People Australia

Joseph James (Joe) Owens (1935-2012) builders’ labourer, trade union official and conservationist 

Birth: 28 May 1935 at Benfieldside, Consett, County Durham, England, son of Francis Owens, labourer, sometime coal miner, and Frances, née Welsh. Marriages: (1) details unknown. (2) details unknown. They had one son (Frank). (3) 1982 to Jan Sinclair (previously de facto partner). Death: 6 September 2012. Survived by Jan, son Frank, stepdaughters Sara and Justine and five grandchildren. 

• Educated at a local Catholic school, he received a very basic level of education and left home at 17 years of age after his father had died.
• He determined not to become a coalminer like his father who had died from the crippling black-lung disease. Performed national service for two years. Joined merchant navy for one year primarily to travel the world.
• Jumped ship in New Zealand and worked in the building industry as a rigger on Auckland's new bridge for two years.
• Caught a steamer to Sydney with some friends. A police sergeant awaited their arrival at the dock told them to either turn around or at least get out of Sydney. Moved on to Queensland. Was employed as a cane cutter for a few years. Returned to Sydney. Worked in the building industry as a dogman ''riding the hook'' (of a crane).
• Joined the NSW branch of the Builders Labourers Federation (BLF). Quickly became active, representing workers driven by concern with poor safety, conditions and pay. Was a union delegate and later union organiser of the BLF. Led campaign to eliminate sometimes lethal practice of "riding the hook" which was won by the time Owens left the industry.
• Assistant secretary of the NSW branch of the BLF in 1970 on a team with president Bob Pringle and secretary Jack Mundey, who promoted the democratisation of the union, allowing members a greater voice and limiting tenure of union executive. This leadership became a concern for big business, government, and other union leaders.
• BLF leadership was approached by Hunters Hill residents in 1971 to assist their campaign to save the last piece of open land in the area, known as Kelly's Bush, from being turned into an expensive housing estate. BLF held public meeting and placed its first 'green ban' on a site. This proved a successful method as Kelly's Bush remained a public reserve. The success encouraged other resident groups concerned about development to seek support from the NSW branch of the BLF.
• Became secretary of the NSW branch of the BLF from 1973 to 1975.
• Owens continued to hold particular concern for safety and conditions for building workers. Continued to use the green ban method to successfully preserve many of Sydney's historic buildings and green spaces.
• By 1974, forty-two green bans had been imposed causing millions of dollars worth of development to be postponed or abandoned. Jack Mundey recalls this height of the industrial power of the NSW Branch of the BLF with the establishment outraged reflected at one point with the Sydney Morning Herald running five editorials antagonistic to them within 13 days. Mundey is reported as saying that Owens, who succeeded him as NSW BLF secretary, was a ''great believer'' in workers' rights and ''that ordinary people have a say in society''. Owens is reported as saying that the green bans empowered workers: ''Too many people have regarded their position in life as immutable. Then came our green bans and now they realise they can fight the developers and all the other exploiters.''
• Among the iconic sites saved were The Rocks, Centennial Park, the Botanic Gardens and Woolloomooloo. Dr Meredith Burgmann became a green bans activist and long-time friend of Owens. She is reported as saying: ''Although the philosophical force behind the green bans was certainly Jack Mundey, the actual physical struggle was largely commanded by Joe Owens. He was the secretary of the Builders Labourers from 1973 to 1975, which were the focus years for the real showdown between the union and the big developers. Joe being arrested on picket lines or during occupations was a familiar sight during this time.''
• Critics of the green bans pointed to a middle-class elite benefiting from the greens bans. However, Owens viewed the beneficiaries of their actions as being working-class residents who could remain in their communities and he had the belief that those suburbs should be preserved for poorer people as areas of low-rents.
• Also, Owens was concerned with furthering women's and homosexual rights. In 1973, the BLF held a strike at Macquarie University in support of Jeremy Fisher, who was expelled from student accommodation for admitting he was homosexual. They threatened similar action at the University of Sydney in support of a women's studies course which led to the professorial board overturning a veto on the course.
• The Federal branch of the BLF, led by Norm Gallagher, intervened in the NSW branch and took steps to remove Owens and his executive causing the green bans movement to dissipate in 1975. The federal branch viewed the agenda of the BLF as overstepping traditional union boundaries. During the federal intervention the NSW branch members became locked out of jobs which led to the NSW executive stepping down as they had lost their power base. Owens's team was then blacklisted.
• Later revelations showed that the Master Builders Association was supportive of Gallagher's intervention. The NSW leadership won back their right to represent NSW workers, through taking court action. Thereby these members won back their ability to work. However, despite legal rights being restored, Gallagher maintained the blacklist.
• Owens was left without a job. He took on any work he could find. He sought to re-enter the industry in the 1980s as a member of the Federated Engine Drivers and Firemen's Association. Became the project delegate for the Darling Harbour development. Established a training company with his wife. Long-time friend, and lawyer during the Gallagher case, Tom Kelly, is said to have remarked of Owens that ''He was tough and resilient and absolutely straight. He was one of the most naturally articulate persons I have ever met. Fine words just emerged like water out of a tap.''
• Owens was a long-term member of the Communist Party of Australia. He met long-term partner and later wife, Jan Sinclair, during the campaign to preserve Glebe from Premier Askin's plans to build a freeway through the suburb. They shared a house with Jan's former husband and their two daughters (and his new partner). Later settled in Nambucca Heads.
• A memorial service to commemorate his life was held at the NSW Trades Hall and the cranes of Sydney stopped for one minute on 20 September 2012.

Sources
See Joseph Owens collection Z235, Noel Butlin Archives Centre, Australian National University; Sydney Morning Herald, 29 September 2012.