James "Big Jim" Healy (22 March 1898 – 13 July 1961) was an Australian trade unionist and communist activist. Healy served as General Secretary of the Waterside Workers' Federation of Australia from 1937 to his death in 1961, a period when the union recovered from its defeat in the 1928 waterfront strike to become one of the most powerful trade unions in Australia. Healy was one of the most prominent public representatives of the communist movement in Australia during the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

Biography

Healy was born at

West Gorton West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some R ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, the son of corporation labourer Dominic Healy and cotton-worker Mary Ellen, ''née'' Schaill. He attended St Francis of Assisi parish school and began assisting Labour Party canvassers at the age of 8. He enlisted in the 8th Battalion of the

Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders Argyll (; archaically Argyle, in modern Gaelic, ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a historic county and registration county of western Scotland. Argyll is of ancient origin, and corresponds to most of the part of the ancient kingdom of ...

in 1915; served until he was wounded in action on the

Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to: Military frontiers *Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (Russian Empire), a majo ...

in 1918 and discharged. On his return he moved to Scotland to work as a plate-layer in the

tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

ways. On 19 July 1919 Healy married woollen weaver Elizabeth McGowan at St Cuthbert's Catholic Church in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

. They and their three sons emigrated to

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

in 1925, where Healy began work as a fireman and boiler attendant at Mackay. He became a wharf labourer in 1927 and the following year was elected to the management committee of the Waterside Workers' Federation (WWF) becoming branch president in 1929. Disappointed with the underperformance of various Labor governments in response to the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, Healy joined the

Communist Party of Australia The Communist Party of Australia (CPA), known as the Australian Communist Party (ACP) from 1944 to 1951, was an Australian political party founded in 1920. The party existed until roughly 1991, with its membership and influence having been i ...

in 1934 after a tour of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

. Healy moved to

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

in 1936 and in 1937 was elected general secretary of the WWF, a position he held until his death in 1961. He transferred the union head office from

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

in 1939, and is given credit for modernising the union and he was the founder and first editor of the WWF's national journal, the ''Maritime Worker''. In 1937 and 1938 he campaigned in support of waterside workers' boycotts of

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, and he continued to strengthen the WWF during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

due to the industry's contribution to the war effort. From 1945 to 1949 he led a boycott on the Black Armada of Dutch ships, in order to support the

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

n independence movement. Healy oversaw the amalgamation of the WWF with the Permanent & Casual Wharf Labourers' Union (PCWLU), but the antagonism of many in the WWF towards the PCWLU weakened his position. In the

1949 Australian coal strike The 1949 Australian coal strike was the first time that Australian military forces were used during peacetime to break a trade union strike. The strike by 23,000 coal miners lasted for seven weeks, from 27 June 1949 to 15 August 1949, with troops ...

he was gaoled for

contempt of court Contempt of court, often referred to simply as "contempt", is the crime of being disobedient to or disrespectful toward a court of law and its officers in the form of behavior that opposes or defies the authority, justice, and dignity of the cour ...

, having refused to disclose the whereabouts of money used to assist the strikers; sentenced to a year, he was released after apologising five weeks into his sentence. He was active in the campaign against the Menzies government's attempt to ban the Communist Party. A committee of inquiry into the waterside industry was established by the Stevedoring Industry Act of 1954, in an attempt by the government to end the WWF's monopoly on wharf labour supply; the federation went on strike with the support of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU); the government went ahead with further reforms, but Healy was appointed to the ACTU executive in 1957. Healy died of a cerebrovascular accident in 1961 at Darlinghurst and was cremated; he was farewelled in Sussex Street with a "comrade's farewell" (Healy was an

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

), attended by hundreds of mourners. ''

The Internationale "The Internationale" (french: "L'Internationale", italic=no, ) is an international anthem used by various communist and socialist groups; currently, it serves as the official anthem of the Communist Party of China. It has been a standard of th ...

'' was played and the cortège stretched for almost a mile, blocking traffic for over an hour.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Healy, Jim 1898 births 1961 deaths Australian trade unionists Australian atheists People from Gorton Australian people of English descent Australian waterside workers Communist Party of Australia members