It is with great sadness that we have learned of the death of John Coombs.

As national secretary of the Maritime Union of Australia, John became one of the faces of the wharf dispute of 1997-98, giving leadership to his members in the fight against the Howard Government’s concerted attack on their hard-won rights and conditions.

In the process Australia got to know what so many already did – that John Coombs was a man of courage, tenacity and unbending principle. He was also a man of great empathy. He felt all too keenly the emotional toll on so many of his members – more than he felt the personal vilification levelled at him by Howard Government ministers.

I will never forget the sight of John leading 2000 sacked wharfies back through the gates.

It was one of John’s many triumphs.

Another was chairing what was then Australia’s top superannuation fund, the Stevedoring Employees Retirement Fund. If was only fitting that the man who had fought so hard for Australian stevedores to keep their jobs would also devote such energy to ensuring that they would also enjoy dignity in retirement.

Not that retirement was easy for John. After 38 years with the MUA and eight as its leader, John and his wife Gwen became carers for their son Garry, who was bedridden with multiple sclerosis. As John once said, “I would go through the battle of the waterfront every day of my life if I could cure my son.”

Sadly, it wasn’t to be and Garry, who’d been a fixture on the picket line in his wheelchair during the dispute, died on May Day 2009.

Now, with John’s passing, we pay respect to a life of dedication and devotion – to his family, and to the broader family of the wharves and the open sea. Indeed, it was a devotion that knew no boundaries and it found full expression in his strong commitment to international trade unionism, principally through the International Transport Workers’ Federation.

While his focus was on others, we hope he always drew strength and comfort from the great respect in which he was held across the labour movement. In the words of International Trade Union Confederation General Secretary and former ACTU President Sharan Burrow, John was “the heart of the movement”.

John was also a loyal member of the Australian Labor Party and I personally benefited from his support and mentoring.

John Coombs made a difference. Importantly, he made a lasting difference. May he rest in peace.