The RTBU has a proud history of supporting women members to better participate in our union.
The Anna Stewart Memorial Project run by Trades Hall is a two-week women’s leadership training and development program designed to encourage more women to be active in their unions. Now in its 39th year and 2023 was no exception.
Anna Stewart was a journalist and active Victorian union official who tragically lost her life aged 35.
Women form a critical voice and can influence the culture of a workplace. Within unions and at the workplace, women have the immediate capacity to identify workplace challenges and drive action.
The Anna Stewart Memorial Project is a way forward for women motivated to support others and nurture their voices, provide opportunity, and affect meaningful change.
Women representing nine different unions graduated from this year’s cohort after completing 5 days training with Trades Hall and 5 days at their respective unions.
Topics addressed included:
- campaigning and organising skills
- women’s leadership and union history
- rights of delegates & health and safety representatives in the workplace
- workplace rights, and
- emerging issues for women at work and more.
Participants benefitted from the experience of other women from diverse industries, unions, and occupations.
2023 RTBU recipients; Whitney Murphy and Kira Scotland exemplify the qualities embodied by Anna Stewart graduates.
Kira and Whitney visited the Footscray Hospital and West Gate Tunnel projects with CFMEU Women’s Organiser Lisa Zanatta. They spent an intense week with RTBU Organisers in Stations, Infrastructure and Rolling Stock getting a feel for the issues being faced by members whilst working on a series of projects.
As a collective with other unions, they organised an action at the Queen Victoria Market designed to bring attention to the campaign to abolish non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) which are a tool used by bosses to bind women into silence about gendered violence and sexual harassment at work.
The RTBU congratulates Whitney and Kira for graduating from a program with a long and distinguished list of alumni.
