Union women meeting the IR challenge

by Siobhan Callan

The 2005 Australian Education Union Women's Conference was recently held in Melbourne over the weekend October 1 and 2.

Federation was represented by Women's Coordinator Siobhan Callan, TAFE Women's Contact Maxine Sharkey, Research Officer Sally Edsall, City Organiser Charmaine O'Sheades, Executive member Sui-Linn White, Aboriginal member Robyn Brown and relief Officers Khyiah Angel and Janet Hannaford.

The Conference had the theme of "Rising to the Challenge" and focussed on the need for all women AEU members to be both informed about and prepared to confront the new industrial relations agenda. The conference explored not only the ways in which the proposed new laws will have an impact upon women teacher unionists in the workplace, but also highlighted the challenges women teachers would face and the need for AEU women members to be involved in the campaign to support all women workers.

ACTU President Sharan Burrow emphasised the ways in which the fundamental values important to Australians are being "torn up" by the current Federal Government.

Ms Burrow said that Australia was valued a "democratic, fair or egalitarian society".

She said that while once Australia valued a "fair day's wage for a fair day's work", but the current federal government had the idea that it was not good to have a minimum wage that provides a reasonable wage for a worker to live on. Instead, Prime Minister John Howard and others believe that a minimum wage should be as low as possible in order to provide employers with a greater profit.

Women union members were urged by Ms Burrow to participate in a wide range of union campaign activities, from joining in community activities such as sausage sizzles at the local shops on a Saturday morning, to writing to Senators to demand an inquiry into the Federal industrial relations legislation, to speaking to friends, relatives and colleagues and helping to ensure a huge attendance at the National Day of Action on November 15.

The keynote speaker was followed by a panel of speakers including AEU Federal President Pat Byrne and AEU Victorian branch President Mary Bluett spoke about the teacher unions in Western Australia during the Court Government years and in Victoria during the Kennett Government years. Both of these speakers wanted to emphasise to women delegates that unions had faced tough challenges before and could fight these battles again.

Conference workshops were used to bring together the ideas, commitment and expertise of the women delegates from across Australia, in order to collectively defend the rights of women workers and confront the Howard Government about its proposed industrial relations changes.

The "Women's Wall of Waywardness" (pictured) at the Conference presented a frivolous means of promoting a serious cause, to widen the "wall of opposition" to the proposed industrial relations changes. Delegates expressed their frustration by writing messages of concern to the Howard Government on the symbolic wall. By the end of the Conference a colourful and powerful banner of messages had been produced by AEU women.

Siobhan Callan is the Women's Coordinator.

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Last Modified: 15 Nov 2005