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Menu from a testimonial dinner for Patrick Geraghty

Date21 November 1991

Object number00017852

NameMenu

MediumInk on paper

DimensionsOverall: 209 x 148 mm, 0.015 kg

ClassificationsEphemera

Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from Kevin Fewster

Terms

DescriptionThis dinner menu depicts a black and white photograph of former Federal Secretary of the Seamen’s Union of Australia, Patrick Geraghty. The menu featured at the testimonial dinner for Geraghty, hosted at the Royal Randwick Racecourse on 21 November 1991.HistoryIn 1967, Patrick Geraghty took office as Assistant Federal Secretary of the Seamen’s Union of Australia. Geraghty quickly established his skills as a tenacious industrial advocate which served well in creating the aggregate wage for seafarers during the 1969 Work Value Inquiry. He also contributed to the creation of the Seafarers’ Retirement Fund. In 1979, Geraghty assumed the role of Federal Secretary. During his leadership role, Geraghty was instrumental in the introduction of training and retraining programs for seafarers and mergers with other unions. Geraghty played an international role for the World Federation of Trade, the International Labour Organisation, the Trade Union International and the Maritime Unions Against Apartheid. According the newspaper report in Commercial News, 25 November 1991, the ‘eulogies for…Pat Geraghty, rambled on until well after midnight before the man himself got a chance to speak.’ Despite the fact that over 400 people attended the dinner, the newspaper reported that a second function would be held ‘for those who could not be accommodated at the first.’ This menu from the testimonial dinner serves as a memento of Geraghty’s role in the Seamen’s Union of Australia and illustrates a sense of community amongst the union and its members.SignificanceThe Seamen’s Union of Australia is one of the most influential of the waterfront unions, and Patrick Geraghty was Federal Secretary from 1979 until his retirement in 1991. This menu provides an insight to an event held in honour of one of the most respected individuals in the shipping industry. It displays a sense of community amongst the union and its members.