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 About Us  About Unions NSWAbout UnionsWho's WhoInformation Centre What's Going On? Annual Reports    
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Alison Peters, Deputy Assistant Secretary Community
Affairs
Equity and diversity has been a key theme of Alison’s work during 2002.
Our movement is a reflection of the diversity in our society and unions have
long recognised the importance of ensuring that the specific needs of different
groups of workers are addressed to enhance fairness and equality in workplaces
and in our broader communities. Maternity LeaveA major union equity campaign has been seeking to achieve a national scheme
for Paid Maternity Leave. This has been a significant issue for many years but
the campaign was given a higher profile during the year with an inquiry into the
issue being conducted by the Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Pru Goward. Alison
was involved in arranging meetings and forums of unions, women’s and other
community groups to discuss the issue and to develop a coordinated response to
the many issues raised by the Inquiry. Alison also researched and drafted Labor
Council’s submission to the Inquiry in consultation with affiliates and
the ACTU and was involved in briefing the
NSW Government on the union movement’s position. Work and FamilyThe Paid Maternity Leave Inquiry has also helped to highlight the growing
importance of work and family initiatives. Balancing work and family
responsibilities is a major issue for working people and the union movement has
been at the forefront in developing innovative and practical responses. Alison
has participated in and spoken at a number of community and academic forums that
have developed greater understanding of the issues and the barriers to achieving
a better balance between work and other facets of people’s lives. She
continues to provide advice to unions on developments, both legal and
industrial. Workers Out ConferenceAlison was also an active member of the organising Committee for the Workers
Out! Second World Conference of Lesbian and Gay Trade Unionists, which was held
in Sydney in November. This very successful conference had over 160 participants
from every continent representing a wide range of industries and occupations and
was supported by the ICFTU and nine out of
the 10 global union federations. The conference dealt with the very real
discrimination still faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual , transgender and intersex
(LGBTI) workers and developed strategies to address this. The Conference
resolution called on all unions, peak union organisations and global union
federations to work on the elimination of discrimination based on sexual
orientation, gender identity and gender expression. Community OrganisationsAlison has continued her work in building and maintaining alliances with a
wide variety of community organisations and groups. This has involved meeting
with and addressing a wide range of community organisations and groups
throughout the year about unions, our campaigns and our work to achieve a fair
and decent society. This work has seen a better understanding of the links
between the labor movement and other groups. As a result there has been a
greater level of involvement by union members in broader community campaigns and
events such as the Palm Sunday march, International Women’s Day march,
Mardi Gras Fair Day and Parade, Walk Against the War and the Fair Trade rally.
Union support of such campaigns and events is entirely consistent with our
objectives of improving the quality of lives for working people and their
families by ensuring fairness and decency are maintained as core principles in
our society. Our participation also builds our relationship with other community
organisations, which is critical to building broad community support for
workers’ issues and the union movement. Other ResponsibilitiesAlison’s other significant work during the year included :-
• ACTU Women’s Committee • Australian Centre for Co-operative Research and Development Board • NSW Capacity Building for NGO’s Project Reference Group
• NSW Privacy Advisory Committee • Sydney University Work and Organisational Studies Advisory Board • Sydney Water Corporation and its subsidiary Australian Water Technologies
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