Obituary: Tony Neary

CMG, trade unionist. Born in County Mayo, Ireland. Died in Wellington on July 21, aged 77

By MATHEW DEARNALEY

Even Tony Neary's most enduring ideological foes of the left had to tip their cloth caps to his silver-tongued bargaining skills.

But the veteran negotiator for the trendsetting electrical trades awards was almost drummed out of the union movement four decades ago for daring to stand up to arch labour leader Fintan Patrick Walsh.

Neary, with his soft Irish brogue, was branded a heretic in taking the tyrannical Federation of Labour president to court in a libel case on which he staked his fledgling career as Electrical Workers' Union secretary.

A political chameleon, Walsh sided with communist unionists who turned on Neary after he used his position on an International Labour Organisation delegation in 1957 to condemn the Soviet clampdown on Hungary.

Neary's defence of Labour's 1958 "black budget," which raised taxes on working-class staples such as beer and cigarettes but also improved the family benefit, did not endear him to the all-powerful Walsh.

Although Neary won the court battle to clear his name, recriminations continued until his union quit the federation, dubbing it an instrument for the gratification of Walsh's "lust for personal power."

The electricians and other unions which fell out with Walsh rejoined after his death in 1963, but Neary remained an ideological thorn in the federation for more than 20 years.

Although he was almost beguilingly mild-mannered, Neary nevertheless had a near obsessional drive to expose activities of communists in the workers' midst, condemning "fraternal" visits by federation leaders to Eastern bloc states.

In a preface to his 1986 autobiography, The Price of Principle, he said his wartime experiences in the British Merchant Navy "demonstrated that the free world could be assailed and could come close to subjugation."

But he drew the line against endorsing former Prime Minister Sir Robert Muldoon's naming of 32 alleged members of the now defunct Socialist Unity Party, saying even that organisation had a right to exist in a democracy.

The pair were also embroiled in a television slanging match when Neary challenged Muldoon to back up claims of union gangsterism, saying Hitler set about securing his dictatorship by killing off unionism first.

"He was his own man - he declined to follow this flag or that flag, whether Muldoon was waving it or it came from Moscow," said one employer advocate among those who found Neary a formidable negotiating opponent.

He lent his skills to diverse groups from junior doctors to journalists, pilots, and even television announcers after being appointed a broadcasting board member.

But work pressures took their toll on his health, starting with his first heart attack at 39.

His last few years as a union secretary were again spent outside the Federation of Labour, which he condemned for not seeking a large enough cost-of-living catchup after the Muldoon wage freeze ended in 1984. Snubbed by the Labour Government, of whose party he was a member but which would deal only with the federation, he recaptured the negotiating high ground for electrical workers with a 15.5 per cent pay rise. He retired in the late 80s.

Tony Neary died peacefully in hospital and is survived by his wife, Joan, and their five children.