| Record Number |
21198 |
| ISBN |
0646154834 |
| Location |
331.88 BEN |
| Author |
Ayris, Cyril, 1935- (author.). |
| Title |
Tai ko seng : Gordon Bennett of Christmas Island / Cyril Ayris ; [editor, Peter Beck]. |
| Published |
[Perth, W.A.] : Gordon Bennett Education Foundation, 1993. |
| Collation |
ix, 263 pages : illustrations (some colour), portraits ; 23 cm. |
| Content types |
text |
| Carrier type |
volume |
| General Note |
The person who instigated the formation of the union in 1975 was Michael Grimes, a schoollteacher who had been active in teacher trade unions in other Australian states and Papua New Guinea. |
| Summary Note |
"For more than seventy years, Christmas Island was home to thousands ... who slaved under British and Australian rule, digging out the island's valuable phosphate. Known as mai chee chai (bought piglets) they were shipped to the island from Singapore in the holds of stinking steamers, tattooed and put to work in the hot phosphate fields, usually until they died or became too old to be of use. Because of Christmas Island's isolation, it was well into the 1970's before the plight of its Asian population came to light. The British Phosphate Commission, which had run the island from its comfortable offices in London, Melbourne and Auckland, fought every inch of the way with the result that racism, bullying and exploitation remained rife. Even after the [formation of] the Union of Christmas Island Workers in 1975, there still remained two life styles on the tropical island: one for Europeans, one for Asians. The union and the island were on course to oblivion when a lanky, young Englishman called Gordon Bennett flew in to take charge. He was brash, he never refused a dare, he was afraid of nobody - and the islanders idolised him. This is the remarkable story of how a man with only a basic education gathered an island together and beat a government at its own game." - Bookflap. |
| Personal Name |
Bennett, Gordon,1944-1991 |
| Subject |
Labor unions -- Miners -- Christmas Island (Indian Ocean) |
| Labor unions -- Christmas Island (Indian Ocean) -- Official and employees -- Biography |
| Miners -- Labor unions -- Christmas Island (Indian Ocean) |
| Added Name |
Beck, Peter, (editor). |
| Added Corporate Name |
Gordon Bennett Education Foundation |
