Amiable character Alex MacDonald was a man proud of the left, steering trade unionism into areas such as indigenous rights, gender equality, student activism, and the peace movement.
Despite rarely raising his voice in anger and speaking quietly, MacDonald was a strong negotiator who played a significant role in Australia's trade union history.
His father had remarried in 1920 following his mother's death in 1916, but the children did not get along well with their stepmother, and Alex and his sister Anna emigrated to Australia in 1925 (there was a delay of almost six weeks in Cape Town following a worldwide seamen's strike).
When speaking at demonstrations and meetings, MacDonald always took the care to present a well researched and logical case, his strength lying in the art of negotiation.
He worked to admit university students to the Trades Hall and in 1968 represented the forty TLC-affiliated unions before the State Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Commission.