Labor forces union 'thug' to quitBy Glenn MilneOctober 21, 2007...

Labor forces union 'thug' to quit
By Glenn Milne
October 21, 2007 01:00am
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A LABOR candidate has been forced to resign on the eve of Kevin Rudd's crucial televised election debate with Prime Minister John Howard.

Labor campaign headquarters forced the candidate for the Queensland seat of Maranoa, Shane Guley, to quit after allegations he acted as a union thug, assaulting one of his managers and routinely intimidating co-workers.

Mr Rudd has pledged to adopt a "zero-tolerance" policy towards "violence or thuggery in any workplace."

The resignation follows a concerted campaign by John Howard in which the Prime Minster has claimed Labor is controlled by the unions and that Mr Rudd will be powerless to stand up to them if he wins government.

The claims have been backed by an advertising blitz pointing out that 70 per cent of the Opposition frontbench have union backgrounds.

Queensland State Secretary Milton D ick confirmed the resignation.

Mr Guley's letter read: "Dear Milton, I write to tender my resignation as the endorsed Australian Labor Party candidate for Maranoa.

I take this step in response to the re-surfacing of allegations made against me more than six years ago.

These matters were dealt with by the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission, and my claim was upheld.

However, I take this step today so that my candidacy does not distract in any way from the election of a federal Labor Government. Yours sincerely, Shane Guley".

Mr D ick said in a statement: "Nominations for Maranoa will be re-opened on Monday and we expect to have a new candidate in the following days."

Mr Guley is a former AMWU delegate who held a number of union positions and worked for Queensland Rail at the Rockhampton Railway Workshops.

It's now been revealed that, in 2001, he was sacked after years of persistent violent behaviour that included:


Assaulting a manager in a pub in front of several work colleagues;

Making a threatening phone call to the same manager, saying: "I will f****** get rid of you, you're No 1 on my hit list ..."

Threatening to call in his political connections in the Queensland Labor government to get rid of people on his "hit list";

Threatening and intimidating a work colleague who had made allegations against him of bullying and harassment;

Intimidating investigators brought in to investigate employee complaints against him, and;

Allegedly making vexatious and vindictive allegations against other employees in response to their legitimate complaints.


Following two Queensland Rail investigations confirming Mr Guley's repeated bullying and threatening behaviour, he made an unfair dismissal claim to the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission.

The QIRC upheld his claim on a due process technicality but found he had engaged in repeated bullying and intimidation of co-workers.

It refused his application for reinstatement on grounds that his conduct "was unacceptable and inappropriate behaviour to the extreme."