People Australia

Tom Wright, c.1950s

City of Sydney Archives, 596158

Thomas Wright (1902-1981) metal worker, trade union official and Communist alderman

Birth: 25 February 1902 at Kinross, Fife, Scotland, son of Scottish-born John Euston Wright (1868-1930), seaman, later labourer, and Kathleen, née Jessup, late Wallace (1870-1954), born in London, England. Marriage: 23 January 1941 at the registry office, Five Dock, Sydney, to Mary née McAdam, late Lamm (1903-1993), a widow & CPA activist: the relationship had begun in 1930. They had one son. Death: 10 January 1981 at Calvary Hospital, Kogarah, Sydney; usual residence Banksia Street, Greenacre. 

• Migrated with his family to Sydney in 1911, settling at Redfern. He attended public school at Redfern to age 13, then went to Hurstville.
• At 14 he apprenticed as a sheetmetal worker at Wunderlich's, where he was strongly influenced by the Australian Socialist Party member and Communist Party of Australia (CPA) co-founder Paddy Drew. He went bush for two years after completing his apprenticeship, then returned to Sydney and his trade in 1923.
• Became active in union and politics, joining both the Australian Labor Party and the CPA. He was secretary of the Hurstville branch of the ALP, but was expelled from the party when the decision was made to expel communists.
• Member, CPA Central Committee 1924; financial secretary, then general secretary of CPA (about late 1925), holding the latter position until a leadership change in late 1929.
• 1924, treasurer of NSW branch of Sheetmetal Workers' Union (SWU) and delegate to Labor Council of NSW (remaining delegate until his retirement in 1973); visited the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics as union delegate 1927; credited with having gained NSW support for formation of the Australian Council of Trades Unions in 1927, subsequently serving as delegate to ACTU Congress. Re-elected to CPA Central Committee in 1931
• During the 1930s Depression he worked intermittently at his trade but spent most of his time as a CPA organiser among the unemployed and in the Militant Minority Movement and as propagandist in Red Leader & Trade Union Leader, editing the latter.
• Elected State secretary of SWU 1936 and SWU federal president in 1940 (retaining both positions until SWU amalgamated with other metal unions in 1972 to form Amalgamated Metal Workers' Union); edited Sheetmetal Worker.
• Labor Council of NSW vice-president 1937-40; member ACTU executive 1939-1941 and 1961-1965; foundation member of Metal Trades Federation 1943, delegate 1943-1973 and vice-chairman 1952-1973. He was usually unopposed in union elections but when he was opposed he won by large majorities.
• Supporter of Aboriginal rights; in 1930s persuaded Labor Council of NSW & CPA to adopt policy of absolute Aboriginal ownership of tribal lands. Associated, with Brian Fitzpatrick, in civil liberties movement during the 1930s. Active in peace movement before and after World War II.
• Active in campaign for equal pay during World War II, initiating a women's organising committee within the SWU for female metal industry workers.
• Stood as a CPA candidate in both parliamentary and local government elections. In 1952 he was elected an alderman to Sydney City Council; re-elected 1954 but was defeated in 1959 when the voting system changed to eliminate proportional representation.
• Led left-wing delegations to China in 1952 and Cuba in 1963. Resigned from the CPA with his wife 1971, but did not join another party.
• NSW president and vice-president of the Commonwealth Council of AMWU 1972-1973. Renowned within union movement for his availability to members, powers of reasoned persuasion, and incorruptibility.
• Author of Russia To-day, 1927; Lenin and the Trade Unions, 1930; We Demand Peace, 1937; A Real Social Insurance Plan, 1937; Fair Deal for Aborigines, 1939, 2nd ed. 1945; The Basic Wage, 1943; World Trade Union Federation, 1945; United Action Wins, 1947; Australians Visit People's China: Report of the First Australian Trade Union Delegation, 1952; numerous articles in Communist Review Australian Left Review, & Sheetmetal Worker.
• Cause of death: carcinoma of rectum. 

Sources
Thomas Wright Papers, Butlin Archives ANU; records of SWU, Butlin Archives ANU; records of ACTU, Butlin Archives ANU; Labor Council of NSW Minutes, State Library of NSW; R. Brodney Papers, Latrobe Library [State Library of Victoria],; B. Fitzpatrick Papers, National Library of Australa; CPA records, State Library of NSW; information from family, union associates & Union of Australian Women.