Jack Mundey
1929 - 2020
CFMEU NSW today pays tribute to Jack Mundey. His passing is a loss to all in the labour movement and particularly felt by the NSW Branch. Jack was a long-term member of the CFMEU NSW Branch and active in the Union to the end.
Jack inspired generations of building and construction CFMEU members, delegates and union officials.
Jack was a man of principle and courage who recognised that a Union and the Union movement has a bigger role to play in society than just improve member wages and conditions.
Unions play an important role in shaping the kind of society in which we live. The BLF took on vested interests driven by the profit motive and won the support of the community and saved as a result many precious places of heritage in Sydney.
Jack's leadership of the BLF in the 1970s inspired BLF members to take industrial action to support the efforts of communities in Sydney to save places like Kelly's Bush, the Rocks, Woolloomooloo, Potts Point and Centennial Park and most recently the Bondi Pavilion. Places which would be lost forever. The fact that generations of Australians can enjoy these places and can enjoy some of the earliest buildings and parklands to this day is the legacy of the Green Bans.
Even after the Green Bans Jack remained active in the Union, mentoring and inspiring many members, activists, delegates and officials. He was a warrior for the environmental cause and social justice. We had the privilege to honour Jack and Judy officially last July, in the presence of a new generation of CFMEU activists and delegates, with a plaque commemorating the Greens Bans and Jack. He remained an active member of the CFMEU Retired members group and was well-loved.
Darren Greenfield, CFMEU NSW Branch Secretary states:
"Today we lost a giant of the trade union movement who unflinchingly led the BLF and its members to secure for generations to come important part of Australia's history and natural landscape. The BLF Green Bans are a testimony of what it means to be a trade unionist; that it's not all just about wages and conditions and safety, which the BLF and its members fought hard for too back them, it also about the kind of world you want to live in. "
"It was having the insight to realise that workers live in communities and have a shared history that should not be destroyed in the pursuit of short –term profit. The CFMEU, inspired by Jack and his brothers and sisters, continue to honour that legacy by continuing to fight for decent conditions, a better society and social justice."
The CFMEU NSW Branch extends its condolences to Judy, his wife, his family and friends. Vale Jack Mundey.
