I THINK I'LL BE WHARFIE

Watching the Ports of Auckland scrap with the wharfies union  triggered some memories.  I remember in my late 20s when I was climbing my way up the corporate ladder after obtaining my finance degree, I was ran into one of my boyhood neighbours.  His uncle was a big time union and TUC leader and his father was an organiser on the Wellington wharves.  My friend, his father, brother and brother in law all worked on the wharves.  He was a year younger than me but earned twice what I was on at the time despite me having just made finance manager in a bank.  My father said that I would out-earn him in later years.  He was right but I worked out the difference in earnings and made some assumptions about his and my likely increases and worked out I would be about 50 before I caught him in total income earned over the years and in present value terms I would not catch him before 60.  Of course, he had the income while his family were young while I was always broke through the same period. 

The immediate and extended family were all avowed communists, including the big union boss.  He used to ride around in a new German car provided each year by the Union while his members and those of our suburb who could afford cars, drove English bombs 20 to 30 years old.  When at college I read Animal Farm by George Orwell, the whole thing clicked and I think my loathing of communism and unions arose from then. 

Despite what I saw at the time as their political hypocrisy, the family were great people and the stalwarts of many of the sport clubs in our area.  The father was a self-taught man of great humour and could have wonderful discussions with you on politics, acknowledging the irony of being able to have such a debate thanks to capitalism, whereas communism would have shot us both for having such debates. 

With age you realise we all get through life as best we can and the rancour and fixed views of youth soften.  I now remember them all with great affection and mourn their deaths as part of my childhood disappearing.