Tas Bull

Tasnor (Tas) Bull was born in Sydney in 1932. His unusual first name was created by combining Tasmania and Norway, the birthplaces of his parents. Bull grew up in Tasmania and following the death of his father, who himself had been a seaman, he lied about his age and went to sea at the age of fourteen. He spent three years at sea, during which time he gained “an increasing awareness of economic and social injustices, the remedial potentials of trade unionism and militancy, and membership of the Swedish Seamen’s Union” (Cahill 2003).

Bull returned to Australia in 1949 and worked in the coastal shipping trade. During this time he was politically and industrially active in the Seamen’s Union of Australia and the Communist Party of Australia. However, disillusionment with Stalin and the events in Hungary led to him leaving the CPA in 1959.

Bull relocated back to Hobart, where he worked as a wharfie and joined the Waterside Workers’ Federation, serving as a job delegate. He then spent time in both Melbourne and Sydney, where he learned the fundamentals of union organising and studied industrial law at the University of Sydney Law School.

Bull was an excellent negotiator and born leader. In 1967, he was elected a Vigilance Officer for the WWF Sydney Branch, which started his path to the federal leadership. In 1971 he was elected Federal Organiser, then Assistant General Secretary, before taking up the position of General Secretary in 1984, a role he held until 1992. During this time, he also became prominent in the Australian Council of Trade Unions and was elected Vice President (1987) and then Senior Vice President (1991).  

Bull was particularly effective at forging strong links with maritime and transport unions across the world. He was active in opposing the Vietnam War and apartheid in South Africa. He also led the union’s campaign against Flags of Convenience.

Bull saw the WWF through a very challenging period, in which the union’s future was threatened by industrial reforms and technological changes to waterfront work. He was one of the guiding forces being the union’s amalgamation with the Seamen’s Union of Australia and the formation of the Maritime Union of Australia.  

After retiring from the WWF, Bull remained active in the ACTU and was Chairman of the ACTU Organising Works program and APHEDA, the ACTU overseas aid program.  

Bull died in Sydney on 29 May 2003 at the age of 71. Over 1,000 mourners attended his funeral, with the hearse following the legendary Hungry Mile in Sydney’s Millers Point. At midday on the day of his funeral, waterfronts across Australia paused for a minute’s silence.

 

References

Cahill, R 2003, Tas Bull, 1932-2003, Australian Society for the Study of Labour History, <https://www.labourhistory.org.au/hummer/vol-3-no-10/tas-bull/>

 

Tas Bull, undated (Z432-86).

Tas Bull, undated (Z432-86).

Bill Kelty, Secretary of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, and Tas Bull, General Secretary of the Waterside Workers' Federation, at the Maritime Summit, May 1990 (Z668-34). Photographer - Zoe Reynolds.

Bill Kelty, Secretary of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, and Tas Bull, General Secretary of the Waterside Workers' Federation, at the Maritime Summit, May 1990 (Z668-34). Photographer - Zoe Reynolds.

Tas Bull, undated (N409-55-04).

Tas Bull, undated (N409-55-04).

Tas Bull and Jack Lonergan at the launch of Bull's book 'Politics in a Union - The Hursey Case', Hobart, Tasmania, 1977 (Z432-86).

Tas Bull and Jack Lonergan at the launch of Bull's book 'Politics in a Union - The Hursey Case', Hobart, Tasmania, 1977 (Z432-86).

Paul Houlihan of the National Farmers'Federation with Jim Beggs and Tas Bull of the Waterside Workers' Federation, Sydney, New South Wales, April 1989 (Z432-86).

Paul Houlihan of the National Farmers'Federation with Jim Beggs and Tas Bull of the Waterside Workers' Federation, Sydney, New South Wales, April 1989 (Z432-86).

Federal Transport Minister Gareth Evans, Seamen's Union of Australia Assistant Federal Secretary Pat (Taffy) Sweetensen and Waterside Workers' Federation General Secretary Tas Bull, 1987 (Z668-34).

Federal Transport Minister Gareth Evans, Seamen's Union of Australia Assistant Federal Secretary Pat (Taffy) Sweetensen and Waterside Workers' Federation General Secretary Tas Bull, 1987 (Z668-34).