Hutson, Jack

Full description

Jack Hutson qualified as an engineer. His developing political ideas led him to resign his managerial position and return to work as a tradesman. From that point on, his work as a trade unionist and member of the Communist Party became the primary focus of his life. It was through Jack's role in training and research for the Amalgamated Engineering Union (AEU) that his most substantial work for the union movement was done. He became one of the best-informed unionists on the Australian arbitration and wage fixing system, writing two important books: 'Penal Colony to Penal Powers' (AEU, 1966) and 'Six Wage Concepts' (AEU, 1971). Jack was instrumental in the union movement's planning of strategies for Australia's industrial reconstruction in the 1960s and 1970s. After retiring from the union, Jack worked for the Communist Party, Victorian Office and assumed significant responsibility for the party's financial affairs.