VALE COMRADE
Fred Moore: Coal miner and comrade Illawarra union champion Fred Moore, who started work as a coal miner at age 14 and never missed a May Day march after World War 2, died on January 21 at the age of 99. He passed away peacefully at home in Dapto with family by his side. Fred’s friends and comrades learned of his passing with great sadness, said MUA Southern NSW Branch Secretary Mick Cross. “Fred was front and centre when this country demanded strong leadership amongst the working class to stay the course through many progressive struggles, both industrially and socially,” Cross said. “And lead he did, with bone-dry wit, respect for all and the best interests of his comrades always the priority. Fred will be sorely missed and never, ever forgotten.” Fred was born in Cobar, started work in the mines in Western NSW at the age of 14, and moved to Dapto in 1952 with his wife, May, and three children. He worked in Nebo Colliery and later Australian Iron & Steel mine. In a joint media release, the South Coast Labour Council and the Mining & Energy Union called Fred the South Coast greatest ever unionist. “The working class, social justice and International solidarity
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movements have lost a giant but gained so much from his leadership, comradeship, courage and principle,” the statement read. “He taught us the power of unity and laid the foundations of Uniontown.
Unswerving in his resoluteness and conviction he famously declared: “‘When the workers take to the streets – the streets belong to the workers’.” “When Fred spoke, comrades listened. Decency, unity, respect and justice were not just ends for Fred; they were his means as well. From the southern coalfields, he emerged as leader but was not content with increasing the pay, conditions and safety of miners underground: he led the struggle above ground as well for peace and socialism and an end to racism and exploitation in all its forms. The name Fred Moore became synonymous with solidarity with workers and their communities here and abroad.” Together with emerging first nations leaders, Fred was the “driving force” in establishing the South Coast Aboriginal Advancement League in 1961, the statement said. “It is now regarded as an iconic and formidable actionbased movement which predated the 1967 referendum and Wave Hill walk off and was an integral supporter of both. Fred was one of very few non-indigenous people to have been made an honorary elder of the Aboriginal community in the region.” “The May Day movement, the annual marches, toasts and activities were Fred’s favourite annual events as he took pride in marching at www.mua.org.au
