ETU and CEPU women from around Australia gathered together for the National Women’s Conference in Sydney to discuss ways to improve workplaces and address gender discrimination.
Highlights of the two-day conference included a visit from Ashvini Ambihaipahar, the ALP candidate for Oatley in NSW and former industrial officer at the ETU National Office. Ash talked about her journey working with the union to running for NSW Parliament and what a NSW Labor Government would do to improve workers’ rights.
A lot of discussion surrounded the Nowhere to Go amenities campaign, including refining a checklist for employers to complete to ensure they have adequate amenities for all workers, and learning about different tactics to promote engagement in the campaign.
Jeana Vithoulkas from Cbus talked about women and superannuation, and some of the challenges women face like retiring on average with less super.
Jodie Harris from the NSW Labor party attended and listened to the women sharing examples of their treatment in the workplace, and the types of discrimination they experience.
ETU Acting National Secretary Michael Wright spoke about the necessity of getting more women into our trades and strategies to achieve this, the recently launched Voice to Parliament campaign and the failures of the current mentoring program which see far too many apprentices quit before completing their apprenticeship.
ETU Acting Assistant Secretary Trevor Gauld spoke about about the enormous challenge of building the energy transition and the demand it will place on the workforce.
The women also shared updates from each branch including impressive advancements in increasing female membership, and what they could do to keep that momentum going.
The group also celebrated five years of Sparkettes NSW, a support group for women in the electrical trades in NSW.
It was a fantastic two days, and a sign of great things to come from our incredible female members.
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