Vale Ray Gietzelt: Sept 1922 - Oct 2012

Ray Gietzelt AO was a key figure in Australia’s union movement and Labor politics throughout the second half of the 20th Century. A war veteran who trained as a chemist, Gietzelt led the fight to democratise and modernise what was the Federated Miscellaneous Workers Union (FMWU) and which is now United Voice, one of Australia’s biggest unions.

Ray Gietzelt was born on 29 September 1922 in Sydney to Arthur Anton Gietzelt and Ida Caroline Gietzelt (nee Stoward). Ida had been employed as a stenographer in Townsville when she met Arthur, operator of a taxi service in the town. When they moved to Sydney Arthur established a tyre business in Newtown. The tyre business collapsed when the Great Depression struck in 1929 and the Gietzelt family struggled financially, often finding it difficult to pay the rent despite the resourcefulness of his enterprising father.

Gietzelt was the middle of three children. His older brother Arthur was also active in politics and was elected as a Senator for NSW in 1970 and served as a Minister in the Hawke government.

In 1940 Gietzelt joined the FMWU, the union which covered chemical workers. He worked a 44 hour week at a chemical company he was studying chemistry two nights a week at Ultimo Technical College.

When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbour, Gietzelt joined the Army, becoming a member of the Transport Company of the Australian Military Forces. He was 19 at the time. When his training ended in 1942 he applied for a transfer to the 9th Field Company, Royal Australian Engineers and within weeks was transferred to Papua New Guinea where he served until his discharge in September 1945.

On 18 December 1945, just months after returning home, Gietzelt married Violet May Hinchliffe in Sydney. They had met in 1942 and their romance continued for the rest of their lives.

In 1945 when the war ended Gietzelt re-joined the union and he soon became embroiled in its internal struggles. These struggles are set out in his memoirs Worth Fighting For, published in 2004.

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