We take action!
We have a long and proud history of fighting for change. From the tailoresses who went on strike for fair pay in the 1880's, to the union sisters who chained themselves to buildings to demand equal pay in the 60’s and 70’s and the women who won family and domestic violence leave as a universal workplace right in 2022, it's union women across our movement who've demanded change.
We know what it’s like to fight. Together, we’ve stood up as union members to win better wages and working conditions. We know what it means to back each other up.
Join us as we Organise for Equality.
Safety:
Respect:
Equality:
Our diversity is our strength. We unite across our diverse industries and communities. Our movement is for all women and we recognise that many non binary and gender diverse people share our experience of being harmed by the patriarchy. Our solidarity is our power. We know that exclusion and division are tactics used to keep us distracted, to pit us against each other. Our fight is too urgent and important to be divided.
In 2023 union women will work together across our mighty movement to Organise for Equality. We will:
Organise for Equality will:
Step 1 – Join the Call!
Sign up to a Join the Call meeting or Women's event and learn more about the campaign and how you can get involved. Register here.
Step 2 – Join an Organise for Equality network.
Do you have family, friends, workmates, union comrades or neighbours who think, like us, that it’s time women were safe, respected and equal? Then you have the makings of a campaign Chapter! We’ll provide you with training and support and in return you’ll be part of making real, lasting change.
Step 3: Take action together!
There’s going to be rallies, flash-mobs, visits to MP’s, street stalls, guerrilla art. Register here.
In 2015, working women started running “WRAW (Women’s Rights at Work) Chats” - conversations and surveys of working womens’ experiences.
Women from all across Victoria participated. We heard from women working in blue collar jobs and in white collar jobs. Women who lived in cities, in suburbs and in towns. Women who were at the start of their working lives and women who were reaching retirement. Migrant women. Women from LGBTIQ+ communities. First Nations women. Women who were working, women who were on a break and women who desperately wanted to get into paid work.
They all shared a devastating and familiar story:
Women are not safe.
Two thirds of us have experienced sexual harassment and gendered violence at work. One in five of us has left a workplace because we did not feel safe.
Women are not respected.
Nearly half of us have experienced discrimination at work. We do the majority of unpaid, unvalued work of caring for our parents, children and households. Our childcare is some of the most expensive in the world and our early childhood educators - mainly women - are some of the lowest paid workers in the country.
Women are not equal.
We do not have equal pay. We are less likely to be promoted and more likely to be in casual, insecure and low paid jobs. We retire with half the superannuation savings of men. We are more likely than any other group to end up in poverty and homelessness in retirement.
We are right to be angry.
We are union women. Together we win legislative and social change, and make workplaces safe for Victorian women.
We deserve the right to a safe and equal work environment, free from discrimination and harassment.
Join us as we work towards a future where women are safe, respected and equal.