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Winter 2004

Tania follows her heart

The Anna Stewart Memorial project (established after the tragic death of Anna Stewart a long time campaigner for women’s rights and a prominent union activist) is an annual two week work experience program, aimed at increasing women’s involvement in the union movement through education.

In the past the Anna Stewart Project has been run twice in Tasmania across multiple unions. For the first time last year, HACSU participated in the project.

I was selected by the HACSU team and I thought I would share my experience and benefits with all HACSU members.

This project has been in existence since 1984 and so far over 1000 women unionists have participated across Australia.

The program enables participants to see how their union is organised and its relationship to other unions.

It provides the opportunity to become more involved in important issues, to participate in the union office with organisers, go to meetings with members, attend negotiations and a work placement with other selected unions.

Also provided is formal training to learn about how tribunals and organisations impact on lives of members and workers.

It was soon clear to me that this was my calling.

Throughout the project I was introduced to a whole range of industrial structures.

The program included providing information sessions to college students as to what sort of unions are out there, visiting Workplace Safe at Rosny, shown around Parliament House and having the opportunity to question IR Minister, Judy Jackson, about her portfolio and learning from some of the Commissioners about the State and Federal Industrial Relation Act.

The project also included work within our own union and being placed for a full day with a different selected union.

I had the pleasure of being placed in the Electrical Trades Union. The ETU's State Secretary, Kevin Harkins, showed me what it was like to be in a man's domain. I would have to admit that I was very interested in how tradesmen worked on a site and by the end of the day my neck and eyes were very sore.

After the program was finalised all participants received a certificate and had a wind-down lunch at the Republic Bar.

I went back to my position at a nursing home feeling I wanted more.

Fortunately, undertaking the project and demonstrating my commitment to HACSU resulted in me being asked to fill a position for one of the Organisers who was going on maternity leave. I jumped at the chance.

I was again fortunate but saddened when one of our excellent HACSU team members resigned at the beginning of April. But I knew this was the opportunity I had been looking for. I put in my application and went through the selection process and am now an Official Industrial Organiser with HACSU Tasmanian No 1 Branch.

I will follow my heart and strive to achieve natural justice and procedural fairness for HACSU members.
Tania Rogers