Norman (Norm) Docker
Norman (Norm) Docker was born in Sydney in 1923. As a young adult he became interested in politics, first as a member of the Australian Labor Party and then the Communist Party of Australia.
During the Second World War he volunteered for service but was rejected due to his colour-blindness, so he spent the war years as a metal worker in the shipbuilding industry. He completed studies in law and then took up a position as an organiser for a number of smaller unions that were unable to afford an official but had banded together to pay him for his services.
In 1950, Docker joined the Waterside Workers’ Federation Sydney Branch and was appointed Federal Industrial and Research Officer the following year, working closely with General Secretary Jim Healy and then Charlie Fitzgibbon. His talents for advocacy and leadership were particularly important when the move to containerisation fundamentally changed the work of wharfies, resulting in job losses.
In 1968, he was appointed to the position of WWF Acting General Secretary, with the title changed to Assistant General Secretary in 1974. In May 1983, after the retirement of Charlie Fitzgibbon, Docker was elected General Secretary of the Federation, a position he held until he was forced to resign due to poor health on 15 July 1984.
Docker was a member of the Australian Council of Trade Unions Legislation Committee and represented the WWF on numerous Australian and international committees.
Norm Docker died from leukaemia on 29 May 1991.