MESSAGE FROM THE NATIONAL PRESIDENT

Due to some incidents occurring where Ulysses members    were approached by some members of the Rebels Canberra Chapter, a meeting was arranged with the Rebels President and several of his brothers. Attending that meeting were the Ulysses Club National President, National Vice President and one other committee member, plus 3 members of the Canberra Executive committee.

This meeting took place on the 9th March, and the president of the Rebels stressed their demand that Ulysses members remove rockers from the backs of their vests. The meeting was confrontational, and what was said will stay between those present. Nevertheless, it came upon my head to address the problem and to “fix it.”

Following the meeting, an emergency Natcom meeting was convened with Neville Gray, Helena Gritton and me being the only members able to be present. At that meeting we discussed the implications of doing nothing to protect our members from harm and immediately discarded that notion. As a result, and by virtue of Rules 23(a) & (c) of the Club’s constitution, the National Committee introduced the following rule:-

“As of this date, the 9th March, 2005, the wearing of any “rockers” or other insignia with the Ulysses Club logo on any apparel which in any way imitates the colour patch of a motorcycle club is prohibited. Any member who chooses to wear rockers or other insignia in contravention to this rule will be considered to have brought the club into disrepute and will be subject to expulsion from the Ulysses Club.”

This rule came into effect immediately. Notices were posted throughout the EPIC and on the gates into and out of the complex. Notices were distributed to all known accommodation venues which members had registered at for the AGM. Neville Gray, Helena Gritton, me and later Pete Williams walked throughout the camping grounds, and common areas, handing out copies of the notices and talking to members, informing them of the facts behind the new rule.

At all times, the safety of our members attending the AGM event, and also those left behind in Canberra after we left was a prime consideration and the National Committee did everything in it’s power to try and guarantee the safety of those members.

All subsequent official contact with the Rebels president and Sgt. At Arms was by me, and was ongoing. Several media interviews, print and electronic were given by me on this issue. All these interviews were reported reasonably well by the media. In all of those interviews, I stated that the issue was one that had been brewing for a long time, that it was between the Ulysses Club and the Rebels, and that the new rule would be enforced. I also stated to the media the reasoning behind the Rebels demands, and that we as a club respected their right to make the “lifestyle choice” that they had, and that as fellow motorcyclists, we did not want to insult their chosen lifestyle by wearing an imitation bikie colour patch.

The Extended Natcom meeting on Friday 11th March was attended by 180 delegates from all around the country, and this meeting overwhelmingly passed a motion supporting the action of the National Committee in introducing the new rule. All branch presidents and delegates were informed of the reasons behind the rule. This motion also asked that the National Committee look at the rule in an unemotional environment in the future to ensure that it serves the needs of the club.

As a result of this motion, I made a statement to the AGM regarding the issues, and then gagged debate on the matter, as the branch delegates from around Australia had passed the above motion the previous day. A few disgruntled members stormed from the meeting, but of the 800 odd members present at the AGM, the vast majority supported the action of Natcom.

During my journey home from Canberra, I have had further communications with members of the Rebels MC. Additionally, National Secretary Kim Kennerson and National Treasure Vic Lesslie, attended at meeting by invitation with the National Council of the Rebels MC, presided over by it’s National President, on Tuesday 15th March. The outcome of this meeting is that the Rebels MC fully supports the actions of the Canberra Chapter, and has instructed the club’s members nationally to ensure that Ulysses members seen wearing ANYTHING ON THE BACK OF THEIR VEST APART FROM THE CLUB LOGO are suitably chastised, along with their riding companions. Kim and Vic will be submitting a report of that meeting in the Natcom Mutterings on this site.

Any member who continues to wear rockers or any other insignia on the back of their vest in conjunction with the club logo is not only placing themselves in danger, but also their riding companions. Such actions will be considered to have brought the club into disrepute and the offending member will be subject to expulsion. Full advice of this policy will be in the May edition of Riding On, sent to all members. I am quite prepared to listen to the “infringements of civil rights” speeches whilst an offending member and his innocent companions lie in their hospital beds, as I commence expulsion proceedings. The safety of the members of this club is of paramount importance. There is no gray area in this rule.

Rick Bedford
National President.
Ulysses Club Inc.

MEETING WITH REBELS M.C.C. - Kim Kennerson - 17-Mar-05

Firstly:

A Rocker is defined as either one or two separate curved or straight patches around or near the main patch (e.g. the Old Man Logo) and may contain a name, nickname, area, city, country or similar. These are traditionally worn on the back of a vest or jacket.

Colours are those worn by Outlaw motorcycle clubs that are earned by members over a period of time of up to two years after completing various tests and conditions and are worn only when full membership is attained. They are the particular Club patch with one or two rockers.
Upon our return home from the Ulysses Club A.G.M. in Canberra an opportunity arose to meet with the Rebels M.C.C. regarding the Rockers Issue.
After several communications between a local Ulysses member known to the Rebels National President Alex Vella, an invitation was extended from Alex for executive Ulysses members to attend their meeting at the Rebels National Clubhouse at Bringelly in Southwest Sydney at 8.00 p.m. Tuesday 15th March. (A rare occurrence)

Vic Lesslie , the local Ulyssian member and I accepted.

To give a brief outline prior to coming to the crux of the meeting and it’s outcome.
The Rebels M.C.C as do other similar outlaw clubs have very strict rules and protocol and one needs to understand how these guys think, act and more important to us react.
In their minds they have shown signs of respect towards the Ulysses Club by certain actions to Vic and I which has included such things as the invitation to the clubhouse, a cordial welcome and allowing us to drink from their bar prior to the meeting.
If this sounds trivial to you I assure you it is not trivial to them.
They also told us that they have returned vests (after removing rockers) taken from some of our members as a sign of respect.
This is not normally done.
Once their meeting commenced we were asked to leave the clubhouse and were escorted to the main gate, as were their non fully-fledged members, non members are not allowed on the club grounds when a meeting is being held without invitation).
After a period of time we were summoned to return and were escorted back to the meeting.
Expectations of a quiet face to face meeting with Alex and a few others was quickly dispelled as we walked into a hall full of Rebels all seated awaiting our arrival.
Three seats were already allocated for us facing Alex who was seated with six of his lieutenants, three either side, with the remaining 40 – 50 members behind us.
Vic Lesslie and I have been to many meetings in our life for a multitude of reasons and this is the one we will both never ever forget.

Despite the many inaccurate rumours abounding on this subject the following are the facts of the matter and the outcome of the meeting.

Alex Vella was and still is the supreme commander of the Rebels nationally and what he states regarding any Rebel issue is final word.
We have been told that the actions and directions taken in Canberra by our National President Rick Bedford regarding Ulysses members not to wear rockers is commendable and from Alex Vella’s viewpoint the right decision.
We were told in no uncertain terms that the wearing of rockers and colours is the domain of Outlaw Clubs and not the Ulysses Club and that they were aware of past occasions when other Outlaw Club’s had raised this matter and unless resolved will be an ongoing problem for us.

They feel very strongly about any Club’s rules and they expect the leaders of our club to enforce our rule on not wearing rockers and if we don’t, they will do it their own way.
Two branches of Ulysses were mentioned in particular as having come to their attention and NatCom will contact these branches directly to discuss the matter.
One of these Branches is alleged to have members who have told the Rebels “ get _ _ _ _ _ _ ,we will wear what we like”.
When this was mentioned it did not go down well with those present
Needless to say these members have drawn attention to their Branch and we believe will be watched closely by the Rebels whether we like it or not.
Another statement made that was also taken note of was a scenario that if three Ulysses Club members were pulled over on the road because one was wearing rockers then all three will be dealt with in the same manner.
All members should be aware of this when riding with any other member foolhardy enough to ride with rockers on their back.

They respect the Old Man Patch on the back of ours jackets and vests but expect to see nothing else, especially top or bottom rockers, or anything resembling Outlaw colours
They are not concerned with what we wear on the front of our gear.
We understand that some members feel strongly about their civil rights to wear whatever they wish but as a National Committee we have a responsibility for the well- being and safety of all our members and we are not prepared to put this in jeopardy.
If any members choose to ignore this and other warnings they do so at their own risk and those of other innocent members.
Any member who places the safety of his/her fellow members at risk by such actions will be expelled from the Club.

To make it very clear and to put it in plain English the Ulysses Club Inc has a new rule – NO ROCKERS and NO IMITATION OUTLAW COLOURS.

Kim Kennerson, National Secretary.
Vic Lesslie, National Treasurer.