the funeral of Jim Healy, Sydney, New South Wales, July 1961 (N388).

Mourners line George Street for the funeral of Jim Healy, Sydney, New South Wales, July 1961 (N388).