Deposit P102 - C H Fitzgibbon collection

Charlie Fitzgibbon was born in Carrington, New South Wales, on 17 January 1922. He studied at Cook's Hill Primary and Newcastle Boys' High School. In 1938 he went to work for the Waterside Workers' Federation of Australia as a clerk in the Newcastle Office. In January 1942 he became a waterside worker in Newcastle. He was elected a Federal Councillor to the Waterside Workers' Federation (WWF) in July 1953 and became president and vigilance officer for the Newcastle Branch in 1954. He was also president of the Newcastle Trades & Labour Council 1957-1959. In 1961 he was elected General Secretary of the WWF. In the early 1950s he joined the Australian Labor Party and was member of the State Executive 1959-1971; and Administrative Committee of the ALP from 1971-1979. From September 1967 until 1979 Fitzgibbon was Transport Group representative for the ACTU. In June 1973 he was Australian advisor to the International Labour Organization (ILO) and in 1979 was appointed to a Committee of Experts to revise the ILO Code of Safety and Health in Dock Work. In 1981 he was elected Senior Vice President of the ACTU. In 1983 he retired from the WWF and was appointed to the Board of the Reserve Bank for a five year term. In 1984 he was appointed an Associate Commissioner of the Industries Assistance Commission (IAC) for the inquiry into the heavy engineering industry, and in 1985 as Commissioner of the IAC. He was awarded an Order of Australia in 1984. Fitzgibbon died on 19 February 2001, aged 79.