Obituaries Australia

Flo Cluff, 1983 [detail]

State Library of New South Wales, 110370324

Flo Cluff (Davis) passed away suddenly on September 12 at the age of 87. Right up to the end Flo maintained her activity against oppression and on behalf of the underprivileged and deprived.

She was born in the mining town of Chillagoe, north Queensland, one of eight children. At the age of 14 Flo gained a State Scholarship to continue her studies in Cairns. Her ambition to become a teacher was cut short just before her final exams with the tragic accidental death of her father and the loss shortly after of her mother. Flo was required to look after and rear her five brothers.

In 1931 she went to Brisbane to work and it was here among the unemployed that her interest in socialism was further developed through the discussions and activity of the Unemployed Workers Movement. As a result she sought out the Communist Party in order to join but was told to come back when she "understood a bit more".

Flo came to Sydney in 1935 and continued to work in the catering industry. Conditions in the industry were shocking — 13 hour broken shifts, six days a week for about two pounds ($4) a week. The union was virtually non-existent and employers did as they liked.

To make life even more difficult, Flo fell pregnant. She found work as a part-time (mid-day) waitress and when the father of her daughter, Barbara, turned up nine months later they married. She devoted great love and attention to Barbara and the two were very close.

Flo joined the Communist Party in 1937 and threw her considerable energy into the political and trade union movement. She linked up with two other activists in the Hotel, Club and Restaurant Employees Union (HCR), Topsy Small and Vic Workman. These three people were the organising spearhead to change the character of the union and the industry.

In 1939 Topsy Small was elected an organiser of the HCR and in 1940 Flo was elected to the Executive and a short time later became a full time organiser. Topsy, Flo, Vic and later Wynne Washington and Cliff Williams radicalised the Union and established a new dignity and pride in the industry.

In 1941 Flo was elected Assistant Secretary and in 1942, Secretary. She was only the second female union secretary to be elected (Cecilia Shelley, HCR in WA, was the first) in Australia.

Flo was a delegate to Labor Council for 30 years and played a leading role in the struggle for equal pay for women and although not yet fully achieved, the efforts of Flo and others made big advances towards equal pay.

She was a strong advocate of country trade union organisation, initiating and sharing the cost for a full-time country organiser when funds were meagre. Under her leadership the five day working week in the catering industry was established.

She spearheaded the amalgamation of the HCR with the Liquor Trades Union (LTU) as a means of strengthening the organisation of the workers in the hospitality industry. For a time she was the Assistant Secretary of the amalgamated union. As well as her exacting union responsibilities she still found time and energy to devote to the struggle for women's rights.

In 1968 when she retired from the union, Flo was named Woman of the Year by the International Women's Day Committee. At her send-off, all shades of the political spectrum were there to pay their respects.

Although Flo was entitled to rest on her achievements and retire gracefully in 1968, her commitment didn't end. She and her husband Eric joined the Combined Pensioners Association and when the Secretary passed away Flo became the secretary of the statewide organisation taking up the fight on behalf of pensioners.

All of this remarkable woman's life was spent struggling for peace, against all forms of injustice and helping people to improve their lot. In recognition of this outstanding contribution she was awarded the Order of Australia in 1988.

To husband Eric, daughter Barbara, grand-children Pauline, Richard and Cathryn, brothers Jack, Bert and Frank, Tribune extends sincere condolences.