Celebrating AWU Life Members: Autumn 2025

Jeff Buhler
Awarded 10 February 2025

The AWU NSW Branch proudly awarded Senior Vice-President Jeff Buhler with Life Membership after 30 years of service to the union as a delegate and organiser.

Jeff joined the AWU as soon as he started working at the BHP Sydney Steel Mill, became a site delegate a year later, and then joined the Greater NSW Branch Executive in 2006. In 2010, Jeff joined the NSW Branch as an organiser, where he covered sites across Western Sydney, including the Australian Turf Club, ARC, Air Liquide, Zinfra (formerly Jemena) and CoreGas.

Over fifteen years, Jeff helped negotiate countless EA’s, reinstated members, and secured back pay and wage increases for workers. “I was just doing my job,” he says. “There’s no ‘big win’ or standout moment for me. Every agreement and member is important in their own right. I’m proud that I was able to be there for our members when they needed me most and do my best to get a good outcome.”

Jeff with members at ARC.

During the amalgamation of the Greater NSW, Newcastle and Wollongong Branches in 2016, Jeff was elected Vice-President.

He remembers the tensions at the time, but says the merger was all for the better. “It’s good to see that we’re all working together now,” he says. “We had to make some hard calls but it’s clear now that we’re stronger than ever as one unit. You need to be able to adapt, and we did that. Coming into the technical age, getting the tools to do our jobs and working as teams means that no one is doing it on their own. The Union is in much better shape going into the future.”

In 2020, Jeff was elected NSW Senior Vice-President and is also a Vice-President at Unions NSW. As he heads into retirement, Jeff says the thing he’ll miss the most is the people. “I’ll miss the camaraderie amongst the branch, the members, and the delegates that became good mates.”

John Boyd
Awarded 11 January 2025

The AWU NSW Branch has awarded John Boyd with Life Membership in recognition of his lifetime contribution to the union movement. For nearly fifty years, John has been a proud member across five iterations of our union, including the Tobacco Workers’ Union, the FIA and FIMEE, the amalgamated AWU-FIMEE, and finally the AWU. He’s worked at a tobacco facility, BHP Bar Mill, concrete yards, and then at Black & Decker Newcastle before becoming an organiser with the AWU in 1995.

His roles at the AWU include recruitment officer, organiser, lead organiser, Newcastle Assistant Branch Secretary and Senior-Vice President, and his patch covered the Hunter, organising “too many shops to name” from scratch.

John’s proudest moment as an AWU organiser was the Boeing Dispute – 265 days on the grass, which started in 2006. The picket line grew to a huge community supported by the locals and unionists around the world. “It was a principled dispute based on our right to collectively bargain,” John explains. “It changed legislation and helped pave the way for majority support decisions in our industrial system.”

John on the Boeing picket line

But John also notes being an organiser can come with significant challenges. “The hardest part is when members pass away on the job,” he says. “Nothing ever prepares you for it.” He’s also witnessed the decline of manufacturing in the Hunter and the closing of AWU sites, including BHP, ELMA, Black & Decker, and the Kurri Kurri Smelter. “We lost thousands and thousands of jobs.”

“And these were jobs where our members could pay off a house, and have a good life with their families – real jobs that made a comfortable living that aren’t here anymore. It’s very sad for the Hunter.”

But as he looks back on his time with the AWU, John says he had a lot of fun doing it all. “It was never just a job for me, more of a way of life.” He says. “The AWU allowed me to be me.”

James (Jim) Phelan
Awarded 23rd November 2024

James (Jim) Phelan has been a loyal and committed AWU Member for 40 years with his workplace being in the most remote and harshest areas of Australia – the Cooper Basin in South Australia (Santos).

Jim over this time has been instrumental in achieving outcomes (especially as a Site convenor) that still remain today. He and our members were at the forefront of Award restructuring and the two-tier negotiations of the late 1980’s, which saw our members lock in outcomes pertinent to their workplace.

Jim’s ability to “rally the troops” was second to none, and he defended the AWU from other union attacks, often signing across those members.

He also was a quasi-union official during his time working for Santos, given the hours of work (2-on 2-off) and that an AWU official could just not jump in a car and travel to site.

He dealt with (in most cases successfully) all manner of industrial issues confronting AWU  members in the Cooper Basin and South-West Queensland, particularly in 2001.

Whenever he could, Jim would recruit from the contractor ranks in the Cooper Basin and had a huge presence in the field. When he was off roster, Jim would assist Santos members, AWU officials and AWU members working for contractors.

Jim was, during the enterprise bargaining era, the head of the union negotiating forum as convenor, sometimes having to caucus with some 14 delegates across an area the size of Victoria, working different shift patterns. Jim was employed as a utility man until 2010, and following a sustained campaign in the 2000’s for competency-based outcomes, became one of the first apprentices in almost 25 years to become a fitter and turner – again working for Santos.

Over Jim’s entire journey as an employee of Santos, he has dealt with all the changes thrown at workers by conservative governments. With the help of members in the Cooper Basin, he’s achieved outcomes that changed the landscape in South Australia’s gas industry.

Martin (Marty) Hilton
Awarded 23rd November 2024

The South Australian Branch has awarded Marty with AWU Life Membership after 45 years of dedicated service at the Whyalla steelworks.

Marty first joined in 1979, when he began as a blast furnace operator, a position he held until his retirement at the end of 2024. He became a delegate in 1983, holding the position through nine enterprise agreements and representing several hundred members through industrial and workers’ compensation matters. Marty also goes the extra mile for retired AWU members, their families and the Whyalla community, helping out after hours and on his days off.

Over 45 years at the steelworks, Marty has seen four employers: BHP, OneSteel, Arrium and GFG Liberty. He’s supported AWU members through shipyards closing, floods, fires, WHS issues, wage cuts, maintenance issues, and shutdowns, and was heavily involved in the Arrium administration. Marty worked tirelessly with the AWU to secure a new owner for the steelworks and protect the jobs of over 1,100 workers.

Marty became an executive member of the Whyalla Woomera Branch from 1990, and played a pivotal role in the amalgamation with the Greater South Australian Branch in 2009, ensuring its success. He also served as Whyalla United Trades and Labor Council Treasurer from 2004-2022, and was a long-time ALP branch member – and the steelworks snake catcher for over twenty years!

In 2025, South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas awarded Marty with a special Recognition of Service to the South Australian steel industry. Despite hanging up his hat at the end of last year, Marty has continued to support his union, and was active in the AWU’s fight for government intervention at the steelworks. His dedication to the union over an incredible five decades has played an undeniable role in ensuring the Whyalla steelworks operates to this day.

Marty with South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas