23 Facts About Fred Katz

Frederick Carl Katz was an Australian trade unionist and politician.

Fred Katz had a long association with the Australian labour movement, holding senior leadership positions with the Federated Clerks' Union, Federal Miscellaneous Workers' Union, and the Melbourne Trades Hall.

Fred Katz served as a Senator for Victoria from 1947 to 1951, representing the Australian Labor Party.

Fred Katz's father was a goldsmith and jeweller of German ethnicity, although he was born in France; he had arrived in Australia in 1876.

Fred Katz and his family moved to Melbourne when he was a boy.

Fred Katz married Alicia Watkins in April 1900, with whom he had one daughter.

Fred Katz was a member of the Social Democratic Party of Victoria before joining the Victorian Socialist Party, a Marxist organisation, upon its formation in 1906.

Fred Katz spoke regularly at party meetings, and was a vocal opponent of electoral cooperation with the Australian Labor Party.

In 1909, Fred Katz was elected assistant secretary of the Federated Carters' and Drivers' Industrial Union.

Fred Katz moved to Tasmania in 1911, in order to re-organise the local branch of the union, and succeeded in increasing its membership from 30 to more than 400 within a few months.

Fred Katz led successful strikes in Hobart and Launceston, but enthusiasm later declined and he resigned his positions in January 1914 in order to return to Melbourne.

Fred Katz was an opponent of conscription, and in 1915 he successful moved that the Melbourne Trades Hall ignore correspondence sent by the Federal Parliamentary War Committee.

Fred Katz was federal secretary of the Federated Clerks' Union of Australia from 1920 to 1940, and was state president.

Fred Katz served as state secretary and general secretary of the Federated Miscellaneous Workers' Union of Australia, and president of the Melbourne Trades Hall Council.

Fred Katz rescinded his earlier opposition to the ALP after World War I and served on the state executive for a number of years.

Fred Katz stood for Warrnambool at the 1921 Victorian state election, for the Division of Henty at the 1931 federal election, and at the 1934 Nunawading state by-election, on each occasion unsuccessfully.

Fred Katz was an unsuccessful candidate for the South Melbourne City Council in 1935.

Fred Katz was elected to the Senate at the 1946 federal election, in what was seen as a reward for years of service.

Fred Katz's term began on 1 July 1947, just over a month after his 70th birthday.

Fred Katz was a member of the Senate Standing Committee on Regulations and Ordinances and in 1951 served as chairman of the Select Committee on the Commonwealth Bank Bill.

In 1949, Fred Katz was one of only four ALP members to oppose the Chifley government's National Emergency Bill, which made it an offence for unions to use their funds to support the New South Wales coal strike.

Fred Katz lost his seat at the 1951 federal election, following a double dissolution.

Fred Katz died at his home in Albert Park on 13 December 1960, aged 83.