August 29, 2024
Frank Baker was a legendary footy player, coal miner, trade unionist and working class poet. His loss is felt across our Union.
Along with many in our union and our Queensland coal mining communities, I was devastated to hear of the loss of Frank Baker earlier this month. I was honoured to speak at his funeral at the footy club in Moranbah, and these are some of the words I shared.
Where do I start on the history of Frank Baker, who was a life member of the MEU in Queensland. He received this honour in 2016 after proudly serving the Union as a rank & file member at its highest levels. Frank was a member of the MEU and its preceding unions through amalgamations for 30 years, an amazing achievement.
Frank’s history in the miners’ union started back in Collinsville in 1983 when he came to the mining town as the rugby league coach. Back in those days the coach got a job in the mine.
They were the only outsiders in those days to get a job in Collinsville, and were coming into a workplace which was fully unionised and a community whose history was about having a go.
Well, it turns out Frank was quite at home. While being the local coach he got to learn and share experiences about the strength in unions, hearing from the likes of sugar Bunker, Errol Coffey and others who worked at the mine and were heavily involved in the football scene.
There is no doubt that Frank’s influence was not just on the football field. When he was there the whole community of Collinsville was humming and very vibrant. They loved their football and loved their coach even more.
A fitter & turner by trade, Frank worked in the main workshop at Collinsville coal mine when he first started. In around 1985, Frank was one of the first to join the UMWA (Miners Federation) from the AMWU. He was one of the first tradesmen to come across. At the time there was some friction around, but this never fazed Frank as he did always what he thought was right and what he believed would make a difference for the collective strength.
There is no doubt that his experiences in Collinsville working in a union mine helped guide him in the Union and being a union coal miner.
As there was change occurring at the Collinsville mine, he took the opportunity to leave like a number of others. He left to work at Gordonstone mine and as we know ARCO sacked the workforce and brought in scabs. Frank, alongside many other families at the time, saw this as an injustice. Frank stood his ground spending time on the picket line and traveling at the request of the union to several places, spreading the message on the injustices which had been thrust upon them all.
While he spent a lot of his time on the picket line at Gordonstone, he also travelled and provided his voice to other ongoing picket lines and disputes right across Queensland and Australia. These included the Curragh picket line, the Hunter Valley dispute and wherever there was a fight occurring. He would always make sure he spoke to the members in his own way and would present a poem on what was occurring. There is no doubt his presence was welcomed, and I know that the members at those locations were always better for both meeting and listening to Frank.
Frank later got a job at Moranbah North mine, which was opened on AWA’s (individual agreements). With Frank’s focus and work ethic he and another former footballer Jeff Nixon set up the first lodge and won the first enterprise agreement and union agreement.
After working at MNC he moved across to Peak Downs open cut. He again undertook roles as shift delegate while working at the wash plant. It was in his time at Peak Downs he was first elected to the position of Central Councillor for Queensland, as a result of a vote by all the rank & file members in the state.
He was first elected in 2004 and he held the role until his retirement in 2015. Frank was known for his thoughtful contributions and his willingness to represent the views of members. You could count on Frank to give the unvarnished opinion from the coalface even if it wasn’t what leaders wanted to hear.
As you have heard Frank held many positions within the Union structures from shift delegate to lodge president and then the role of Central Councillor – the highest level a rank and file member can achieve in the miners’ union. Through it all Frank’s passion and commitment for the Union and its members never once left him. He attended union meetings, picket lines, community events – wherever his Union needed him to help.
Frank was committed to his comrades at the mine site, but he was also committed to the international struggle for workers’ rights. Frank attended forums and events on behalf of the miners’ union across the globe including in the USA, South Africa, Brazil and elsewhere.
For a lot of us here today his poems and the way he delivered them was something else. They were always written from the heart and with passion, in the moment for the event he was at. His words were carefully chosen and delivered a punch and message to all those who were present. His goal was wanting to lift the spirts of those present. There was no more special place to Frank than being on the front line at a picket when those on strike needed support and a lift.
Frank was also very heavily involved in politics – helping those who had his trust, and he believed would make a difference. In my involvement with Frank, he could be the voice of reason or the voice everyone needed to stop and listen to when he raised his voice to oppose or suggest a different path. I will be ever indebted to Frank for his support and the loyalty he showed me, and he always had my back.
He was the most humble, compassionate and toughest man I have ever met. He was a mentor and a leader of the highest order. He was a true working-class hero who always led from the front, never taking a backwards step and always being the first to offer his support.
To me, as a kid growing up in Collinsville, he was my hero. Being able to work with him in later life made me understand what a true inspiration he was to us all.
The unions have lost a true legend of the movement, but I know his spirt and memories will live on in us all.
Stephen Smyth is the General Vice President of the Mining and Energy Union