Why I will not give up!

Why I will not give up!

1941       A young Australian lies on the beach of Crete wounded he has endured months of battle through Africa, Greece and Crete he is about to enter into a long captivity by the Germans; “I will get back to OZ, I will never give up.”

1959       A young mother with four young boys aged under ten husband dies very suddenly. She vows; “I will never give you up, we will always be a family, I love you beyond life.”

1968       A young sheet metal apprentice has his first day on the job is assigned to a big, old, grey and gruff tradesman/union delegate. The first thing he says to the apprentice is; “The first rule is we always take care of our mates, if you don’t want to do that piss off.”

1973       A young fiancée of an idealistic young man dreaming of adventure and changing the world confronts him saying; “I will come with you I will stick by you no matter what, I will never give you up.”

1977       A young soldier is confronted by his Warrant Officer instructor; “We never ever leave our mates behind, never, even unto death.”

1985       A young officer on basic officer course is told; “You are the first in and the last out, no exception” and “Your soldier’s welfare is your first and most important responsibility all else is trifles. “

1991       A radiographer is told; “You have not a hope of running your own business, no money, no experience, no connections” the radiographer smiles saying; ‘’ I do not have much money, no experience, no connections, but I do have guts, I will never give up, watch me you bastard.”

1998       A man’s step father approaches death, in those last days as they ponder their life together they agree that the last few years had been wonderful. Days spent working together on projects and machinery. The older man say’s “We never gave up on anything we always worked it out that’s what I liked best.”

2003       Radiographer completes Business degree by correspondence after 6.5 years of study.

2012       A book called “Kiss of the King Brown” is self-published by an author who left school at 16 years of age, the book took eight years to write.

2014       A book called “A letter to my Daughters” is about to be published (JoJo Publishing) by that same author.

2014       A man and his wife agree as they approach their fortieth wedding anniversary that they have had a wonderful life together through the good and hard times. Raising four beautiful daughters and now enjoying eight grandchildren. They have participated in volunteer/church work, Army, running their own business, travelling all over Australia, and lately work at a much easier pace. They agree with the following “sometimes they failed, sometimes they won, but they always tried, they never gave up.”

2014       The same man is now embroiled in an Industrial dispute with a huge medical industrial company he is the volunteer union delegate for radiographers and ancillary staff at a radiology department in a large public hospital.  Over a year of tortuous talks and submissions then stalemate and after various industrial actions and walkouts with this entity whose idea of negotiation is to bluff and threaten he has been locked out twice on no pay the first time for a month. Someone asks him “Why don’t you just give in?” Knowing as you do a little of his history, what do you think his answer will be?

Notes: 

·         1941 The young soldier is my dad Jimmy Condliffe POW for over four years in Germany he survived a death march in the last weeks of the war fleeing with his German guards from the Russians, amongst other trials.

·         1959       The young mother is my mother Alice aged 27 (Her own mother had died in childbirth when she was two, she had been raised by relatives) She kept her family together and we had a wonderful family life. Mum had up to three jobs at once, this was the days before the single Mothers pension.

·         I was a Sheet metal apprentice/worker, soldier/officer, radiographer, business owner (radiography for over fifteen years) and now semi-retired radiographer. I also do a little writing.

·         1974       Our first job when Maureen and I were married was to work/volunteer for the church in a Hostel for two years in remote Western Australia. Two of our four daughters were born there.

·         1998       My mother later married Bill Reed a wonderful caring man and brilliant engineer. We build and design small x-ray departments. He does the maintenance in my business.

Each of us has a tale to tell, a history, most of you have much more time left than I to make your story. What has gone before and what you do will make you what you are and what you are to become. Every one cannot be as lucky as me to have such wonderful parents, wife and family but each of us can strive to do what is right to never give in to the evil or adversity that surrounds us. That is our gift our gift to each other and to the world.

Do not feel for me in this present disadvantage it will pass and I will move on stronger and with my integrity intact. Feel for those who do this to me, (and to my fellow delegates and workers). They who have sold their souls for a few pennies, have succumbed to their fears or are indifferent. I have looked into their eyes, it is not pretty, I have seen their fear and like the “drovers dog” they slink away. Their story will always be tainted by their cowardice and avarice, they will not acknowledge it but it will be there corroding and eating into their fabric, into their soul. We all have burdens to bear through life-they have just added to theirs. Even if “they win-they lose.”

John Condliffe is a union delegate (along with another delegate and six others at different sites) currently locked out of his work place in a radiology department in a large public hospital.