Frederick James McCauley

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Frederick James McCauley (1905-1995) was an Australian trade unionist from the Canberra (Australian Capital Territory) and Queanbeyan (New South Wales) region.

Early life

Born in the Irishtown precinct of Queanbeyan on 30 August 1905,[1] McCauley started his working life as a bricklayer. He served his apprenticeship on Australia's original Parliament House[2] and subsequently worked on buildings in the Canberra and Queanbeyan area, including St Christopher's Church (now a Cathedral), St Paul's Church and the Embassy of the United States of America.[1]

Union career

Prior to World War II, McCauley established the Canberra/ACT Bricklayers Union, taking on the role of Secretary.[1] The union eventually merged with the Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners to form the ACT branch of the Building Workers Industrial Union (BWIU), with McCauley elected as secretary. He served the BWIU until retirement in 1983.[1][3]

McCauley also held several roles within the Federal office of the BWIU, including Senior Vice President (Deputy President) and acting President (1958 - 1967).[2][4][5] McCauley was selected by the BWIU to lead and attend international delegations, including one in 1964 to the then Soviet Union.[6]

From 1950 to 1960, McCauley also held several senior roles in the ACT Trades and Labour Council.[1][3][7][8][9]

As a unionist, McCauley is credited with achieving numerous wins for ACT bricklayers and building employees, including:

  • replacing hourly hire provisions with weekly hire provisions and reducing the working week from 44 hours to 40 hours per week[1][2]
  • paid sick leave, paid public holidays, full wet weather pay, compassionate leave and annual leave [1]  
  • improvements to awards for increases in annual leave[1]
  • the right for apprentices to have paid time for classroom training[10] and
  • achieving an amendment to the award of the day so that employers could not sack employees before Christmas and re-employ them after in order to evade holiday pay.[11]

At the time, these conditions were considered above-average conditions and were acknowledged as a reason for the lack of disputes within the ACT.[11]

McCauley also identified the need for a dedicated trade union building and a community and social club for workers and their families, in an era when women and children did not generally go to pubs. He single-handedly raised funds[1] and arranged for the Federal office of the BWIU guarantee a loan to develop and build the Tradesmen's Union Club in Dickson. The club opened in 1964,[12] with McCauley as president; he remained on the board for 20 years.[1] In 1969, following lobbying from the BWIU, McCauley established the Tradesman's Club in Phillip, ACT and remained the Secretary/Manager of the club until 1983. The Phillip club closed in 2018, however, the Dickson club continues to operate and support the community as “The Tradies”.

Other contributions

From 1969 to 1974, McCauley was a member of the ACT Advisory Council (the precursor to the ACT Legislative Assembly), as a representative of the Australian Labor Party.[1][3][13][14] He then served as an independent member of the ACT Legislative Assembly from 1974 to 1978.[1][3][14][15][16]

Other key roles that McCauley held include:

  • secretary of the Queanbeyan Bluebells Football Club[17] (later to become the Queanbeyan Blues Rugby League club) in the 1920s
  • Queanbeyan Alderman from 1956 to 1962[1][3]
  • member of Queanbeyan Hospital Board for 25 years (including the last 10 years as chairman)[1][3]
  • a member of the National Capital Development Commission Planning Committee[1]
  • member and chairman of the ACT Apprenticeship Board for 33 years[1][18]
  • a member and president of the ACT trades advisory committee[1]
  • a member of the ABC Canberra Advisory Committee[19]

McCauley was a long-standing Justice of the Peace. At the time of his initial appointment in Queanbeyan in 1927 he was 21 - the youngest in the British Empire.[20] He also served as a Justice of the Peace in the ACT from 1964 to 1992.[21][20]

McCauley was an advocate for the Jennings Germans - a group of around 150 single males who came to Canberra from Germany in the early 1950s to work for AV Jennings and became “the backbone of the young building industry”.[1][22]

Awards

In 1972, McCauley was awarded an MBE for his services to industrial relations and government.[23] McCauley was also recognised by The Canberra Times on several occasions, including a nomination in 1978 for “Canberran of the Year”[10] and again in 2001 as one of the 75 faces that helped shaped Canberra.[24]  The ACT Building and Construction Industry Training Fund Authority continues to issue the F J McCauley Award – “a perpetual trophy awarded to the ACT Australian Apprentice of the Year … established as a tribute to Fred McCauley’s long standing commitment to the trades and trade training in the ACT”.[25]

Personal life

In 1929, McCauley married Leila Annie McGregor in Cooma, NSW.[26] He died on 11 December 1995.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Obituary for Fred McCauley, The Canberra Times, 14 December 1995 - http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article133919802
  2. ^ a b c Trades and Labour Council of the ACT, The Canberra Times, 12 March 1963 - http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article104590432
  3. ^ a b c d e f Retirement from ACT BWIU Secretary role, The Canberra Times, 26 November 1983 - http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article116397660
  4. ^ McCauley elected federal senior vice president of BWIU, The Canberra Times, 9 September 1967 - http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article106976125
  5. ^ Secretary’s Federal Post, The Canberra Times, 1 April 1965 - http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article131764476
  6. ^ McCauley to visit Russia, The Canberra Times, 3 April 1964 - http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article104276942
  7. ^ New Executive of the A.C.T. Trades and Labour Council, The Canberra Times, 31 July 1953 - http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article2887712
  8. ^ A message from Mr McCauley on May Day, The Canberra Times, 2 May 1960 - http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article103078503
  9. ^ Labour Council Vice President, The Canberra Times, 14 January 1954 - http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article2915088
  10. ^ a b Fred McCauley Nominated for Canberran of the Year, The Canberra Times, 4 March 1978 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article110885961
  11. ^ a b On Solid Foundations – Master Builders Association of the ACT. See pages 147-148 – Jack McNamara – A splendid builder - http://issuu.com/masterbuildersact/docs/on_solid_foundations
  12. ^ Tradesmen club completed, The Canberra Times, 22 August 1964 - http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article105839883
  13. ^ McCauley appointed to Advisory Council, The Canberra Times, 17 December 1968 - http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article136961390
  14. ^ a b Legislative Assembly Hansard, 27 February 1996. Speech by Mr Hird on the passing of Fred McCauley https://www.hansard.act.gov.au/hansard/1996/week02/366.htm
  15. ^ Final three members of Assembly announced, The Canberra Times, 9 October 1974 - http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article136990246
  16. ^ Canberra Times, McCauley stands as independent for Assembly, 9 September 1974 - http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article136984366
  17. ^ Queanbeyan-Canberra Advocate, 24 September 1925 http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/31689081
  18. ^ A.C.T. rates for apprenticeships lag, The Canberra Times, 16 April 1957 - http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article91586414
  19. ^ A.B.C. Advisory Board Established, The Canberra Times, 2 November 1954 - http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article2906755
  20. ^ a b Second JP appointment for unionist, The Canberra Times, 6 October 1964 - http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article131752972
  21. ^ https://www.legislation.act.gov.au/DownloadFile/ni/1992-3/current/PDF/1992-3.PDF[bare URL PDF]
  22. ^ Bereavement Notice from ‘Jennings Germans’, The Canberra Times, 14 December 1995 - http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article133919775
  23. ^ Commonwealth and State Honours, The Canberra Times, 1 January 1972 - http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article101751059
  24. ^ The 75 Faces of Canberra, The Canberra Times, 3 September 2001
  25. ^ ACT Building and Construction Industry Training Fund Authority Newsletter - https://web.archive.org/web/20130409170312/http://trainingfund.com.au/assets/NewsletterSept2010.pdf
  26. ^ NSW Births Deaths and Marriages registration number 15743/1929, accessed 20 October 2019. https://familyhistory.bdm.nsw.gov.au
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