Wes Cameron—a hard man, a Socialist, with workers at heart

Press, 12 April 1979, Page 17

Wes Cameron—a hard man, a Socialist, with workers at heart

Wes Cameron, the Canterbury trade union leader who wants to be the next president of the Federation of Labour, has a personal vision of New Zealand where industrial conflict disappears and all work in a spirit of cooperation for the common good. New Zealand the way he wants it is “a sort of family co-operative where people are thinking more about one another instead of as individuals.” He calls it socialist cooperation. But he has no illusions about the difficulties in the way of achieving it. “I’m not a bloody fool,” he says. “We won’t achieve it completely, but it is worth working towards. A form of socialism that is beneficial to the people, not restrictive or repressive in the way that a lot of people paint socialism.” Wes Cameron, aged 50, gives the impression of being a hard man driven by high humanitarian ideals. He achieves what he does through a mixture of tough talking, hard work, and what one of his associates calls “boyish charm.” Both his style and his ideals were moulded by his Depression childhood and his early working life as a labourer on farms, in shearing sheds, and in freezing works. He soon found that the system “is unjust,” and that the workers have to fight hard to improve their position in the economic order. His father, who worked as a moulder in a Christchurch foundry, was a strong supporter of the trade union movement. There were seven in the family, and Wes was born towards the end of the Depression. Childhood in those times of hardship for the working people made an impression that has stayed

with him. He remembers the hardships that people endured in Linwood, and his parents’ dedication to the family. “We never wanted for anything,” he remembers, “because of the sacrifices they made.” It gave him a very practical insight into the worst faults of the economic system. “J could never shift out of my mind the injustices of it all. It is those social and economic injustices that I have been concerned about ever since.” He left school at 13 to work as a message boy delivering typewriters. An apprenticeship followed, but a disagreement with the boss cut that short only six months before

completion. In subsequent jobs, he says, he , was always dabbling in the trade union movement. He joined the Labour Party at an early age and often played an active part. He married at the early age of 19, and he and his wife were employed on a farm as a married couple. Later, in the freezing works at Belfast, he became first a union delegate and then branch president. In 1965, he became full-time organiser for the Meat Workers’ Union. In 1973, he was elected secretary, and the next year he became president of the Canterbury Trades Council. He still holds both of those positions. On Wes Cameron’s office wall at the Trade Union Centre hangs a large picture of Chairman Mao, founder of the People’s Republic of China. But it is not there because Wes Cameron is a Communist. He is not. It is there because he admires Mao as "one of the greatest men who ever lived — from the humanitarian point of view, and

the job he did for 700 million people, without too much tyranny. That’s why his picture hangs on the wall.”

His politics are of the Left, but not that far Left. “I’ve always considered myself a socialist, but I am a great believer in democracy. (I don’t want to call myself a democratic socialist). I still think you can have freedom of choice and of people, and at the same time have an organised economy and give the workers the opportunity to share in the fruits of their labour.” His kind of socialism is “not centralised.” It would be, he says, of a kind really relevant to New Zealand’s requirements.

Many socialists would say that it is no use trying to improve the capitalist system — that it is inherently unfair and must be thrown out altogether and replaced with socialism. Wes Cameron does not go that far. He believes that through a strong trade union movement, the workers can get a fair share of the national cake. What he has in mind is some form of socialisation of such industries as the freezing works — not nationalisation, but perhaps three-way co-operation between the workers, the owners, and the Government. As a former freezing worker and now secretary of the Meat Workers’ Union, he is naturally especially interested in that industry. He would like to see the Government involved in better utilisation of farm land and a reorganisation of farming so that the freezing works are kept going all year round. His motive is a better deal for freezing workers and greater production for

the good of the country. He says profit is the only consideration at present, and the only way to change things is to nationalise the freezing works or set up the kind of three-way co-operative which he describes. Another thing he is keen on is much greater processing of meat and other farm produce before it is exported. “I can't accept that New Zealand can’t employ all of its people efficiently when two-thirds of the world’s population is under-fed.” Some employers, politicians, and editorial writers have been expressing the hope that the new president of the F.O.L. will be a trade union “moderate” in the tradition of Sir Tom Skinner. But Wes Cameron declines to label himself. “I don’t put myself into any slot. I’ve been called a moderate and I’ve been called a wrecker. What I am concerned about is the future of New Zealand and particularly those who have only their labour to sell, or are on fixed incomes. They must get a fair go.” He believes that trade unionists, through the F.0.L., are in a strong position these days. “The F.O.L. represents the bulk of the workers. It has a lot of clout and it can make sure that they get a fair share of the national cake.” It is the trade union movement, he is convinced, which through its political and industrial wings has been responsible for bringing about what degree of social justice prevails in New Zealand today. “Most of the social reforms of the last 100 years have been brought about by the unity of the workers,” he says, “not by the generosity of employers. Everyone is happy now that at least they’ve got some degree of social justice.”

He rejects criticism that today’s trade unions are ready to strike at the drop of a hat (or the drop of their relativity). “Look at the record in New Zealand. We have one of the better records internationally of man-hours lost through industrial stoppages. Ours is a lot less than in many countries. “But we are always going to have stoppages and conflict, because there’s conflict of interest between those who sell their labour and those who invest their money for profit. “Most New Zealand unions generally explore every avenue before they resort to strike actions. After all, the workers don’t like striking. They are the ones who suffer in strikes.” Wes Cameron thinks that many more New Zealanders, especially “white collar” workers, have woken up to the knowledge that “the way things are run in our society, if you don’t look after yourselves, no-one else will.” “More and more our society is ‘everyone for themselves.’ I think the clerks and teachers etcetera are feeling that they may get left behind — that’s why they have become more militant.” Wes Cameron thinks it is a healthy sign that several are contesting the presidency of the F.O.L. “There has been some criticism of the executive for being a closed clique.” He has no criticism of Sir Tom Skinner or the way the F.O.L. has been doing things. (He is, after all, a member of its executive.) “In the last few years there has been better unity in the F.0.L..” he says. “It is a united organisation. I don’t see that I couid make any changes. I could lead it along similar lines, but with changes to suit the times. I have no radical changes in mind.”

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GARRY ARTHUR