Information Centre
Catalogue
Labour Review
Ask Neale
Book a cottage @ Currawong Beach
Labor Links

What's Going On?
Events
Circulars
Todays Meetings
Minutes

Annual Reports
Latest Reports
Past Reports

printer-friendly version

Naomi Steer - Senior Executive Officer

• Community Affairs
  • MUA / Patricks Dispute
  • Childcare
  • Fair Wear Campaign
• Union and community co-operation
  • NSW Community Sector DOCS
  • ACTU
• Other Activities
  • NSW Alliance
• Public Affairs
• Other Responsibilities

Community Affairs

	Naomi Steer
	Senior Executive Officer

MUA / Patricks Dispute

The MUA/Patricks dispute, which was the most significant industrial event in 1998, highlighted the importance of community links and partnerships. While the community response reflected public outrage at the strong arm tactics employed by the Federal Government and Patricks, it also reflected a strengthening relationship between unions and the community.

The MUA was not an isolated case. There were many other examples during 1998 of effective co-operation between the community and unions.

Childcare

The Childcare campaign was originally initiated by childcare unions to protest over the Federal Government's childcare cuts and its impact on childcare workers. It has since developed into a broad-based campaign involving the childcare sector, the NSW Government and the broader community.

Labor Council's role has been central to this campaign, including the co-ordination of unions and key childcare organisations' submissions to the Senate Inquiry into Child Care Funding. As part of the Federal election campaign, Labor Council established the Children's Services Lobby (CSL) to campaign over cuts. The steering committee for the CSL involves the Labor Council, the LHMU, the IEU, the MEU and other community organisations, for example the NSW Council of Social Services (NCOSS), Families at Work Consultancy, Business and Professional Women (BPW) and the YWCA. In addition, more than 30 organisations and individuals have so far joined the campaign.

The CSL model has been adopted by other states. In addition, campaign material, including a childcare election poster developed by Labor Council, was used nationally during the Federal election campaign.

In commenting on the campaign Verena Heron from the IEU said;

"Labor Council's initiative in building bridges between the community sector and childcare unions gave us a lot of credibility in the community based sector that helped us in our workplace campaign over our workers' conditions."

The Senate Report on Childcare Funding was released in December 1998. It fell far short of expectations of unions, women's organisations and the childcare sector. CSL will be actively campaigning in 1999 to change the Federal Government's policy on childcare.

Fair Wear Campaign

The Fair Wear Alliance was initiated by the Textile, Clothing & Footwear Union of Australia (TCFUA) as part of its campaign to improve conditions for outworkers in the clothing and textile industry. Participating organisations include the Labor Council, the TCFUA, individual trade union activists and unions, a range of church groups, including the Mercy Life Foundation, school children and women's organisations, including Asian Women At Work. The aim of the Alliance is to compel retailers to sign the Fair Wear Code, to ensure outworkers receive award wages, and a major focus of the campaign is on consumer education and awareness. Labor Council's role has been to assist in organising events via information to the union movement.

To date, more than 20 major retailers have joined up. The TCFUA union considers the Alliance the major reason for success in the area. Barry Tubner, TCFUA NSW Secretary, said,

"The biggest benefit of the campaign has been to raise public awareness over the issues which have really helped the union with its industrial agenda."

Union and community co-operation

Other examples of union and community co-operation which Naomi has been involved in include:-

NSW Community Sector DOCS

The Labor Council, the PSA, the ASU, the Nurses' and Teachers' unions, were involved in discussions with the community sector last year over the ongoing turmoil in DOCS. In part, the unions' and Labor Council's role was to ensure that the interests of workers were not undermined in a process aimed at greater openness and accountability.

ACTU

Labor Council was requested by the ACTU to co-ordinate NSW community support for the campaign, including public comment and submissions to the Commission.

Labor Council supported the ACTU case by co-ordinating community and women's organisations' input into the case.

Other Activities

NSW Alliance

The NSW Alliance celebrates three years of ongoing activity and co-operation amongst peak bodies in the community sector. Participating organisations are: the Labor Council of NSW, the NSW Council of Social Services, Combined Pensioners and Superannuants, Youth Action Policy Association of NSW, NSW Conservation Foundation, People with Disabilities, Australian Business Limited, the Public Interest Advocacy Centre and the Evatt Foundation.

The purpose of the Alliance is to identify issues of common concern and to participate in campaigns.

Some recent examples include:

• a campaign over federal budget cuts; and
• preparation of a discussion paper on NSW State Government funding arrangements for the community sector.

Many of the issues pursued by the Alliance clearly indicate common concerns over a broad range of issues, including bank closures, community service cutbacks, long hours and high unemployment.

Increasingly, individual unions are recognising the benefits of forming links with the community, and several have directly addressed the Alliance seeking their support and assistance in developing and initiating campaigns.

Public Affairs

In addition to organising union representation and speakers at community forums and conferences, the Labor Council has also had an active presence at community events.

Over the past 12 months we have organised stalls at the following events:

• Homebake and Big Day Out - young organisers from all major unions participated in the day; and
• Sydney Women's Festival and Women's Expo - main theme for these days were childcare and the rights of working women. Unions participating included the Nurses, Teachers, PSA, CPSU, IEU, AMIEU and the ASU.
• These combined events reached more than 1,000 women.
• Gay and Lesbian Fair day at which more than 800 people signed a petition on superannuation and same sex couple rights. Individual unions such as the FSU and the ASU said they received a number of very positive calls from members as a result of our participation.

Other Responsibilities

In addition to supporting the above activities and campaigns, Naomi represented the Labor Council in 1998 on the following bodies:-

• Trustee of ASSET Superannuation Fund
• Council Member on Co-operatives Council of NSW
• Council Member of the Professional Standards Council
• Board Member of TUTA

She has also undertaken a range of industrial and policy work dealing with the RTA, public sector, and the food industry.

Naomi coordinated the Women's Committee which meets on a quarterly basis and oversaw projects such as the Flexible Work Practices project.

Finally, Naomi organised the NSW Labor Council's Annual Women's Dinner at which 140 women working in NSW trade unions attended.

© Unions NSW 2001.
Unions NSW
Level 3, 4-10 Goulburn St,
Sydney NSW 2000
Ph: (02) 9881 5999 Fax: (02) 9261 3505

URL: http://council.labor.net.au/annual_reports/1998/annrep_1998-Naomi.html
Last Modified: Wednesday, 08-Nov-2006 16:29:41 EST

Unions NSW is proudly created, designed and programmed by
Social Change Online for Unions NSW