People Australia

Joseph Peter (Joe) Keenan (1917-1987) musician, mine labourer, alderman and trade union official. 

Birth: 15 September 1917 at Egremont, Cumberland, England, son of Edward Keenan (1882-1933), a miner, serving as a sergeant in the 4th Battalion, Border Regiment during World War I, and Jane Philomena, née Reid (1886-1975). Marriage: 6 July 1949 at Broken Hill, New South Wales, to Beryl Edwards (1926-2022). They had one daughter and three sons. Death: 27 November 1987 in hospital at Broken Hill; usual residence Chapple Street, Broken Hill. Religion: Catholic. 

• Migrated to Australia with his family, departing London with his mother and siblings aboard the P. & O. steamship Ballarat on 5 August 1925. His father, a British Army pensioner, worked on the South Mine at Broken Hill until about 1930.
• Joe completed his schooling at the Sisters of Mercy and at Marist Brothers College at Broken Hill. Joined Broken Hill City Band at age of 14.
• During Depression he worked in shearing sheds and at fruit picking. In 1935 he began his life-long involvement with the Broken Hill labour movement, joining the Musicians Union as a professional trumpeter and represented the Musicians on both the Barrier District Assembly of the ALP and the Barrier Industrial Council (BIC).
• In 1936 he became an underground labourer at the Zinc Corporation where he continued to work until retrenched in 1974.
• Joined the Workers Industrial Union of Australia, remaining with the WIUA for over 50 years, holding the positions of acting president, vice-president, acting check inspector and secretary.
• Was an alderman on Broken Hill City Council from 1953 until 1962, serving for a time as acting mayor.
• Succeeded W. S. O’Neil as BIC president in 1969, retaining post until 1985. As BIC president he had to confront a number of formidable challenges, including mine closures, job loss through mine mechanisation, the boom-and-bust in global metal prices between 1979 and 1984, and major internal challenges to compulsory unionism in Broken Hill (the Latham case) and the bar on the paid employment of married women (the Whitehair case).
• Member of the Hospital Board for 18 years, serving as board vice-president and president.
• Member of the Barrier Industrial Union Band for 52 years, and president of the Musicians’ Union for 41.
• Awarded the Order of Australia medal in January 1987 for his service to the union movement and the community.
• Cause of death: cardio pulmonary arrest (minutes), cancer of prostate with secondaries (2 years) and chronic obstructive airways disease.
• John Shields has written that under Keenan “the first WIUA leader to be elected BIC president — the power built up by the BIC over the previous four decades began to unravel and its ability to shield its domain from the outside world began to crumble”.
• The Joe Keenan lookout giving an excellent panoramic view of Broken Hill and the line of lode is named for him.

Sources
Common Cause, 27 May 1974, 9 December 1987; Barrier Daily Truth, 28 November 1987.