The last journey of the "Tanais" 9 June 1944

On the 29 May 1944, in the middle of the night, the Jewish population of Chania were rounded up from their houses, their community and imprisoned. Estimated between 250 to 275 people. Included were numerous children, the old, those hospitalised, new mothers and their infants. This was an entire community of people. Cretans who were Jewish with two thousand years of communal history in Crete. This deportation was instigated by Germans poisoned with Nazism. Supported by local collaborators, police and those indifferent to the suffering such an action would cause. 

In a blog Gregory Pappas described his father's memory of this event:
"The Day They All Just Disappeared." (http:www.pappaspost.com/day-just-dissapeared). 
His father A Cretan had lived among Chania's Jewish community relayed his memory of what occurred to his son. He recalled of that night: "...the Nazis surrounded the Jewish neighbourhood around the Venetian harbour, blocking all access with trucks and armed guards with dogs. Megaphone announcements ordered all citizens with Jewish identity papers to bring a single suitcase of belongings and report immediately to the street. (He described the scene) as violent. Nazi German soldiers pushing women and the elderly to move quicker, while anyone who questioned or confronted a Nazi was hit with the butt of the rifle. They were herded to a central meeting point and placed on trucks and transferred to the prison of Ayia; a village outside the main town of (C)Hania. After a few days in inhuman conditions, as reported by many (C)Hania Christians who made the trek to the prison to negotiate for friends freedom or to bring food or other items to their Jewish friends, 265 Jews of (C)Hania were transferred by truck several hours to Iraklion."

He then remembers "walking on Kondilaki Street the following morning. He saw people ransacking the abandoned homes. Women were taking kitchen pots and pans from their former neighbour's homes and groups of men were seen looting beds, chests of drawers and other large pieces of furniture...The streets were filled with random items, books, religious ornaments, clothing-as if a violent storm had hit only that street."

Other blogs record how people from Chania travelled to Iraklion to the prison to take their neighbours and friends food. This seizure occurred towards the war's end. At a time when it was believed by the majority of Cretans that an invasion by the allies and the driving out of the Germans was imminent. That this community then would be loaded into a small freighter and transported to Piraeus within days seems inexplicable. But this is what happened.

"Tanais" was originally built in 1907 in Sunderland, England and initially named "Holywood". it worked for almost twenty years taking cargo between English ports, as in the postcard picture below-taken in Hull, Yorkshire, England.

 In 1935 it was sold to a Greek owner and renamed "Tanais" after a Russian River.

Note it is not a big ship

"Tanais" was sunk on 26 May 1941 by the Germans during the attack on Souda Bay. It was later refloated and repaired and commissioned as a cargo ship. 

In 1944, the Australian Air Force reported attacking "Tanais" which was part of a convoy. On 1 June 1944, a reconnaissance plane identified three enemy ships with a strong escort of 4 destroyers, 4 corvettes and 2 E-Boats. These were believed to be heading for the port of Iraklion. The convoy was pursued from near the Island of Paros, then attacked by No 454 Squadron. 18 Baltimores, were joined by 12 Marauders, 26 Beaufighters and 19 single engined d fighters.  The attack left the "Tanais" burning fiercely. The convoy struggled to Iraklion (Crete), where at anchor they were again attacked by a Liberator and Wellingtons. Photographic reconnaissance early on the morning of the 3 June 1944 showed the "Tanais" " afloat but much blackened as if by fire."

Five days later on 8 June 1944 in Iraklion 'Tanais' was loaded with prisoners of the Nazis. Greek resistants (identified on some Cretan blog sites as communist partisans), Italian prisoners of war, believed to be those who refused to work for the Germans, and the Jewish community of Crete. It is believed all prisoners were locked into the holds of an already damaged, 1500 ton, 80 metres long freighter. This was no more than a cattle truck of the sea and given the large number of children included, it would have been a terrifying and distressing ordeal for those imprisoned onboard.

"Tanais" left Iraklion late on 8 or early 9 June 1944, bound for Piraeus, and escorted by three or four smaller vessels. When it was north east of Crete and in the early hours of the morning of the 9 June 1944; it was sighted by the British submarine "HMS Vivid". 

The "Vivid" was a V Class P77. An irony is this submarine was built at Vickers Armstrong, Walker in Newcastle Upon Tyne. Not so far from where the Tanais was built. The "Vivid" was commissioned in 1943. It was under the command of Lieutenant John Cromwell Varley from 25 October 1943 to 18 August 1945. The "Vivid" served with the 10th Submarine Flotilla based in Malta and saw frequent action in the Mediterranean. 

HMS Voracious, sister ship of Vivid

At 03.12 on 9 June 1944, four torpedoes were fired by "Vivid" from 2400 yards (submerged). One and a half minutes after the first torpedo was fired an explosion was heard, followed twelve seconds by a second torpedo. There was no counter attack. Less than two hours after the attack "Vivid" came to periscope depth but there was nothing visible. It is possible survivors (from the crew and guards) were picked up by the escorting ships - it is certain all the prisoners in the hold of the "Tanais" would have gone down with the ship. It is also very likely given the cramped conditions in the hold, the torpedoes would have caused massive injury to those trapped there. At 01.05 hours the following day (10 June 1944) a brief report of the incident was passed to the Captain of the First Submarine Flotilla, who commented that the target, was undoubtably the "Tanais". I have not found anything else concerning this tragedy in the public record.

"Vivid" survived the war and was scrapped at Faslane in 1950.

Lieutenant JC Varley would have been 24 years of age when in command of the submarine at the time he encountered the "Tanais". He had recently married Caroline Judith Coleman (1924-1989) on 9 November 1942 in London. 

The Cromwell-Varley's are a family with a rich history who can trace their origins back to Oliver Cromwell and General Fleetwood (who married Oliver Cromwell's daughter Bridget). The family includes Cromwell Fleetwood Varley (6 April 1828-1883) an inventor who developed the electric telegraph and transatlantic telegraph cable. John Varley artist and friend of the poet/artist/mystic William Blake. Many of this extended family were inventors/engineers and scientists in the area of electricity and cables. One ancestor, Cromwell Oliver Varley and his stepfather Ion Pericaris (an American of Greek descent but a Greek citizen) were kidnapped by Berbers in Tangiers in May 1904 from Pericaris's villa the poetically named "Place of Nightingales". It was here Cromwell Hanford Varley (JC Varley's father) was born.

Lieutenant JC Varley's parents were Cromwell Hanford Varley (known as Crom) as noted above born in 1890 in Morocco and Georgina Rosalind Stewart who he married in 1918. On leaving school (Winchester) Cromwell Hanford Varley trained as an engineer before joining the British Royal Navy where he reached the rank of Commander. He served through the First World War in submarines. He was also awarded the DSC. As well as being an engineer, he was also an inventor. He retired from the Royal Navy in 1921 and continued to work as an engineer in England and America. He developed a midget submarine and diving suit and later developed and patented the Varley paracyclic pump-still in use today. He died on the 11 or 26 November1949, in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, England aged 59.

Lieutenant John Cromwell Varley would end the war with the Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) for gallantry at sea and reach the rank of Lieutenant Commander in the British Royal Navy, retiring 29 April 1955 aged 36 with the rank Lieutenant Commander. He was born in Chillworth, near Guildford, England 11 October 1919 and died in 2000 in Gloucestershire, England aged 80. There is very little other biographical information about John Cromwell Varley on the internet. Other than he had two children one in 1948 and 1950.They if still alive may know when and what their father knew about this terrible event. I can only imagine even in war setting this would have had a profound effect on a young man who more than likely believed he was torpedoing a legitimate target, an enemy cargo ship. In particular it is likely such an incident could have deeply affected someone who came from a long line of scientists, engineers, artists and humanists.

When did he or the RN become aware of the enormity of this sinking? In blog sites from Crete there is a belief the RN would have sunk this ship because it held  significant number of captured Greek communist partisans. But the records from boat tend to suggest "Tanais" with its escort would have been seen as a legitimate target. Both as it was identified there was an escort, and the submarine appears to have expected there to be a counter attack and took evasive action to avoid this and then used the periscope later to view the outcome. 

Etz Hayyim in ruins 

All of Crete's imprisoned Jewish population, the Greek resistants and Italian prisoners of war perished as they were locked in the holds, as did the majority of those on board. It is possible some German and Greek sailors or guards survived but details are not clear and the submarine only reported seeing debris some significant time after the sinking occurred. As previously described, there is mention in available information, sounds of the escort boat picking up survivors-but this is not verified. It is probable had "Tanais" reached Piraeus the destination for Crete's Jewish population would have been Auschwitz/Treblinka. This was the case for other Greek Jewish people rounded up in this action.

There is another strand to this event which is equally disturbing to contemplate. Who in the German command was responsible for putting these thousand people on to the 'Tanais'? The savagery by the Germans on Crete is well documented. General Bruno Brauer (4 February 1893-20 May 1947) was the military commander, although at the time of this atrocity (the clearing of Chania in particular) he was being replaced as Commander of Fortress Crete by General Friedrich-Wilhelm Muller (29 August 1897-20 May 1947) the 'Butcher of Crete'. He was based in Chania at about the time of the clearance of the Jewish Community. There is also records to say the Waffen SS Polizei Division were operating in Crete at this time. But was shipping under the orders of the Kreigsmarine? There appears to be no clear record of who made and signed off on these decisions and that is puzzling. It is evident that due to the threat of imminent invasion partisan activity and German reprisals were increasing. The reprisals under Brauer and Muller were atrocities and both were executed in Athens in 1947 for war crimes. Muller also held responsible for the execution of Italian officer prisoners of war in Ios as well as atrocities against Cretan civilians in reprisals against villages. But why with the end of the war and defeat of Nazi Germany in progress, the 'Tanais', a heavily damaged ship was loaded to over capacity with an imprisoned human cargo and sent out to sea. It can only be explained in the context of the Nazi goal to keep transporting Jews to the death camps no matter what. Whether Muller or Brauer were the decision makers for this act - to send a damaged boat into waters (and air) controlled by the British/allies was no less a war crime. An evil so repugnant it still resonates with grief today.

In writing this I am aware this was an event tragic in the extreme which would have affected the lives of many families across Crete, Greece and Italy. As it may well have effected the lives and families of the sailors on "Vivid" when and if they became aware of what cargo the 'Tanais' was carrying when she was torpedoed. The actual number of those imprisoned has never been clearly identified but it is likely close to one thousand. And almost two hundred and fifty plus of these were but for a handful of people, the entire remaining Jewish community of Crete. The immensity of this personal tragedy is one almost unbearable to contemplate in words alone. This post is in memory of all of those killed in the early hours of the morning of 9 June 1944.

Postscript November 2017:

Martin Gilbert in “The Holocaust The Jewish Tragedy” 1986 Fontana Books edition wrote page 683 “On June 6 (1944), 260 Jews living on the Island of Crete, who had been seized on May 20 (1944), were taken, with four hundred Greek hostages and three hundred Italian soldiers, Germany’s former allies, a hundred miles out to sea, beyond the island of Santorini, where the boat was scuttled. All were drowned.”

He based this on note 82 p884-5 “Molho, in memoriam op. cit, according to a recent account by Shlomo Karmiel, the 260 Jews from Canea who were seized on 20 May (1944) were executed on Crete, and their bodies put on board the ship, which was sunk to destroy the evidence. They were shot he believes “because they were involved in helping British Intelligence in plans to abduct General Kriepe, who commanded the Nazi forces in Crete.” (Marcel M. Yoel, “Canea Jews – the truth.” Jewish Chronicle, 19 November 1984.

Anthony Beevor (Crete The Battle and the Resistance) 1991 Penguin Books-writes on the kidnapping of General Kriepe by a team led by Major Leigh Fermor does not mention any contact with the Chania Jewish community and the action was in the environs of Heraklion resulting in a number of Cretan villages in this region being razed. Likewise, the action to seize and deport Crete’s Jewish population was part of a mass deportation at this time across Greece and the Greek islands. There were no other mass executions or boats scuttled on public record, making this unique and unlikely.

Sources: www.gracesguide.co.uk, uboat.net, awm.gov.au, pappaspost.com, searlecanada.org/sunderland/images, Etz Hayyim site, Wikipedia, Wikiservice.
Barbara W. Tuchman (1981)-Practising History "Perdicaris Alive or Raisuli Dead" p 104-117

The Etz Hayyim Synagogue in Chania, Crete: A light in the darkness of recent history

"We have tried at Etz Hayyim to be a small presence in the midst of what is at times almost aggressive ignorance..." 

This quote is from Nicholas Stavroulakis, historian, artist and archivist who has restored one of the two former synagogues in Chania back to life. 

On the day we visit in September 2015, there is still an intense heat. We walk past bright banks of bougainvillaea, garlanding the old brick walls and cascading down the sides of the small lanes. Eating houses compete with gift shops; with family homes but the synagogue set back in a closed lane is a quiet oasis deep in the back streets of the old Venetian port. 

Initially we had gone on Shabbat but it was closed. A few days later we return and it is open. Cats move sinuously through the shaded garden, into the cool interior of the synagogue and occupy cushions on the pews. While outside at a table in the shade the imam talks quietly with visitors and drinks cups of peppermint tea. A steady flow of visitors appears through the open gate in the wall, mainly retirees in holiday clothes from cruise ships at anchor outside the harbour. Americans, Europeans and some Israelis. Most are charmed and interested in the building; its story of underlying tragedy, absorbing the longevity of its previous history as a centre and anchor here. A once thriving Jewish community.There is a sense of pride for Jewish visitors to Etz Hayyim in its renaissance. We are also humbled by what this represents. A victory in the darkness of ignorance.

A few visitors, on finding it is not orthodox and is open to all comers get in a snot as if exposed to something unclean. There is something sad, old and stale in the way they flounce out, outraged by this presence, something so beautiful and purifying. Others fire rapid questions at the caretaker/guide in Hebrew, French, Greek, English and German. She is a calm, beautiful Australian, impassioned about her charge. She answers thoughtfully, erudite, factual, weaves strands of a story that is both heart breaking and inspiring. "Out of the original community of over three hundred at the outbreak of World War Two, and following the German occupation of Crete, only seven returned to Crete at the war's end. Yes this building was stolen, squatted, desecrated, used as a barn for animals, a rubbish tip and even urinal." 

It was as if two thousand years of the history of a complex, rich community could within a few days be made invisible. As if it had never existed. Then through the insult of indifference, be further eradicated by the "almost aggressive ignorance." Yet in the surrounding lanes and houses shadows remain to remind us of the lives lived around these stones; in and out of these doors; under these pipes and tiles; even the very layers of dust piled into the darkened corners and under eaves, under windows opening out into the fresh and smokey air of the city/port. These cry of a life once lived with joy at the dawning birth of each day;a sun arisen. So with hope, Mr Stravroulakis and others in the Chania and wider community, rebuilt, cleaned, breathed new life into an ancient and battered place. Despite the arson attempts, this building was restored to its original purpose and then taken further, made stronger To remind us, the visitors, that never again should such things be allowed to happen. Nor should such things that have happened be forgotten.

Without the vision and hard work of Nicholas Stravroulakis and those who assisted on this project, this would not have become a memorial. And I beg to differ, rather than a small presence-it is a powerful symbol of renewal and hope. As well as a deeply moving memorial for a people who only recently, lived, breathed, loved and moved through the streets surrounding Etz Hayyim.

*Stained Glass, Montparnasse Cemetery, Paris 2015. Out of respect visitors are asked not to take photographs inside the synagogue and its grounds.

CHANIA 

History twists at your guts

See! It has happened

Nothing will change this imprint

Though not all of it is yet complete

Nor clear, of things that can be explained

…And let alone, understood

I stand in the shade of this building

A synagogue on a hot day

And I do not, I cannot pray

Over three thousand years

Erased

It sinks, a big stone

Under a sea of human grief

Voices, each unique, drown, fade

Or call from a depth I cannot reach

And only small words survive

If at all, maybe only fragments

That I do not know…are still carried by the tide

To tell us of…what happened, here

How could such a thing as this be?

And what may have been

If this rich tapestries of lives had continued

To breathe and love and work and fight 

And die in other ways than this

It is something to exterminate an entire community
It is something to sink to the bottom of the sea so much that is such

In that shadow, a child whispers
Others play in the square in front of the church
Kick a football, skip and sing

Beneath that tree, an old person groans

And in the light that falls from outside

A fisherman’s shout as he makes land
A woman teaches a neighbour to cook

And from such a sparsity of words

We start a whole story or so we try

“Seven people returned here out of

A community of three hundred”

If I could name the two hundred and ninety three 

who did not, I would
If I could say the names
Of those who drowned
I should, each and every one

And at Etz Hayyim each year 9 June
One by one they are named
Each one remembered

It is if I think hard enough 

This rock will crack and part and empty

And I will understand

This absence, why this should be

Where have those lovers gone?

The blind, the lame and the vain?
Where are the ones who fell out over stupid things

Those who always believed there was a tomorrow

The pious who came here to bow and in Hebrew spoke to their God
And in Greek spoke of their love of life

And those who brought groceries

Gossiped, grasped and gave to charity

Or met their children from school

Or sat by the harbour drinking coffee in the heat

Until the sun turned red and bled across the ocean

Washing bone mixed with stone, shell and sand

On this day, I place a stone on the white tomb

Of a rabbi long dead but who once stood shawled

In this house of shared prayer and sang
Such is the song of eternal love

Oh that this should be a rock, a mountain of remembrance
Or that this should be a house of eternal remembrance

Oh so many pebbles of grief of those never laid at rest

But trapped, sank to the bottom of the sea

And I grieve, I remember and I grieve

Chania September 2015
I thank Dr Alexandra Ariotti for her sharing of this story

GAME of SLOGANS: The great anarchist poster war on the streets of Newtown, Sydney 2016

Almost every Sunday morning I walk up to Newtown. Forty minutes exercise, get a coffee, a weekly catch up with my union mate and sometimes other old time left wing stalwarts. Its allus a stimulating walk. 6.30 in the morning, you brush shoulders with returning party goers, head trippers, people cleaning the streets, old Greeks slowly making their way to church, joggers, dog walkers-and oldies like us, early risers needing the exercise. I'm particularly fond of the graffiti and posters. Newtown still has its hardcore anarchists fighting for space with gigs being advertised (Steel Pulse-local grunge and thrash etc), people looking for lost cats or new flatmates, keep fit/self-defence classes, boxing gyms, and the latest money making capitalist venture get me rich quick pyramid scheme.

The pavements littered with bottles, broken glass, cans, fag boxes, crumpled sticky cellophane and smashed out butts, discarded take-away wrappers, vomit-corners of shops stinking sharply of piss-the occasional needle and syringe. My friend that I walk with used to clean the streets and knows every street sweeper, council truck driver out on Sunday mornings. Its a job cleaning up after the Saturday night revellers and without a shadow of doubt since the Kings Cross/CBD lockdown-Newtown is getting more roving party animal foot traffic and as a consequence is much grubbier. Grot is not all bad. Cities are over used and life tends to accumulate layer upon layer. But there is the grot of outsiders coming into play who don't care about the shit they drop and leave behind. Even some badge of honour in defiling someone else's turf mabe. Likewise, a meanness is creeping into the anarchist messages pasted up and visible this morning. Someone in the collective has done away with humour in favour of the direct action.

Or mabe there was a poster competition. Find some of the old political posters like the red arm smashing the bourgeoisie-and this one is old style-more Metternich First World War era than Turnbull. And Yuppie, I didn't think they were still an agenda item of scorn. Who are the new bourgeoisie or yuppies. Fucked if I know what label fits. I prefer Albo's Tories, the recognition that there is still an ongoing class war. Even the 'chattering classes' still fits the twitter era. What do you call the political indifferents? And can you engage them, make em think in the poster wars?

 These declare the workplace as the enemy, ownership as theft. Supporting the principle of shop lifting and looting, but loses sight that these were values of the punk era and changed very little. More often and not aimed at small businesses with limited security-easy to turn over and a riot was also the opportunity for the greedy to loot. As for work, like education is not all a joke. My family (Geordies and Flemings) were proud to work and put food on their family tables. They also new first hand the cost of loss of work. This is why they were mostly committed unionists but suspicious of empty Marxist rhetoric when it came their way. They supported workers education program, for some it was where they first learned to read, write and do basic math and to think, especially critical thinking.

Then there is this one. It hits the button around the tendency of current protest to fragment. Not much sign of union involvement for example opposing the Reclaim Australia movement. At least not here in Sydney. And yes there is an insidious class war happening through stealth. The rich, even with the hit taken by share markets are still getting richer by percentage and those living below the poverty line, or hardly able to make ends meet are increasing. Even the middle classes (those still in permanent jobs), treading water for the past year are now being pushed backwards. And yes the banks, the utility companies, those responsible for pushing up increased numbers of high density living units, investors-these are living off us. The banks with their profits have never justified increasing mortgages in 2015. And the commodity society, where when we want we go out and get, whether we can afford it or whether there is a consequence in the loss of another home based industry. But lumping the cops in as oppressors? Yes, they are frequently used as agents of the state, but they are also highly unionised. They may not be the workers friends but they are not the enemy. Too much of what they do, I would not wish on anyone. Criminality is not anarchy or outlaws fighting the system or establishment. All too often it is scum feeding of those perceived as weaker or prey-look at domestic violence, stand overs-robberies, embezzlements, cons, burglaries-these are opportunistic more than political statements.

As for voting. It is not much but it is something the ordinary man and women fought to get. Yet we have allowed it to be devalued by making elections something akin to reality television. We have allowed muppets to be glorified as strong leaders when they are made of straw or worse are arses pretending to be committed to public duty. We do not value diversity or integrity sufficiently to vote for the values we believe in. Throw it out and replace it with what or not at all. Lastly, my call to the anarchist collective responsible for these posters. I know you are the hard nosed pragmatists and I've seen your direct action close up at Reclaim Australia and other rallies. But bring back some humour into your messages. It engages, it informs, it educates. One laugh is worth more than many frowns or scowls.

PART TWO:

Might pay to give the brown acid a wide berth

Last week (early January 2016) taking an early morning walk up through King Street Newtown every rubbish bin had been slapped with a poster decrying State and Capitalism. And then some! Ee up, I thought, lads and lasses at Black Rose have got a printing' press in their Christmas sock. Well, they've been busy and only a week later, a whole new set of A4 sized pastes are up, stuck ta bins, an' walls; broadcasting anarchy in Newtown.
And as for equal rights; I was reet pleased to see hippies had joined yuppies and pollies on the anarchists death wish list. Although I thought hippies, like Trots had bin consigned to the endangered specie list- summat to see in old museum photos of demos, where men with long hair, beards and head bands sat with groovy chicks, with long hair, headbands and cheese cloth dresses and mostly without beards and sang stirring anthems sooch as "We Shall Not Be Moved" until they were scythed into suet and blood pudding by industrious truncheons and the size twelve boots of the wooden tops. But mabe like "hipsters" hippies have made a come back. But if so, you have to wonder what they have done to piss off the anarchists and what kind of death? My experience in the early seventies was that they all, left to contemplate where their political navel might be, they sink under their own inertia, bummed out by all the problems of how to drop out of consumerism but keep their stashes. Those of us on the edges of the political left, even if we had long hair and wore flared jeans, we were inclined to dismiss hippies as political lightweights. Has owt changed? We liked MC5, the Stooges-they liked Incredible String Band. I rest me case.

And amongst 'messages on side of tin bins' this weeks outbreak of slogans, poetry and some old style agit-prop...and even a quote from Mr Orwell. Cruel to use a press gallery photograph of Mr Brandis explaining why he won't be releasing his dairies anytime soon.

THE GREAT BIG BAD, BAD UNIONS REPORT-The Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance and Corruption releases its report

Eee oop, report comin' out-copyright Hipgnosis AHM

In the great big silence two days afore new year when politicians are snoozin' and folk have better things to do than digest a report the size of a small bus the right honourable John Dyson Heydon AC, QC has released his findings, sorry those of the grand (or should that be the fair dinkum great big) Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance and Corruption. Like Christmas it was coming, filled with expectations and so what do we have for such a large digest?

The Sydney Herald used the heading "Findings small tip of an iceberg" to breathlessly tell us how bad it was going to be. You missed out "the small tip of an ENORMOUS iceberg" Tony! Then wrote a thundering editorial about the relationship between unions in Australia and the Labor party. Then Tony Turnbull said it was a watershed moment for the labour movement and certainly, in no uncertain terms, not just a case of a few rotten apples. It was evidence based in fact. Fact! Fact! Fact!

Well in my view I would add a rider: Stand back people there is not as much substance here as the headline or Mr Turnbull's response might cause you to think. The Commission ran for two years, held 189 days of hearings, involving 505 witnesses. Mr Heydon was paid an obscene amount of money (about approximately 1 million dollars per year), the unions said 18 million dollars was spent in keeping the Commission in gravy.  ABC radio reckons a cool 46 million plus! Enough money pissed down a legal drain to have funded a number of indigenous support services, or other worthy causes. But no, the Unions needed a jolly good investigation and shake up and the honourable J D was the bloke to do it. The brief reads as if lets shake the tree and see what falls out and interview as many malcontents as we can and see what we can make stick in doing so. Well my words, it were far more legal posh than that. So was it brass well spent? I will declare my bias. I am a member of a trade union, me dad was a communist and trade unionist and most of me ma's family were in the UK seamans union. So let's review...

MUA - Go Away! Says Heydon the just

The first part of this report sets the tone for the contents to follow. Loads of content. So if you cannot sleep with worrying about stuff, read this and sleep like a baby. The language alone will flatten you catatonic. So in brief I have put the man's (or his scriptors) wurds in bold and my jottings in italics; as it his report/my blog. Fair enough! I was chucken' me slipper at telly but that were no good...so sharpened pencil it is at five paces.

Now in the opening paragraph the man quotes Sir Harry Gibbs-(no not the father of the BeeGees as far as I am aware; though the report would have been a lot sexier with  a title like "Staying Alive"). However Lord Heydon wanted to test Sir Gibbs's maxim that "the inherent decency of the Australian people continue". By George! Where did I park my gun boat? Me top hat, fly swat and feathers Jeeves, please! And no he was not referring to the introduction of holiday pay, sick leave or any number of improved work conditions fought for and gained by unions over the years. I think he was referring to our ability to not blink at the expenditure of such a large wad of our tax take without blinking, thinking it well spent to state the obvious...in all walks of life, there are the corrupt, the greedy and the self-serving. The Unions are not exempt and have never claimed to be.

So on to the headline or the stuff up in big letters contained in the over long summary report:
Unions are riddled with "widespread" and "deep seated" misconduct. No carry on, enjoy the full breadth of the man's thinking "...probably (legal word meaning banged up to rights) only the most egregious (bollock scratching) examples of misconduct...These aberrations cannot be regarded as isolated (obviously plague like-unionists dripping pus littering the political landscape). They are not the work of a few rogue unions, or a few rogue officials (although this is the guts; the sins of the few-magnified lovingly in prose like a fleas balls in a gale, of what is recorded in the report. Boot a bit of tar and feathering is always good for the soul)...it is widespread (except the Northern Territories, yeah I know go figure!) It is deep seated...It would be utterly (isn't that subjective your honour?) naive to think what has been uncovered is anything other than a small tip of an enormous iceberg." (And the evidence to support this contention? A Tonyism-a small number of serving union officials are bent, crooked and should be hung out to be pelted with rotten cabbages-but this does not provide substance to this statement.)

"...But it is clear that in many parts of the world constituted by Australian trade union officials, there is room for louts, thugs, bullies, thieves, perjurers, those who threaten violence, errant fiduciaries (those who hold/oversee the money bags), and organisers of boycotts." (Did we go to Moscow for the Olympics one year?Louts, thugs, perjurers and bullies can describe a number of settings. And gosh, are their not times when this could describe Parliaments?Senate? Upper Houses. A lot of work places, professional bodies-throw in thieves-those caught rooking their clients, possibly even lawyers are not unknown to such descriptors, from time to time-but not judges except in Queensland...). Sorry, its an age thing, I tend to be easily distracted when reading legal telephone directories as summary. But Carry On Justice Heydon: the report goes on to state "A sinister picture appears to form. It is a picture the unions concerned not with its role as the instrument through which to protect the interests of its members but with self interest. Its primary interest is in the leading group of its officials as a self perpetuating institution. The institution comes to operate like a Venetian oligarchy or a Whig Parliament with very few electoral contests. It is an institution more concerned with gathering members than servicing them." Breathtaking. Sounds like the average mens club in operation. Lets just reflect (pictures below) on some of the unions representing aspects of our work environment who have been condemned in this statement. Yes, all corrupt undoubtably self serving with nowt to offer the modern industrial/working world.

Supermarket workers

Nurses

Energy sector

Asian Women

Of course Governor Heydon was at great pains-in a few sentences in his report to at least put to bed the old chestnut that his Commission in any way, shape or form was out to get the Unions. Heavens! How could they they reach such a fanciful finding...not only that, his side were much fairer, courteous and calmer in their presentation of the facts, while the union rabble personalised, insulted, abused, probably wore their boots to court and behaved like riff-raff-he did state sniffly that standards had dropped since his day, when folded silk hankies on the head were de rigeur. Then some of the union witnesses were seen by his nibs as scornful and hostile, perjured and fudged with half truths etc. Err, his worshipful might like to watch Parliament live from time to time to improve his education on how pollies behave towards one another, or maybe have a heart to heart with one Julia Gillard, I am sure she can give him some insight into such matters.

But what is lost and damaged in this report is the good work done by unions. The fundamental decency of the majority of office holders who give of their time to improve workplace conditions and protect ongoing safety standards. And given the current attacks on our employment conditions this representation is necessary. This report does not address why at this time when we are reaching austerity by stealth conditions, this is a necessity. Or why for the health of our society we should support the work of unions to ensure employers do not turn back the clock to treat employees as commodities to suck dry and discard. For example the same Sydney Herald today had a piece about American businesses who do not give their workers sick leave and people out of economic necessity turning up at work sick, and when infectious infecting others. Read it at:

http://www.smh.com.au/business/workplace-relations/is-going-to-work-sick-really-a-good-idea-20151229-glwkim.html

Do we want that kind of employment conditions to take root here in Australia? And isn't this, the threat of casualisation, taking away penalty rates and zero hour contracts good reasons to sustain and maintain a healthy union framework across our employment sector.

The report summary also does not address with any compassion (just mealy mouthed attacks on unions) the wreckage caused by deceit and fraud that is the case in for example the Health Services Union (HSU). Members of this union are some of the most disadvantaged in the workforce. I doubt nailing Ms Jackson's scrotum to the mast of the good ship Dyson has given them solace.  Using there trauma as a legal/political football shows a gross lack of fundamental decency and no doubt in the days to come they will be kicked equally as part of a union bashing exercise.

Already this morning (31 December 2015) Senator Cash (Employment and wizard at breezily dismissing the ginormous wads of dollars spent as top drawer bangs for bucks) and Malkie Turnbull are claiming the report supports evidence of systematic corruption. Cash careful to say in some unions but this needs a big hammer of reform to smash. Yes, there is evidence that in some unions there was systemic issues which allowed corruption to occur and these unions have already addressed this. Then there were the threats to take this to election and Cash asked everyone to read this report. Well we should, we payed mighty for it and as you read whisper forty million bucks to yourself. Good luck I say, it is not an accessible read, large wads of legalise, turgid and one sided and at the end of it, like reality TV, you may have indignation with what you read but may also be left with a sense of being manipulated to see things in a certain way. IT DOES NOT DEMONSTRATE SYSTEMIC ISSUES ACROSS THE WHOLE UNION MOVEMENT, but does position itself to suggest this is the case. A con. More smoke and mirrors to make something appear bigger and more of a current issue infecting all unions than it is.

Whether Mr Turnbull says it many Tony times as he likes, it is a case of a few rotten apples to the many decent, hard working, committed members and officials. This over expensive commission was set up by the Abbott government to reduce the influence of unions, take down a few politicians in the process but most importantly introduce work choices by stealth. As for the report writer, he didn't even have the decency to step down when it was shown he had a conflict of interest-of which is happy to cast aspersions on unions having re union superannuation funds etc. He did not treat people decently when it was evident findings were insufficient to hang them out to dry-but nonetheless, he left them to hang out to dry (Gillard and Shorten come to mind-releasing findings exonerating Shorten late on a Friday night but still hinting as an office holder Shorten was tainted by guilt). And that is the gist of this report all of us in unions are tainted by the guilt of the few. Gosh but Parliamentarians, political parties are not all tainted by Slipper, Bishop (the older) or the conveyor belt of NSW pollies who did not know the difference between conflict of interest, tainted cash and their political responsibilities to their electorate. And who consistently used the Murdoch defence of "I don't recall". Talk about hostile, unhelpful witnesses. "Oh is this a smoking gun? I don't recall how it got into my hand (bank account). Am I holding it. It must have been planted via the family trust". etc.

Yes punish those who have misused their position and that should be so in all walks of life. Yes, good unions like anyone else should have checks and balances sufficient to prevent fraud and should not condone bullying or the use of intimidation. And the majority do and some named in this report have taken action to address the matters raised. Some, such as HSU have had to deal with the legal process and the legal rights of those accused of wrong doing to appeal (such as Thompson and Jackson).

But has this Commission demonstrated whether "the inherent decency of the Australian people continue" this has been besmirched by the findings? Not even close. The 50 rat bags identified in eighteen months of proceedings are named and shamed and some rightly. 45 individuals will be referred to criminal prosecution or civil action. But ask yourself this, based on the material in this report, how many of those will the police actually, following investigation, send to court? HSU has already succeeded in civil action against Jackson et al. And of those of the magnitude of Jackson et al, who may well face further criminal court time, rather than civil action; how many of those will be found guilty? The evidence, as in this report is not as solid as it is pitched to meet a finding of beyond reasonable doubt. I hope with the likes of Jackson it does based on what is already in the public domain. However, a good lawyer and plenty of gravy will make it as slow as paint drying and not necessarily result in justice for those most wronged-members of the unions where corruption has been shown to have occurred.

To rub salt into injury beware of Liberals getting up on their feet making platitude statements about wanting to protect the rights of hard working union members. Be ashamed Senator Cash, given the public service hard working staff are currently being thrashed by toxic enterprise agreements and are with the support of their union CPSU continuing to vote no to unfair changes to conditions. Supporting hard working union members? I think not and nor will this current Nat/Lib rabble ever be genuinely supportive of union rights but they will continue to use every opportunity to undermine those rights.

And the recommendations ?

• Tougher penalties for misconduct by officials, stricter rules about financial disclosure by unions and new cicil penalties for unions who don't keep proper records. Question: Shouldn't these measures already be place and cover the private sector, all political parties and charities-why single out unions when the newspapers are consistently showing corruption, poor record keeping occurs across society.
• To create a union watchdog.
• To establish Australian Building and Construction Commission to oversee workplace relations in the building industry. Question: Did it work previously-no. Did it improve work place conditions/safety-No.

In my view this is a distorted report that will fundamentally change nothing, adds little but is an injustice to trade unions and their members in that it accuses the greater union movement of being corrupt and rotten to its core! A bit like saying because there have been and are a few bad politicians and even judges that therefore they are all rotten. Not so much a "Sinister picture" as a sketch with a lot of blank canvas. Not assisted with archaic descriptors of unions such as  Venetian oligarchy and Whig Parliament. Ah shades of Joseph McCarthy and 1950s America attacking anything remotely left wing...smells like fear of the establishment seeing unions in the way of the rightful rulers exercising their power. And once politically this report is seen as unhelpful, once all the limited mileage is milked from the speculative statements, it will be sent to the dustbin. But what would I know, old fashioned socialist curmudgeon that I am. But of course wouldn't Tony make a perfect Union Investigations Commissar? Oh well, let the shit fly and let's see what sticks....

The report can be purchased for sixpence from any corner shop and can be used indefinitely to line the bottom of the hamster's cage.

See this article from Guardian Australia where the writer makes the point the recommendations that Turnbull is threatening wholesale introduction of, sets a higher set of standards than that of the private sector. Smells like union bashing...

hhttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/dec/30/the-hits-the-misses-and-the-zealous-overreach-of-the-trade-union-royal-commission

Another article on the changing face of Australian unions:

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jan/06/the-female-bosses-destroying-the-image-of-union-thugs-forever

And from New Matilda:

https://newmatilda.com/2016/01/12/reflections-on-the-turc-from-a-union-official/
Further Postscript  23 March 2016: Showing five charges referred to federal police have already been dropped. What a bloody waste of time this enquiry has been despite the NatLibs still pushing for a building commissar:
http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/mar/23/fifth-set-of-criminal-charges-from-union-royal-commission-taskforce-dropped

FOR EVER AMBER COLLECTIVE: Geordie graft, craft and guile down amongst the photos

Who stole the North Sea?

Coming into the Tyne by ship stirred memories of me ma's family, generations of sailors living in and around North Shields and now, mostly gone, most barely remembered. The ferry from Holland crossed an unnaturally flat and well behaved North Sea. Mrs Belgo Geordie were glad of that. She had insisted on taking the top bunk in the cabin looking out the small porthole across the small silvery grey wash. She provided a running' commentary above the Belgo Geordie snores of lights of passing ships, buoys and wind farms. Even with the light wallow of the big ferry she didn't get a wink of sleep and rolled off at North Shields like one of me ancestors who'd crossed turbulent seas in gale force winds. She likes to remind me she comes from seafaring folk but they crossed the gigantic Pacific in canoes navigating by stars and waves. When they were of a mind like! Boot, wa wood yer even think of leaving' the beach on your island when there was plenty of fish nearby and nowt good came at her people across that big ocean that would want to make you go out and meet and greet incoming white folk. Even with her impression of the drunken sailor making landfall she still manages to put me in me place, carrying the cases...

But it were grand to be back on Geordie soil four year after me last visit. Made better by the taxi driver who took us into the city who was a migrant from the Balkans with his native accent salted with Geordie and entertained us with stories of his escape to sanity, never regretting putting down roots in a community where not only did he feel accepted but had become passionate about belonging, even grumbling that his daughters tell him off when he sounds like he has just stepped off from the boat from the old country.

So there we were in Newcastle again with tickets to see the Toon play Watford and an exhibition at the Laing Art Gallery-For Ever Amber. Well, last time I graced St James was in the early 1960's- a game played in fog and fug of fags, farts and blisteringly cold and I canna remember who was playing' who won or where me feet ended, only that I had icicles of snot hanging from both sides of me nose and a half time mug of tea just about sent me off ta infirmary with scalds all the way down to me bladder! Enough to say this year's game was a rare bit of disappointment and gave me the shits. Mike Arse and Sports Rip Off have more than torn the heart and guts out of the relationship that existed between fans and their team and I was ashamed to be part of that on that Saturday afternoon.

But Amber, now that is summat else. A collective that although born in London found its voice, vision and heart amongst the communities of the north east. I have gathered a small collection of their work that has come out on VHS and then DVD and books of photographs when I come across them. The irrepressible sunbeam of Geordie Finn (Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen) and the cool gaze through the lens of Chris Killip (His 1976 Wallsend shot of snow with the slogan on the brick wall "Don't Vote-Prepare for Revolution" and the old man trudging down the hill while a kid pulls his toboggan up over way). Allus good for the eyes and heart here in Sydney when I'm feeling a bit sick for a pie, cod and mushy peas.

The 1969 ten minute film documentary "Maybe" on the Shields ferry setting the tone for their work capturing every day lives in the region. Since then the value of what Amber has achieved cannot be underestimated. Their multi media (but mainly film and photography) ventures has created a comprehensive record of working class communities and of industries that have since died or been replaced on Tyneside and the north east. The mines, steel works, ship building, fishing. Amber's involvement of the communities in art projects has been one of true partnership, not exploitation but often a means of story telling which dignify and honour the lives of ordinary people. And charts the reliance of how communities have adapted to change, Amber's work show's people with humour, courage and a daring to continue to dream despite the odds.

So it were time well spent going through the exhibition at the Laing and there were some laugh out loud moments and some tears, the kids playing on the burnt out wrecks of tonked cars, jumping out of broken windows of abandoned houses, or seated in the street on discarded sofas. It was like my generation of kids in the early sixties frozen in time still surrounded by poverty, still trying to get by thirty years later. You still are left wondering outside the frame of the photograph, where will these children be in ten years, twenty years? And their bairns? Then there was the hope of the new generation of migrants making lives in and around the north east, the photographs in colour of Byker re-visited. Nothing stays frozen in time and that gives me hope that a change will come.

Oh so much more than the football, this exhibition made me proud to be a Geordie, and it reminded me of my roots, of family who are long gone, of the good, the bad and the ugly of life in sixties Tyneside. Although like the Animals when they said "We've Gotta Get Out of This Place...If It's The Last Thing I Ever Do".  I left aged six and never came back to live there but its never left me and Amber reminds me why that is. It is a place of strength, and each time I come back to visit it is, although I live on the other side of the world, still  home.

And an Amber film festival in Gateshead in late January 2016 see: http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/life-tyneside-during-1970s-beamed-10767051

MARITIME UNION AUSTRALIA -MUA HERE TO STAY: Hutchinson's picket line revisited 19 December 2015

The flags have gone but after 136 days (7 August to 19 December 2015) that the picket line ran, the Maritime Union Australia (MUA) has won a heart warming and courageous victory. This and the Federal Public Service in the greater majority voting no to unfair enterprise bargaining agreements, shows, despite increased and sustained attacks in the last two years, the muscle of the unions remains strong in Australia. And by demonstrating that unions/workers are still up to the fight of keeping work conditions at the front of political debate, it gives heart to a new generation of those who believe in and fight for natural justice.

The Hutchinson 97 laid off by text and then locked out in a protracted dispute with one of the wealthiest company's on the planet, part owners of Vodafone. The picket received support from around the globe (See MUA journal Summer 2015-or www.mua.org.au ). Letters from Spain, Jordan, Japan, France, Morocco-to name a few and photos of support from dock workers in Panama and Hong Kong and one Jeremy Corbyn UK Labour Party Leader who is also in the process of being crucified by the English media as too left wing! I was there recently (the UK) and saw the level of vitriol this man faces on a daily basis because he dares to speak about old fashioned socialist values. But at this point it is heartening to hear the support he has in the electorate on this platform from a people sick of spin and evisceration through austerity.

The next battle will be the resolution of the Federal Public Service enterprise bargaining agreements. Toxic contracts the Government wants to impose to strip workers rights and conditions. Done under the smoke and mirrors of moving conditions into policy directed by corporate and operational plans and reduction of permanent jobs for non ongoing positions. And the "Shipping Legislation Amendment Bill 2015" aimed at ripping the guts and jobs out of Australian maritime industry (what's left of it) and at a time (climate change issues) we should be becoming more reliant on strengthening our economy by being sustainable. As Albo (The Right Honourable Anthony Albanese) has said "The Bill, soaked as it is in ideology, sells out the national interest on each of these counts, it will allow overseas-flagged and crewed ships paying workers Third World wages, to undercut Australian operators on domestic trade routes. It will destroy Australian jobs, damaging the economy. It will increase the likelihood of maritime accidents in our coastal waters..." Quite! Eloquent bugger that Albo! And there will be some business person or new right warrior bullshitting us about letting the market decide, competition is good and anyhow we should all be getting these Third World wages dear to Albos heart as then the few can get on with making massive, short term profits at the expense of the many and that bad word "community". Such as is Hutchinson's and those drongos who strip massive profit out of our economy and don't think they have to pay fair tax on these profits. And if they did would we as a community buy into the bullshit of belt tightening and budget blow out to excuse why we are not funding hospitals, schools, universities, every kind of service (health, disability, mental health, aged care) and finding ways to support our indigenous communities live healthier and longer.

So, I take me hat off again to MUA. Australians of the year one and all in my book!

Too bloody right!!!!