Review of Randolf Bedford's "Story of Mateships."

 

Here is my copy of Randolf Bedford's "Story of Mateship." I believe this was my Grandfather's copy, but we don't know for sure. I recently donated it to my Local Library, as I was unable to preserve it properly.

The Story starts as a nostalgic reminisce on the development of Trade Unionism in Australia. It start with the famous line "Eaten bread is soon forgotten," decrying the short memory of people. It then goes on to describe the dire conditions workers faced in the 'bad old days' and explains that it was the unions that improved things for us. In it is evident the early stages of the AWUs mythology; nostalgia about the bad old days, the doctrine that the AWU and the ALP were the driving force of social improvement, and defining mateship as union solidarity. That it is also presented as a story rather than an essay or position paper also hints at the AWU's emotive style.

The Story goes on to denounce the Communist Party. In general it accuses the CPA as being an ally of big business. It justifies this accusation solely on the basis that the CPA opposed the ALP, and that their demand of burning the cane before harvest harmed workers (despite employers initially being opposed to the demand, in alliance with the State Labor Government and the AWU executive in Brisbane). History did not treat well Bedford's criticism of cane fires, as they became commonplace amongst the sugar towns of Queensland (ending well after mechanisation overcame any concerns about Weil's disease, and the cane trash being used to improve soil Carbon content).