National Senior Vice President Albert Littler retired from the CFMEU National Office at the end of 2009.

CFMEU Construction & General thanks him for his tremendous contribution to the union movement since joining the Operative Painters and Decorators Union (OPDU) in 1964.

At a presentation at Divisional Conference on October 15, Construction National Secretary Dave Noonan particularly thanked Albert for the work he did in 1992, paving the way for the amalgamation of the OPDU into the CFMEU.

A lifetime of commitment

Albert started out in the construction industry 50 years ago, as an apprentice painter with a big Melbourne company called Pettigrews.

He was just 16. But it was a unionised company, he recalls. And the boys prompting him to “get involved, don’t sit on the sidelines …” saw him elected as shop steward when he was 19.

By age 22, he was already on the Management Committee of the Painters Union and was asked to become a temporary organiser in November 1973. He was elected as an organiser the following year, from where his long career in the union movement continued.

Albert was responsible for construction sites in North Melbourne and also in the country areas of Ballarat, Bendigo and Portland. “If we’d had the laws restricting organisers that are now in place in the construction industry, I’d have been tripping on landmines everywhere,” he says. “Particularly in country areas – how can you serve members properly, if you keep having to go back down to Melbourne to serve 24-hour notices? If the bosses had the same rules for tax inspectors, the government would never get a cent in tax.”

Albert became State Secretary and Federal Secretary of the OPDU in 1988. And he oversaw the successful amalgamation of that union into the CFMEU in 1992.  Albert took up the position of National Senior Vice President at the CFMEU.

Superannuation, redundancy, long service leave – huge benefits for members

Asked about the highlights of his achievements for working people, Albert doesn’t hesitate: “Superannuation”. He was around when construction workers were retiring on to a state pension and when the compulsory Superannuation changes came in during 1984. “I only wish it was in 20 years earlier. People would have been much better off.”

Albert has served as a Trustee on the Cbus Board since 1988. “The fact that 564,000 workers have joined the fund shows it has stood the test of time, even though we’ve had a tough couple of years recently. It has served members well.”

Redundancy and long service leave were other big campaigns for him and ways in which the union movement has served its members.

“It takes many people to get these things up,” Albert says modestly. And he’s worked with “tremendous people over the years, from the BWIU, the BLF, the Metal Workers and the Plumbers Unions. I’m grateful for the way they were prepared to share information and to have had the privilege of working with some very good people.”

Legendary fund-raiser

Albert Littler is also well known in Victoria for his fund-raising and charity events.

The annual AFL Grand Final Breakfast, which has been going for 11 years and draws 620 people, is just one of his achievements. His football connections through his son, who has played for St Kilda, got him involved in that event.

Another of his favourites is the Labor Party dinner which raised half-a-million dollars for Paul Keating’s re-election – “the one that he should have won — we got half of the participants there that night.”

However, one of his most heart warming contributions was to help rebuild the house of a pensioner in Bendigo, after a tornado ripped through the town in May 2003.  “I’m the only CFMEU official who has helped rebuild a house from scratch,” he says. “It was a nightmare, getting all the different trades up to Bendigo, but we did it.” And he has a lasting legacy in the joy they all brought to Albert Alcock’s family.

“I was supported in all this fund-raising by the lovely Marie Picton,” Albert is quick to point out. “We worked as a close team and learnt the art of doing things in the commercial world together. We must have raised millions of dollars for different causes.”

Artworks in Buildings

Another of Albert’s particular contributions was to introduce an art-workers section in the Painters Union. He also campaigned successfully for a 1% levy on all new buildings to go into art-works in those buildings.

“We must have raised up to $200 million for art works,” Albert says.  “Unfortunately, it’s not a priority for unions at this time.”

Albert also oversaw the refurbishment of the Victorian Trades Hall.

Even in retirement, Albert has not yet put down his paint-brush or abandoned his fund-raising activities.

When interviewed for this story, he was working on a house he hoped would give him a bit more security for his retirement.

At the same time, he was still getting sponsors for the Labour Day Race meeting which commemorates the 1856 building workers’ achievement of the 8-hour day in Victoria that then spread to the rest of the country.

“I’m proud of our history and don’t want to lose it,” Albert says.  “That’s why I am involved.”