The Boilermakers' Side

Boilermakers are often portrayed as the archetypal demon unionists, hell bent on destroying the country and not doing a scrap of work. Con Devitt wasted no time in getting stuck into these myths. The disputes we hear about, he explained, are not due to his members not wanting to work. They have arisen because the government doesn't have the money to build and it needs a scapegoat. Deregistration, the means by which Muldoon thought he would scare the boilermakers into silence, was not a major issue with his union. The workers made the unions, not the employees or the government. If the hearts and minds of the workers were in the union, formal recognition wasn't important. Registration had never been an issue with them: contrary again to popular opinion, they had never made that a term of employment.

On the general economic situation, he declared that he could see no evidence of price controls, but plenty that revealed wage controls were in force.

Muldoon intervened in every major dispute. His hand was in everything, and no award went by without his stamp of approval. In fact, he suggested, Muldoon was Minister of Everything, because Muldoon had a quality......"a God like quality. I believe the Pope has it, but I can't quite remember what it is." Devitt rounded off on the freezing workers dispute late last year. There was no "direct intervention" he reminded us. "Now what does that mean? Just because you're underhand it's all right?"