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Speaker Profile Προφίλ ηχείου
Skevos Tsoukalas
| Language: Greek
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Speaker background

Occupation: Construction and maintenance workerYear of arrival: 1964

Skevos Tsoukalas was born in Palestine in 1945, a year after his parents and six brothers fled their home in Kalymnos. In 1947, after the death of their mother, the family returned to Kalymnos, where Skevos and his siblings were raised by their aunties and grandmother. Due to financial hardships, Skevos was unable to complete his schooling. In 1964, he decided to join his five brothers in Sydney, who had migrated several years earlier. He worked in a variety of jobs, before joining scores of other Greek men on the construction site at the Sydney Opera House in 1968. He worked there for fifty years, becoming one of its longest serving employees.

Location in AustraliaKingsford

Interview summary

Skevos describes his journey in 1964 on board the Patris and the joy of being reunited with his five brothers in Sydney. He recalls sailing past the building site of the Sydney Opera House and hoping to find employment there. He provides a rich account of the work he undertook, both in construction and later in maintenance. He also gives a detailed account of the camaraderie amongst Greek migrant workers and the dangers involved in the construction of the iconic building.

Interview highlights

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Skevos recounts seeing the foundations of the Sydney Opera House from the Patris when he first sailed into Sydney Harbour.

Skevos: We passed by, as we were going to P2, Pyrmont 2. The building seemed to me like it was something from another planet. It was amazing to see thousands of kilometres of pipes and planks. You could see everything up close as we passed by; the people who were working there, you could hear their voices from inside the ship. It did pass through my mind to hopefully find a job there. When I got married, my wife’s uncle was working there; having laid its foundations. He asked me one day, ‘Do you want to come with me to the Opera?’ ‘Yes, uncle I’d like to come’, I said. So, I went and spent the next fifty years there.

Timecode 22:56 - 24:13
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Skevos recalls that the workers at the Sydney Opera house belonged to the Builders Labourers Federation (BLF) union and were often involved in strike action.

Skevos: Many times, we went on strike because we wanted a wage rise and better working conditions. Such as not working in the rain, and to have five sick pays a month. That is five days in case of rain, so we can delay four hours until the rain stopped and then start work again. We had five sick pays per year; later they made it ten, and it stayed at ten. I don’t know what it is now.

Interviewer: Were you successful?

Skevos: We were successful with some things, but it was hard. I remember in 1970,71, so as to receive a six dollar pay rise at that time, we went on strike for more than seven weeks. It was a difficult strike, especially for those with small children. At that time, you’d go to Goulburn street where the BLF union had their offices. They’d give you ten dollars a week only if you had small children, so you could buy milk for them. The money had come from the fundraising that we did. It was difficult, but the fight had to happen.

Timecode 39:02 - 40:54
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Skevos was initially involved in the construction of the Sydney Opera house as part of its scaffolding team. Once completed in 1973, he maintained the integrity of the building. Here, he describes his daily morning inspections.

Skevos: The maintenance of the building was for me, the love I had for it. Several years had already passed. I’d go to work at 5am and I had the right to inspect the entire building, until my shift started at 7am. I did this voluntarily, because love pushes you to the work. I’d report any damage I saw. I showed great interest in the maintenance of the building. They thought this man really cares about the building, so we must look after him. Eventually, they gave me the title of consultant of the building because I found jobs consistently … I remember in 2006, construction had ended in October 1973, when it was officially launched, but by 2006, there was major damage to the building with its metals, copper, bronze. So, I tried to find a way. I’d often have sleepless nights to find a way to avert the cancer in the concrete. 

Timecode 46:35 - 49:10

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