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Stanley Thomas (Stan) Willis (1906–1980)

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Stanley Thomas (Stan) Willis (1906-1980) railway worker, boilermaker, Socialist and trade union official

Birth: 20 April 1906 at Wangaratta, Victoria, son of native-born parents Thomas Willis (1882-1973), railway employee, and Ruth, née Trotman (1885-1910). Marriage: 1935 at North Melbourne to Doris Rosalie Nalder (1910-2007), born at Bendigo, Victoria. They had one daughter and three sons. Death: 4 March 1980 at Williamstown, Melbourne. 

  • Started working life as a labourer on Victorian Railways. Member of the Australia Railways Union.
  • Retained membership of ARU when he started apprenticeship in boilermaking in 1922 as the Boilermakers’ Society did not accept apprentices at the time. Pursued issue of boilermaking apprentices joining appropriate union which was accepted by 1927. Was vice-president of Williamstown branch of the Boilermakers’ Society in 1928. Represented Williamstown Branch on district committee of the Boilermakers’ Society in 1929.
  • Was a member of Socialist Party of Australia from 1924 to 1950.
  • Transferred to the Bendigo Workshops in the Depression years and became active in the Bendigo Trades and Labour Council. Assisted in forming an unemployed movement in Bendigo.
  • Secretary of Williamstown branch of the Boilermakers’ Society in 1946. Member of the Federal Council for many years.
  • Federal president of the Boilermakers and Blacksmiths’ Society in 1965. Upon amalgamation with Amalgamated Engineering Union and the Sheet Metal Working, Agricultural Implement and Stovemaking Industrial Union of Australia he became Commonwealth vice-president of the Amalgamated Metal Workers Union.
  • Became first full-time Workers’ Compensation officer and was a delegate to the Victorian State Council and State Conference.
  • Represented the Australian Council of Trade Unions on Standards Association in regards to noise pollution. Pioneered union research into deafness as an industrial disease.
  • Delegate to Victorian Trades Hall Council and Victorian Australian Labor Party State conferences.
  • Cause of death: widespread cancer of prostate (20 months).

Sources
Amalgamated Metal Workers Monthly Journal, July 1973; Amalgamated News, Mar-April 1980, MUA; Recorder, May 1980 pp.4-7 No.105

Citation details

'Willis, Stanley Thomas (Stan) (1906–1980)', People Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/willis-stanley-thomas-stan-35060/text44211, accessed 26 April 2025.

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