Sue Bolton, Melbourne
May 21 marked a victory for militant unionism. While many unionists were expecting former Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU) Victorian branch secretary Craig Johnston to be imprisoned after he had pleaded guilty to charges arising out of a 2001 industrial dispute, Melbourne County Court judge Joseph Gullaci gave him a suspended 12-month prison sentence.
After the sentencing, Johnston told Green Left Weekly: "I want to thank all my supporters, the rank and file of the metalworkers, the CFMEU [Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union], the printers and foodies [AMWU food division members] and so many other unions, the Socialist Alliance and the Skilled Six committee for all their support.
"This is a victory for militant unionism in that the judge said that there was a legitimate grievance by those workers. He did not in any way excuse my behaviour and I've been given a suspended jail term. I have to accept that and I do accept that, but there was a legitimate grievance by those workers that were sacked. And that's the issue that's been lost in this whole campaign... Workers being sacked and replaced by casual labour and scabs.
"At the ACTU and the [Victorian] Trades Hall, everybody talks about casual labour, but very few people do anything about it, and if this case helps put that issue on the agenda politically and industrially, so that a government is forced to bring in legislative change to say that you can't be casual for long periods of time, that there be more full-time jobs, then that's a good thing for working people."
While prosecutor Bob Johnson had advocated Johnston be given an immediate jail sentence, Gullaci ordered Johnston to pay a fine of $10,000 and $44,560 damages to the Skilled Engineering labour-hire company.
Although Gullaci condemned Johnston's conduct in the industrial protests at Johnson Tiles and Skilled Engineering in June 2001, he took into account Johnston's guilty plea and evidence of his substantial contribution to trade unionism and to the general community. Johnston had pleaded guilty to charges of assault (verbal abuse), criminal damage and two counts of affray.
Gullaci recognised that the "cause of the incidents was based on an industrial dispute at Johnson Tiles" and that "a number of long-term employees [of Johnson Tiles] had a genuine grievance" against the company.
The dispute began when Johnson Tiles sacked 29 maintenance workers, many of whom had worked for 15-30 years at the company, and replaced them with lower-paid labour-hire workers from Skilled Engineering. Two of the sacked workers are still unemployed, and some others have only had sporadic employment.
Eighteen unionists were charged over the dispute. Sixteen of them were convicted of unlawful assembly or had their charges dismissed in court last year. One of the charged unionists, Zelko Curack, turned prosecutor informant in return for the charges against him being dropped. All of the serious charges were then loaded onto Johnston, who was the AMWU state secretary at the time.
In his sentencing remarks, Gullaci said that he was satisfied that "there wasn't any pre-planning to cause damage or assault at Johnson Tiles" and that "while you didn't intend to frighten, your actions had that effect".
Gullaci said that Johnston "personally must be deterred from engaging in similar behaviour in the future" by the severity of the sentence because there was a "real risk" of Johnston committing similar offences in the future.
However, the judge also acknowledged that "over the years you have contributed to the community in a variety of ways", and "sacrificed personal and financial interests for the betterment of others". He recognised that Johnston lived a modest life and had "sacrificed substantial earning capacity to work for the union".
Character references from a wide range of individuals revealed that Johnston has devoted his life to the trade union movement, as well as supporting other progressive causes such as the solidarity movement for an independent East Timor.
In addition to his involvement in trade union and political causes, Johnston has gone out of his way to help others in need. In a letter to the court, Fiona Lynch described how Johnston approached her about raising money for her family after her husband died in a tragic accident.
"He is a very genuine person who did not even see the enormity of what he had done for us", Lynch wrote. "He said he wanted to help, and help us he did without expecting anything in return. All this effort and care coming from a man I didn't even know gave me such a wonderful lift at what was, and still is, a very hard time for us."
Vicky Karena, who also lost her husband in tragic circumstances, told the court that "we have known Craig to be caring, honest, friendly, kind hearted — considerate and helpful to whomever may need a helping hand... Craig would give you his last dollar if you needed it. Craig has helped my children and I through the toughest five months after losing my husband, his friend. He's helped raise over $60,000 to help with secondary and university fees.
"Craig has tirelessly helped many other families and worthy causes. His heart is bigger than him, he puts his own personal problems aside and helps others first.
"Craig is a working-class family man, working for working-class men and women."
Evidence was provided to the court of many other families that Johnston had raised money for after the death of a family member.
Other evidence of Johnston's commitment to helping working-class people when they are in need was his offer to the United Firefighters Union to raise money for the families of firefighters who died in the bushfire at Linton in 1997 (he raised $10,000), his involvement in collecting $76,280 for the Bali bomb blast victims and his involvement in the School Breakfast Program. This program was initiated by the construction unions to provide breakfast for schoolchildren in poor communities.
Another example was of a boilermaker in his early sixties who had developed problems with both knees and one ankle. The public hospital waiting list for elective surgery of more than 18 months meant that he would have had to retire early, so Johnston and others raised $25,000 for a private hospital operation which enabled the boilermaker to work until he retired at 65.
Outside the court, Johnston's solicitor, Rob Stary, told GLW that the "biggest thing that has come out of the case is that Craig has been vindicated. Although what he might have done in terms of criminal law's concerned was wrong, the fact that the depth and strength of his character came out through the very broad support that he had, was the thing that got him over the line.
"The judge recognised that Craig was a person who was a real contributor, not just to the community, but to the trade union movement. He identified that Craig had been responsible for the improvement of wages and conditions of his members and that he was a robust official."
Stary added that "militant trade unionism can take something out of this case. It should be a real shot in the arm for people who go on to fight for better conditions and pay for workers. People can behave in a vigorous and robust way to pursue their rights, whether that be for workers or for the broader community, to improve the lot of the ordinary working person against all the forces of the establishment and society that work against them. And I'd encourage people to do so."
However, a report in the May 22-23 Melbourne Age indicates that the ALP and the conservative wing of the union movement have a different view of the outcome of the case. The Age reported that the ALP, the ACTU and the AMWU national leadership have attacked Johnston for his industrial militancy.
AMWU national secretary Doug Cameron told the Age: "I see this as a dark day for the AMWU and the union movement generally." Cameron then slammed Johnston and the Workers First leadership of the AMWU's Victorian branch for the Johnson Tiles and Skilled Engineering protests, without once condemning the actions of these companies for wrecking the lives of workers.
"Unions must be able to engage effectively with governments", Cameron said. "The Workers First era destroyed that."
Heather Ridout, the chief executive of the manufacturing bosses' Australian Industry Group, described the "Johnston era" as being a "scourge" on Victoria's manufacturing bosses. "We talked to his own union [presumably meaning Cameron] about getting rid of him because he had no real commitment to the future of the industry", she told the Age.
From Green Left Weekly, May 26, 2004.
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