MEET SHARKEY

Introducing Liam Sharkey, the ETU’s newest organiser taking over the north Queensland patch so well represented by Wal Giordani for over 17 years

“Fighting and standing up for workers isn’t a job to me, it’s a passion! Being able to make a difference in someone’s life, achieve wins and outcomes for workers is what drives me to get up, keep fighting and give my all for members every day!”

Back in May 2019, Liam was an ETU delegate attending his first Biennial Conference, fast forward to December 2022 and Liam is settling into his new role as state organiser for the North Queensland region Back in 2019, we wrote a short piece about Liam’s experience at the conference, and even back then you couldn’t question his commitment and passion for standing up for workers

“I chose to put my hand up [to be a delegate] as I have always been vocal with raising issues and believe I am reasonable and fair in my dealings I enjoy being someone my workmates can turn to for help and advice, raising issues and helping come up with solutions to better our workplace for everyone, and most of all achieving positive outcomes for all our ETU members in our workplace and industry.”

Liam was born in Australia’s Sugar Capital, Mackay, but has lived and worked most of his 32 years on the Gold Coast Born in 1990 to Leo, 73, and Therese, 72, Liam joined older sister Karen, born 5 years prior, to complete the clan Both parents migrated from Europe, with Leo hailing from Ireland and Therese from Malta While their families were from different parts of the same continent, they did have some striking similarities

“Both my parents grew up on farms, my dad on a beef farm in Ireland while mum grew on a cane farm in Mackay after her parents migrated from Malta”

The Sharkey clan has another thing in common – they have all been proud members of their union at one time or another

“My dad, while he is retired now, was an electrician by trade After moving out to Australia when he was 20, dad worked in various jobs ending up with QANTAS where he worked for more than 30 years and was a passionate member of the TWU and a workplace delegate at various times While his mum performed various administrative roles from the age of 15 onwards including a 10-year period with AGC Finance where she was a member of the old Federated Clerks Union (ASU) Later in life, she worked in the office at Catholic Education until she retired at 70” While Liam’s sister Karen is the Women’s Heath Pharmacist working out of the Gold Coast University Hospital with Q Health “My sister Karen has been in pharmacy since leaving school and is a long-time member of her union, UWU”

The journey begins...

“I decided I wanted to be an electrician after completing work experience for a big EBA company Richard Flanagan and Company working on the Gold Coast Casino upgrade 2 days a week in year 10 when I was around 15 years old Following that positive experience, I completed an electrical pre-vocational course with Electrogroup while I was in year 12 Once I completed high school I applied for an apprenticeship through Electrogroup, but while I couldn’t find a host, I did find the union, or more accurately, it found me An organiser from the ETU came into to talk to the new recruits about the union what it did and so on and I remember going home to get dad’s opinion He explained the benefits and advised me ‘to join and get involved’ which I did”

Following a short period of time Liam was successful in getting a directly-employed apprenticeship with the same company he had completed work experience with, RFC Armed with his union membership and a desire to learn so began Liam’s electrical industry and ETU journey

Liam says working in a decently-sized EBA company was a massive plus Not only did he get experience in construction, service and solar but most importantly he got a great union education as well “Being a large

“I decided I wanted to be an electrician after completing work experience for a big EBA company Richard Flanagan and Company working on the Gold Coast Casino upgrade 2 days a week in year 10 when I was around 15 years old Following that positive experience, I completed an electrical pre-vocational course with Electrogroup while I was in year 12 Once I completed high school I applied for an apprenticeship through Electrogroup, but while I couldn’t find a host, I did find the union, or more accurately, it found me An organiser from the ETU came into to talk to the new recruits about the union what it did and so on and I remember going home to get dad’s opinion He explained the benefits and advised me ‘to join and get involved’ which I did”

Following a short period of time Liam was successful in getting a directly-employed apprenticeship with the same company he had completed work experience with, RFC Armed with his union membership and a desire to learn so began Liam’s electrical industry and ETU journey

Liam says working in a decently-sized EBA company was a massive plus Not only did he get experience in construction, service and solar but most importantly he got a great union education as well “Being a large EBA company I was lucky to work around plenty of great tradies and staunch unionists who took me in and educated me They also instilled proper union values into me from the beginning of my electrical career which have stuck with me and shaped me into the person I am today”

The good, the bad, and the downright ugly

Over the next 13 or so years Liam worked in a variety of roles across different sectors of the industry He’s been in construction, service, solar, state government and FIFO During this time, he has regularly been elected to the role of delegate by his peers and before taking on the organiser role, he was a state senior delegate

Like so many in our industry, Liam has experienced the camaraderie of FIFO life, the euphoria of victory and the outrageous realities of industrial bastardry firsthand He talks us through some of the most poignant

“One highlight for me would have to be while working over in the west building a big mining camp With all of us being away from our families on a 4 week on 1 week off FIFO roster the crew we had on that job created a workplace culture which was like one big family From the storeman to the project managers, we all looked after each other, and genuinely cared about each other Lifelong friendships were created on that job, it was really something special to be a part of”

“The worst workplace I have ever worked in is a particular depot I was at, which was purely on the back of the toxic local management This was a management that was untrustworthy, dishonest, anti-worker and anti-union, which was felt within and around the entire workplace With bullying of workers and constant attacks on our trade over the years I worked there, it was the worst I have ever witnessed and was a really tough environment to handle”

“However, despite the toxic management culture at that depot, the culture and camaraderie amongst the workers and work crews there and across the state was the complete opposite It was without a doubt the best union cultured workplace I have ever been a part of, with the local membership always at or around 95% - 100% at that depot and above 90% across the whole state We have active delegates and a great structure in place which ensures every member’s voice is heard, every member has each other’s back, it really was a thing of beauty If one member anywhere in the state, got a raw deal every member stood up!”

“I have been a part of some successful EBA wins over the years, but the one that stands out to me was when we achieved pay parity with another department When I first arrived the union presence was not overly strong, and the wages for tradespeople were well below par With an EBA coming up I got to work educating and listening Over time we turned the union culture around completely, at one stage we achieved 100% membership as we geared up for a fight to achieve a fair outcome in the soon to be negotiated EBA”