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8 March, 2011In celebration of International Women's Day the IMF interviewed two active women from the Australian Workers Union (AWU), Peta Thomson and Stephanie Eastcott who made the step from union members to workplace representatives
AUSTRALIA: Historically women have played a vitally important role in shaping the trade union movement and they will continue to do so in the future. This is why on International Women's Day 2011 the International Metalworkers' Federation calls for greater inclusion and involvement of women in all trade union structures. In celebration of International Women's Day the IMF interviewed two active women from the Australian Workers' Union (AWU), Peta Thomson and Stephanie Eastcott who made the step from union members to workplace representatives
It is important to encourage greater participation of women in union structures. Although some women make the step from union member to workplace representative, sadly it's not enough. Examples of two such women that did and that are playing an active role in their union are Peta Thomson and Stephanie Eastcott of the Australian Workers' Union, an IMF affiliate. They are committed and passionate trade unionists. Although neither feels that there are barriers to women becoming union representatives, both are the only women union representatives in their workplace.
Peta and Stephanie work for Alcoa in Western Australia: Peta at the Wagerup Refinery and Stephanie at the Kwinana Refinery. Peta is a single mother and blue collar shift worker for 16 years and has been a shop steward for over 10 years. Stephanie is a delivery driver for 10 years and has been a shop steward for the last 12 months. They explained that their decision to become active in their union movement came about as a desire to be more involved in company decisions and also to raise issues with management on behalf of fellow workers.
Peta explained that she enjoys being a union representative and although she is the only female representative on a site of 700 workers she feels empowered to raise issues on behalf of her members. She feels that in order to encourage more female representatives it's important to build confidence among women workers. One way in which to do this is by encouraging women's participation in meetings beyond local issues. As a long standing representative she also feels that it's important to not conform to a male stereo-type.. Peta takes great pride in the fact that she is an elected representative in her own right saying "it shows I'm good enough to do the job and shows confidence in me as an AWU representative."
Stephanie begins by describing how her mother once attended an interview and was turned away because of her gender, this has clearly given her a sense of social justice. As a fairly new representative she explains that it's important that women don't only deal with women's issues but also contribute to the everyday work of the union. She expresses this view by saying "Plenty of women are only represented by men, so it's important as women we feel confident to represent men." Her most recent activities have included a recently concluded enterprise bargaining agreement (collective agreement). Her role as a delivery driver allows her to move around the site and this helped with the communication among the workforce.
Both recently attended their first AWU National Conference in February 2011, following a decision by the union's national executive to encourage women's participation. The conference has had a profound effect on them as they explain that the opportunity to meet successful women leaders such as the Australian Prime Minister and to network with other women representatives has been a great inspiration.
Stephanie believes that exposure to female role models is an important way to build confidence and that it's important to hear about women's victories. Peta adds that the conference had given her confidence that if needed the union had got her back. They explain it's not been easy to attend the conference as management took a long time before agreeing to their participation.
Alcoa has developed an internal women's network and although originally it was only open to management grades it now involves all workers. The network allows women to use their combined voice to improve women's conditions. One benefit of being female union representatives means that the union now has a voice in the women's network but also that the broader union is aware of the discussions within the network. Last year on International Women's Day the network planned a charity and awareness day for breast cancer and plans are being made for something similar this year.
In the future both Peta and Stephanie would like to expand their knowledge and participation in the union movement and they feel that their union is open to this. They are interested in getting involved in issues outside Alcoa. Both feel they have limited knowledge of international work but the national conference had given them the confidence to find out more.
Stephen Price Western Australian Branch Secretary praised both saying, "We are proud to have these women as representatives of the AWU, they are reps not just because of their gender but elected in their own right, that shows the respect they have."
These women show the importance of taking steps to encourage greater participation and exposure to union structures. Empowerment is about considering how to encourage greater involvement of women activists.