Meet the Illawarra’s man of steel - a union stalwart and legendary fighter for workers’ rights.
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Fred Moore just turned 93, but age won’t weary his desire to save an industry that has been the backbone of this region for more than 80 years and secure a strong future for generations to come.
Fred wasn’t a steelworker, he worked in the region’s mines - but the two are inextricably linked. Heavy industries have always backed each other during tough times and, in 2015, that sense of unity remains.
Despite having been through plenty of strike action in his time, Fred was again in the thick of the action at last month’s Save Our Steel rally.
"I wouldn't miss that, I've been in every rally that's ever been on around the place ... in the last 60-odd years anyhow,” Fred, from Dapto, said.
He recalled previous big disputes, including one that sticks in his mind - the 1982 stay-in strike at Mount Keira’s Kemira Colliery, where coal miners protested BHP's plan to axe 400 jobs.
“The steelworks was always very close in the fights, in years gone by they’ve all stood together, shoulder-to-shoulder,” he said.
“We'll never stand by and watch them close down the steelworks because that'd be a disaster for everyone.”
The steel rally on September 19 saw more than 1000 people fill the lower end of Wollongong’s Crown Street Mall - a heartening moment for the union stalwart.
Negotiations in offices are one thing, Fred says, but when labour grinds to a halt and the workers’ voices are heard “coming through the windows”, that’s what prompts action.
"When the workers are on the street that's where the fight is won,” he said.
“It's not just for show or anything, it's for determination and a desperation to sustain your jobs and workplaces ... that have been handed down for generations.
"If the steelworks go someone else will go next, all around them. There's the people that make the boots and the people that make all the other stuff, helmets and aprons, whatever they use in there.
“In reality, the shops should have all closed their doors and joined in the demonstration because if we [the steelworkers] go down, they'll go with them. It’s their fight as well as ours.”
Fred is no stranger to the union movement. He has life membership of the Miners’ Federation (now the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union), the South Coast Labour Council (SCLC) and the region’s May Day Committee. He is a honorary life member of the Maritime Union.
Fred is also well-known to the Illawarra’s Aboriginal community - many of whom call him “Uncle” in recognition of his fight for their rights.
Back on steel, Fred praised the hard work of SCLC secretary Arthur Rorris, Australian Workers Union Port Kembla branch secretary Wayne Phillips and the Save Our Steel campaigners. His assessment of the government’s stance on steel, however, was rather blunt.
"The politicians are where it'll stay and if they let them [steelworkers] down, well they're gone,” he said.
"I'm hopeful but, knowing this government, it's a very vicious government and they won't put themselves out much to save the steelworks because they've got other plans of bringing in cheap stuff offshore.”
Fred can’t bear to think what will become of the region if it ends up being at the mercy of imported steel and said Australia could continue to make the best steel in the world “if they wanted to”.
“Australian resources are going offshore to make cheap steel and bring it back into Australia; but it's shoddy, it's not the top stuff, and they'll suffer badly for it in the long-term,” he said.
“I mightn't live long enough to see it, but you'll find that, in time, it will start to fret and they'll have problems with it because it’s a secondary steel, it’s cheaper but it’s not quality.”
