Gordon Mccaskie

Brian Boyd: a Trade Unionist Gordon Mccaskie

This book explores the public and private life of a prominent Australian trade union and labour movement activist, Brian Boyd. As the child of working class Belfast migrants, he grew up in the industrial region of the La Trobe Valley in Victoria before undertaking higher education in that State's capital city, Melbourne. As an undergraduate, he became involved in radical, Left wing student politics, particularly opposition to the Vietnam War and conscription. After completing a BA and Diploma of Education, Boyd joined the militant union, the Builders Labourers Federation as a rank and file activist on building sites and soon became a full-time official for that organisation. In 1988, he was an elected Industrial Officer for the States union peak council, the Victorian Trades Hall and was elected as Secretary in 2005 and again in 2009. The project focusses on significant public events interpreted through the private experiences of this prominent labour activist, particularly the wider issues confronting Australia's trade union movement over his life.