July 30, 2025
This month, we’re wishing a long and happy retirement to lead Queensland organiser and MEU legend Richard ‘Buff’ Staker. Buff has been instrumental in growing the Mining and Energy Union in Queensland over decades of service, as well as imparting his deep experience and union values to the next generation of MEU organisers.
Buff began his union career as a site delegate of the FEDFA at the Dalrymple Coal Terminal near Hay Point, Central Queensland. In the early 1990s, leadership issues in the Queensland Branch of the union necessitated introducing fresh rank-and-file members into official roles. Despite never intending to stand for such a position, Buff put his hand up at a site meeting in Dalrymple as a short-term stopgap.
It was the start of a 35-year career in the union movement.
Buff became Vice President in the union, overseeing the coal terminals in Rockhampton and Mackay. He was immediately thrown in the deep end, seeing the FEDFA through the process of amalgamation into the CFMEU Mining and Energy Division. This was when he first became an official with the miners.
During this time, Buff earned a reputation for his old-school union values. He held a deep intolerance for unfairness and took great pride in sticking up for people being mistreated. Those who’ve met Buff know this is because he genuinely and deeply believes in the trade union project and loves that he has been able to contribute to it and build union power.
In the early 2000s, Buff took up his first organising role with the Transport Workers Union, covering truckies along the coast around Mackay, Sarina, and Rockhampton, and all the way inland to Longreach. He developed a principle of meeting people where they are – oftentimes literally, holding meetings at rest stops and on the side of the road – to genuinely engage with their concerns and issues.
In December 2006, Buff returned to the miners. At the time, the then Mining and Energy Division was setting up Unite, a national organising team to supplement the efforts of our lodges and districts in growing the union. Buff was one of the first organisers recruited to the fledgling team and proved invaluable in setting up the foundations for success.
Over the years, Buff honed his skills as an organiser, proving able to move very easily between different groups of people and understand their concerns. Rather than front-loading the conversation or resorting to high-pressure tactics, Buff has always taken potential members on a journey, listened to their concerns, and helped them see why joining is both the right thing to do and in their interest.
Buff’s adaptability is also notable. He was in his fifties when he became an organiser, a totally unique profession and one he never expected to undertake. He underwent a personal journey going from worker to official to organiser, which left him as a source of experience and perspective for the other members of the Unite team.
In 2020, Buff became Head Organiser for Unite in Queensland. He brought a lot of cohesion and harmony to Unite and helped stabilise and grow the outfit during a challenging and busy time. At the beginning of his tenure, the labour hire rort was continuing to spread in the industry, and OS was being established on BHP’s Queensland coalfields. However, in the years since, that outlook has changed dramatically. Buff’s leadership was instrumental in the success of Same Job Same Pay, particularly in the recruitment of labour hire workers to the union.
As Head Organiser, Buff has always led by example. He’d never ask someone to do something he wouldn’t do himself and always seeks to tackle challenges head-on. He has high standards and expects effort, but he holds himself to them before criticising others. The only exception is his dislike of home visits, which he says makes him feel like a Jehovah’s Witness.
Buff’s career and his inexhaustible energy have set a high example for young MEU organisers. His wisdom, good humour and steadfast values will be sorely missed, both in the office and out on the road.