Chapter 6: - Rail, Tram and Bus Union of NSW
Chapter 6: - Rail, Tram and Bus Union of NSW
Chapter 6: - Rail, Tram and Bus Union of NSW
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Changing Work Cultures<br />
Work in the rail industry has<br />
generally been perceived as a<br />
male domain – a place for blokes.<br />
Many in the industry <strong>and</strong> outside<br />
the industry to this day have<br />
difficulty in acknowledging that<br />
women also work across most<br />
functional areas <strong>of</strong> the railway.<br />
While women have never<br />
dominated the employment<br />
numbers <strong>of</strong> the railways, they<br />
have been there doing the job<br />
alongside their male counterparts, <strong>and</strong> <strong>of</strong>ten under lesser<br />
conditions.<br />
As mentioned previously, Hannah <strong>and</strong> Haynes, in their<br />
‘popular rail book’ comment that very few stories<br />
collected were about women. “There is a very good<br />
reason for this: for the first hundred years <strong>of</strong> its<br />
existence the railways employed very few women.<br />
Women didn’t become train drivers, firemen, guards, or<br />
stationmasters until relatively recently”.<br />
“Even today with equal opportunity enshrined into our<br />
industrial awards, women still only make up a small<br />
proportion <strong>of</strong> the railway workforce. In <strong>NSW</strong> for<br />
example, there are 2770 train drivers <strong>and</strong> only thirty one<br />
<strong>of</strong> them are women. Of the 2070 track workers on the<br />
permanent way, only four are women.” 1<br />
While it is irrefutable that women rail workers have been<br />
neglected in many <strong>of</strong> the histories <strong>and</strong> accounts <strong>of</strong> the<br />
industry, simply looking at the employment numbers<br />
misses a number <strong>of</strong> major factors <strong>and</strong> trivialises the<br />
significance <strong>of</strong> employment <strong>of</strong> women in the railways,<br />
within the industry <strong>and</strong> the labour movement more<br />
generally. Despite small numbers, women have<br />
occupied a substantial place in the railways, <strong>and</strong> in some<br />
1 Haynes <strong>and</strong> Hannah, op.cit., p 232<br />
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<strong>Chapter</strong> 6:<br />
No Place for a Woman<br />
First appointed Woman Driver, Ms Mills (state <strong>Rail</strong> Archives)<br />
important ways have shaped the<br />
industrial <strong>and</strong> workplace relations<br />
l<strong>and</strong>scape. There is an argument to<br />
be made that the tensions <strong>and</strong><br />
practices relating to women<br />
workers on the railways have gone<br />
a long way to shaping the gender<br />
relations across major industries in<br />
this State <strong>and</strong> country.<br />
As with many industries that are<br />
predominantly male, the relatively<br />
small numbers <strong>of</strong> women on the<br />
railways has more to do with recruiting <strong>and</strong> defensive<br />
work practices <strong>and</strong> cultures, rather than ability to<br />
perform the work. The myths surrounding so much rail<br />
work have been actively maintained over 150 years,<br />
serving to restrict women’s employment to areas<br />
considered ‘more appropriate for women’, customer<br />
service, administration <strong>and</strong> cleaning. The same myths<br />
<strong>and</strong> claims <strong>of</strong> certain work being too heavy or strenuous,<br />
or too dirty, or lacking adequate facilities still get an<br />
airing today, but they are gradually being broken down<br />
by the reality <strong>of</strong> a substantial number <strong>of</strong> competent<br />
women performing across most job areas.<br />
The tensions around women’s employment in some<br />
areas <strong>of</strong> the industry have existed for a long time, with<br />
the attitude <strong>and</strong> view <strong>of</strong> many that the rail industry is<br />
simply ‘no place for a woman’. There has been<br />
animosity in relation to women taking up employment in<br />
areas other than those traditionally considered<br />
acceptable, that is on stations or in servicing roles. Even<br />
in areas <strong>of</strong> industrial support for pay equity, the common<br />
argument was not so much in favour <strong>of</strong> women gaining<br />
parity with their male colleagues, but rather defending<br />
male workers from a reduction to female wages <strong>and</strong><br />
conditions.<br />
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In 1967, the <strong>Rail</strong>Road carried an article by the Goulburn<br />
Sub-Branch Secretary that captured some <strong>of</strong> these<br />
concerns. The article referred to the ‘invasion’ <strong>of</strong> female<br />
labour during the war years, in the cleaning sheds, <strong>and</strong><br />
as ticket collectors, <strong>and</strong>, more recently, into the goods<br />
sheds <strong>and</strong> the parcels <strong>of</strong>fice. He was concerned that ‘the<br />
influx <strong>of</strong> women would result in men resigning or having<br />
their career opportunities closed <strong>of</strong>f.’ 2<br />
Conversations with managers <strong>and</strong> co-workers, provide<br />
evidence <strong>of</strong> ongoing discomfort among much <strong>of</strong> the<br />
male workforce with increasing numbers <strong>of</strong> women on<br />
the job. This says more about the comfort zones as well<br />
as insecurities <strong>of</strong> these workers, <strong>and</strong> a reality check that<br />
dem<strong>and</strong>s that not only do some <strong>of</strong> these attitudes need to<br />
change, but that the job is changing <strong>and</strong> industrial<br />
conditions are also being influenced by these trends.<br />
Women are not ‘breaking down’ established conditions,<br />
as is so <strong>of</strong>ten the catchcry, quite the contrary, increased<br />
women’s employment is adding a new <strong>and</strong> different mix<br />
to the industrial dem<strong>and</strong>s <strong>of</strong> the workforce. Much <strong>of</strong> it<br />
having a civilising effect.<br />
As the balance <strong>of</strong> gender shifts so too do the<br />
interpersonal dynamics in the workplace, the<br />
acknowledgement <strong>of</strong> different facilities, <strong>and</strong> importantly<br />
an acknowledgement <strong>of</strong> different ways <strong>of</strong> working.<br />
Issues <strong>of</strong> ‘family friendly’ policies <strong>and</strong> work practices<br />
are buoyed as more workers with family responsibilities<br />
are employed on the railways. Whereas in the past, the<br />
social outcast status <strong>of</strong> much rail work was borne by<br />
male workers <strong>and</strong> their families adjusting to shift work<br />
<strong>and</strong> broken hours, is gradually shifting. The need to<br />
organise rail work that reflects a concern for greater<br />
parenting responsibilities by male <strong>and</strong> female workers,<br />
<strong>and</strong> a need to consider employees’ whole life<br />
requirements is increasingly taking centre stage in many<br />
industrial agreement negotiations.<br />
2 <strong>Rail</strong>Road, 20 January, 1967 p5<br />
206<br />
Women Cleaners AC Department (State <strong>Rail</strong> Archives)<br />
It must be remembered that women have always had<br />
roles in the rail industry, whether it be in running the<br />
Triple Rs <strong>and</strong> customer service facilities, station work,<br />
cleaning, <strong>and</strong> certainly during national emergencies,<br />
such as wartime, filling a wide range <strong>of</strong> occupations.<br />
Women have also played an important, if under-stated<br />
complementary role to the employment <strong>of</strong> their male<br />
partners. When a man was ‘in the service’ this usually<br />
meant that his wife <strong>and</strong> family shared those service<br />
conditions <strong>and</strong> responsibilities. A number <strong>of</strong> the<br />
illustrations <strong>of</strong> work contained in this book, demonstrate<br />
that the life <strong>of</strong> the remote fettlers was shared by their<br />
womenfolk, <strong>and</strong> in many situations, the country station<br />
master, fettler, gatekeeper, signalman, job was shared<br />
(formally or informally) by his partner. It was not<br />
unusual for the wife <strong>of</strong> fettlers or station masters to be<br />
engaged on gatekeeping duties or station duties, for<br />
example.<br />
In other ways, women have always played an important<br />
support role on the railways, through women’s<br />
auxiliaries <strong>and</strong> organising groups. The support provided<br />
to organise social <strong>and</strong> industrial events to either provide<br />
relief to unconscionable working conditions or to coordinate<br />
strikes or other industrial actions is well<br />
documented. These were not ‘s<strong>and</strong>wich <strong>and</strong> cup <strong>of</strong> tea<br />
roles’, but organising <strong>and</strong> campaigning roles essential to<br />
the industrial disputes.<br />
In more recent times, with employee shortages in some<br />
areas, <strong>and</strong> in particular the recruitment <strong>and</strong> training<br />
activities to secure more driver numbers, we are seeing<br />
more women cross some <strong>of</strong> the traditional occupational<br />
boundaries in the industry. It was not long ago that the<br />
thought <strong>of</strong> a woman on the footplate would have been<br />
generally ridiculed <strong>and</strong> met with hostility. More<br />
recently, even the sacred threshold <strong>of</strong> the footplate has<br />
given way to women drivers. First in very isolated <strong>and</strong><br />
small numbers, now with increasing regularity.<br />
This section <strong>of</strong> the book does not make any special<br />
claims in relation to women workers, nor does it appeal<br />
to special dispensations or considerations. It doesn’t<br />
argue that women are ‘taking over’ the railways or are<br />
the dominant force in the workforce. Rather, it simply<br />
acknowledges the work that women have performed <strong>and</strong><br />
continue to do in the railways, <strong>and</strong> to give that work <strong>and</strong><br />
its place in the railway story its due <strong>and</strong> proper place.<br />
Linda Carruthers, RTBU Research <strong>and</strong> Education<br />
<strong>of</strong>ficer, who has been closely involved with efforts<br />
around organising <strong>and</strong> educating women members,<br />
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claims that the number <strong>of</strong> women employed in the<br />
railway is “not particularly significant, with currently<br />
around 11% <strong>of</strong> the workforce as women. The numerical<br />
proportion is not the issue, but how these women work<br />
<strong>and</strong> are treated in the industry, <strong>and</strong> what they can bring<br />
to the workplace is whats important”. 3<br />
Industrial <strong>of</strong>ficers such as Eileen Powell, gained a<br />
reputation as tenacious fighters for union conditions <strong>and</strong><br />
entitlements during the 1930s, as well as a tireless<br />
campaigner <strong>and</strong> activist for pay equity <strong>and</strong> related issues<br />
for women workers. . Her efforts <strong>and</strong> organising skills<br />
during the Refreshment Rooms campaign <strong>and</strong><br />
successful award claim are recounted in this <strong>Chapter</strong>.<br />
Eileen Powell has earned a respected place in the history<br />
<strong>of</strong> the labour movement. She first became involved in<br />
ALP politics by attending branch meetings with her<br />
mother at the age <strong>of</strong> eight. She joined the ALP at the age<br />
<strong>of</strong> fifteen <strong>and</strong> was Assistant Secretary <strong>of</strong> the Stanmore<br />
Branch when she was sixteen. This was the same time<br />
that she started work in Trades Hall performing<br />
secretarial duties. She was employed by the ARU<br />
between 1936 <strong>and</strong> 1944. Apart from building a<br />
reputation as skilled organiser <strong>and</strong> communicator, <strong>and</strong><br />
her work around winning an award for Triple R workers,<br />
she spent much <strong>of</strong> her life campaigning for women<br />
workers.<br />
She was actively engaged in Pay Equity work from the<br />
mid 1930s with the Council for Equal Pay. She gave<br />
evidence in the 1935 Female Wage Case in the Industrial<br />
Commission (at the age <strong>of</strong> 22), appeared with Evatt in<br />
the 1942 Female Wage Case, <strong>and</strong> <strong>of</strong>ficiated on the Labor<br />
Women’s Central Organising Committee. Eileen was<br />
the Australian correspondent for the ILO Committee <strong>of</strong><br />
Experts in the 1940s <strong>and</strong> 1950s, <strong>and</strong> appeared in the<br />
1969 National Wage Case which adopted the principle<br />
<strong>of</strong> equal pay for equal work. 4<br />
These efforts around pay equity, as well as her union <strong>and</strong><br />
Labor party activism were maintained throughout her<br />
life. Her work included, organising both in the ALP <strong>and</strong><br />
the union movement, broadcasting on 2KY<strong>and</strong> public<br />
speaking, writing <strong>and</strong> editing for <strong>Rail</strong>Road <strong>and</strong> the<br />
Labor Council, as well as documenting many <strong>of</strong> these<br />
aspects <strong>of</strong> the labour movement. Eileen was on the<br />
project committee for the ARU <strong>of</strong>ficial history, Working<br />
Lives, written by Mark Hearn in 1990. Eileen Powell<br />
passed away in 1997, <strong>and</strong> in her passing, the labour<br />
movement lost a remarkable <strong>and</strong> dedicated ambassador.<br />
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Pat Groves was the first woman to be become a<br />
‘signalman’ on the <strong>NSW</strong> railways in the 1977. Despite<br />
hostility from superiors <strong>and</strong> colleagues, Pat continued to<br />
work in signalling, <strong>and</strong> as a union activist. Pat was<br />
involved in lobbying for a full-time women’s organiser<br />
position in the ARU in the 1980s. Pat was instrumental<br />
in lobbying for the establishment <strong>of</strong> the ARU Women’s<br />
Committee. .In 1981 the Branch Conference had agreed<br />
to establsih a women’s committee, but seemed to take a<br />
back seat to other industrial issues. The Secretary’s<br />
Report to the 1984 Conference, reported that “while in<br />
the process <strong>of</strong> establishing the Committee <strong>and</strong> making it<br />
fully operational, the 1982/83 crisis intervened <strong>and</strong><br />
other campaigns developed…. And the A.R.U.’s total<br />
energies were directed towards the retention <strong>of</strong><br />
jobs…The committee did, however, manage to meet on a<br />
number <strong>of</strong> occasions <strong>and</strong> is beginning to operate on a<br />
strong basis.” 5 . Similarly, the proposal for a woman’s<br />
organiser was defeated by 2 votes at the 1987 State<br />
Conference <strong>of</strong> the ARU.<br />
Pat expressed her concerns <strong>and</strong> disappointment at the<br />
obstacles <strong>and</strong> slow response to changes that would<br />
encourage more women to enter the industry. ‘They are<br />
moving in slowly. We have two signalmen, women<br />
signalmen, a few ASMs, shunters, guards, fettlers, but<br />
never in a mad rush.’ 6<br />
Similar stories can be found in many areas <strong>of</strong> the<br />
industry. Hearn provides the example <strong>of</strong> Mary Stratton,<br />
who joined the industry as a Station assistant at Town<br />
Hall in the 1950s at the age <strong>of</strong> thirty seven. She earned<br />
28 pounds per fortnight for ten hour days with two hour<br />
3 Interview with Linda Carruthers,<br />
4 Rosemary Webb, Commemorating Our Dear departed Equal Pay Activists, Workers Online, Issue 3, March 1999<br />
5 ARU Conference Reports, 1984, p75<br />
6 Pat Groves interview in Hearn, op.cit., p 136<br />
Station Announcer (State <strong>Rail</strong> Archives)<br />
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breaks in the middle. Mary was forced to retire, losing<br />
seniority <strong>and</strong> superannuation entitlements, to have her<br />
child. When she returned <strong>and</strong> reapplied for her job, the<br />
Department decided that she ‘was too old’ at forty one.<br />
“I said to him [the district superintendent] ‘Well if I’m<br />
not too old to have a baby, I don’t see that I’m too old to<br />
put my arm out with a flag.’ And he said, “well fair<br />
enough”, so he passed me. My mother lived at<br />
Chippendale <strong>and</strong> I used to take the baby –it was a five<br />
o’clock start at Town Hall, so I used to take her in at<br />
four o’clock [in the morning] <strong>and</strong> then go on to work,<br />
<strong>and</strong> then I’d go back to mum’s <strong>and</strong> take her home.” 7<br />
In addition to the poor provision for the requirements <strong>of</strong><br />
mothers <strong>and</strong> parenting at the time, people like Mary also<br />
received hostility from co-workers. “I think I was one <strong>of</strong><br />
the first [women] that started on the platforms…. They<br />
just ignored me, the guards, they wouldn’t take the right<br />
<strong>of</strong> way from a woman, they just ignored me, they’d take<br />
it when they were ready.. Because there weren’t many<br />
women on the railways at that stage … only station<br />
assistants <strong>and</strong> cleaning women, cleaning the trains.” 8<br />
Jim Walshe, former ARU Secretary recalls the efforts by<br />
a member, Janet Oakden who was then employed in the<br />
<strong>Rail</strong>way Refreshment Rooms, who wanted to cross over<br />
<strong>and</strong> be trained for the footplate <strong>and</strong> become a driver. The<br />
AFULE was opposing her ambition to be the first<br />
woman on the footplate, <strong>and</strong> she was requesting help<br />
from her union to fight the obstructions. As Jim points<br />
out, this put the ARU in the awkward <strong>and</strong> unwelcome<br />
position <strong>of</strong> fighting another union over the issue.<br />
Nonetheless, she persisted <strong>and</strong> was determined to join<br />
the driver’s ranks.<br />
208<br />
Janet Oakden<br />
7 Mary Stratton cited in Hearn p 121<br />
8 Mary Stratton cited in Hearn, p 122<br />
9 Interview with Jim Walshe, July 2005<br />
Jim describes an ‘unusual support role’ played by<br />
driver’s wives who turned out in numbers at the union<br />
meeting to discuss the claims. The women at the<br />
meeting raised their own concerns about a woman being<br />
in barracks with their husb<strong>and</strong>s. Janet was apparently<br />
unsympathetic to these concerns, replying that if she ‘<br />
fancied him <strong>and</strong> chose to sleep with their husb<strong>and</strong>s she<br />
would.’<br />
The tensions created by Janet Oakden’s desire to take on<br />
the ‘male domain’ <strong>of</strong> the footplate <strong>and</strong> the unions was<br />
only stopped by her failing the medical due to colour<br />
blindness, <strong>and</strong> leaving the industry to return to Britain. 9<br />
The irony <strong>of</strong> much <strong>of</strong> the resistance to women working<br />
in the railways, is that on the one h<strong>and</strong> there was a<br />
‘feminine’ argument around the work being too hard or<br />
heavy for women. ‘We are not opposed to women<br />
workers, but the work is unsuitable for them’. While on<br />
the other, women were employed in some <strong>of</strong> the most<br />
onerous, difficult dirty <strong>and</strong> laborious jobs in the<br />
industry. Women (<strong>and</strong> in particular, migrant women)<br />
were employed in large numbers, for example, in the<br />
carriage cleaning sheds in Sydney, the ACDEP air<br />
conditioning depot at MacDonaldtown, workshops <strong>and</strong><br />
similar locations. Rather than being non-existent or<br />
inconsequential, the rail culture <strong>and</strong> operations priorities<br />
rendered much women’s work invisible or disguised it<br />
as marginal.<br />
In recent times, <strong>and</strong> in particular a resolution passed at<br />
the RTBU National Council in 2003, supporting the ITF<br />
campaign to develop affirmative action strategies for<br />
women in unions, the union is putting more effort into<br />
providing education <strong>and</strong> training <strong>and</strong> organising women<br />
members. Linda Carruthers has been involved in<br />
organising a branch women’s conference with women<br />
from across all areas <strong>of</strong> the industry, <strong>and</strong> in joint union<br />
activities with women from other transport unions.<br />
Currently a Women’s Campaign Committee is being<br />
formed within the <strong>NSW</strong> Branch <strong>of</strong> the RTBU.<br />
This chapter has selected a number <strong>of</strong> individual women<br />
<strong>and</strong> work illustrations, to demonstrate the range <strong>and</strong><br />
depth <strong>of</strong> activity by women in the railways workforce.<br />
The extent to which some <strong>of</strong> these earlier stories have<br />
become relegated to history, while other aspects,<br />
especially in relation to the particular requirements <strong>of</strong><br />
women workers remain live issues in the current work<br />
practices.<br />
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Tea Without Sympathy<br />
Women <strong>of</strong> the Triple R<br />
In their recent book, Haynes <strong>and</strong><br />
Hannah comment that very few stories<br />
collected were about women. ”There is<br />
a very good reason for this: for the first<br />
hundred years <strong>of</strong> its existence the<br />
railways employed very few women.<br />
Women didn’t become train drivers,<br />
firemen, guards or stationmasters until<br />
relatively recently”.<br />
“Even today with equal opportunity<br />
enshrined into our industrial awards,<br />
women still only make up a small<br />
proportion <strong>of</strong> the railway workforce. In<br />
<strong>NSW</strong> for example, there are 2770 train<br />
drivers <strong>and</strong> only thirty one <strong>of</strong> them are<br />
women. Of the 2070 track workers on the permanent<br />
way, only four are women.” 1<br />
Only in the area <strong>of</strong> station assistants <strong>and</strong> managers are<br />
there significant women workers (approximately 16% <strong>of</strong><br />
the workforce). While some <strong>of</strong> these claims, <strong>and</strong> mere<br />
focus on numbers <strong>of</strong> women employees is challenged<br />
elsewhere in this book, a celebrated area that was<br />
predominantly made up <strong>of</strong> women, was the <strong>Rail</strong>way<br />
Refreshment Rooms.<br />
The <strong>Rail</strong>way Refreshment Rooms (or Triple Rs) were<br />
both a worksite for thous<strong>and</strong>s <strong>of</strong> men <strong>and</strong> women on the<br />
railways, <strong>and</strong> <strong>of</strong>ten operated under very austere <strong>and</strong><br />
harsh conditions, but they were also a unique part <strong>of</strong> the<br />
long distance train traveller’s experience. The Triple Rs<br />
were an important public <strong>and</strong> social ambassador for the<br />
railways, employing a range <strong>of</strong> staff <strong>and</strong> spurning their<br />
own mini-industries <strong>of</strong> bakers, butchers, <strong>and</strong> others<br />
servicing the refreshment rooms on the stations.<br />
The fact that trains used steam power <strong>and</strong> need to be<br />
changed, watered <strong>and</strong> re-coaled, meant long delays at<br />
some stations, on what by modern st<strong>and</strong>ards were very<br />
long travel times. Thus, wherever there were main loco<br />
yards or junctions there were Triple Rs. In some places,<br />
passengers sat down to silver service three course meals<br />
in ornate dining rooms. Other stations just had fruit, pie<br />
<strong>and</strong> c<strong>of</strong>fee stalls called ‘tearooms’. The railway pie was<br />
the fast food <strong>of</strong> the steam era.<br />
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RRR Staff, C<strong>of</strong>fs Harbour, 1947<br />
Early accounts <strong>of</strong> a ‘rest room’ at Sydney Terminal were<br />
said to be via the supply <strong>of</strong> pastries by a Mrs Moon.<br />
Haynes <strong>and</strong> Hannah quote the <strong>of</strong>ficial Departmental<br />
History <strong>of</strong> 1955 to support this quaint claim:<br />
“The first refreshment room [at Sydney Terminal]<br />
consisted <strong>of</strong> a counter <strong>and</strong> two stools. It was open only<br />
shortly before the departure <strong>and</strong> arrival <strong>of</strong> trains.<br />
Supplies were brought to the station by a kind old lady<br />
from her pastry cook shop in Botany Road. It was quite<br />
common to see hungry passengers anxiously looking out<br />
for Mrs Moon <strong>and</strong> her basket when she was a little later<br />
than usual.” 2<br />
The first refreshment facility, however, seems to be the<br />
claim <strong>of</strong> Mr Henry Dudley, who applied to the railway<br />
manager in 1855 to rent a room for the provision <strong>of</strong><br />
refreshments. Finally, in 1856 he was leased a room for<br />
two pounds a week. His wife was also employed at<br />
Sydney station as a ladies’ waiting room attendant. At<br />
that stage, stoves were not allowed on the railway<br />
premises, making it difficult to provide hot<br />
refreshments. Dudley tried to get around this obstacle by<br />
erecting a tent on grounds near the station. His tent had<br />
twice caught fire from sparks from passing engines, <strong>and</strong><br />
in 1857 nearly blew over in strong winds. He ab<strong>and</strong>oned<br />
the venture in 1859. 3<br />
1Jim Haynes & Russell Hannah, All Aboard! Tales <strong>of</strong> the Australian <strong>Rail</strong>ways, ABC Books, Sydney, 2004, p 232<br />
2Ibid, p 235. In the tradition <strong>of</strong> populist histories, the authors didn’t bother to trouble their readers with details <strong>of</strong> the reference<br />
they cite.<br />
3See Andrew Messner, Train Up ! <strong>Rail</strong>way Refreshment Rooms in New South Wales, ARM Management, Sydney, 2003, Pp 7-9<br />
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<strong>Rail</strong>ways Commissioner John Rae described this aspect<br />
<strong>of</strong> the railways operation in the early 1870s as<br />
‘defective’ <strong>and</strong> ‘much behind our neighbouring colonies<br />
<strong>and</strong> Engl<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong> Europe’<br />
In strong contrast to the great saloons in other parts, “the<br />
keepers <strong>of</strong> what are facetiously called refreshment<br />
rooms on our <strong>Rail</strong>ways are little more than applestall<br />
holders, <strong>and</strong> vendors <strong>of</strong> lollipops <strong>and</strong> stale pastry,<br />
serving out junks <strong>of</strong> s<strong>and</strong>wiches <strong>and</strong> messes <strong>of</strong> tea <strong>and</strong><br />
c<strong>of</strong>fee to their customers, without any regard to their<br />
accommodation or comfort” 4<br />
The decades <strong>of</strong> the late 1870s onwards saw an era <strong>of</strong><br />
major railway expansion. Gr<strong>and</strong> stations which<br />
incorporated state-<strong>of</strong>-the-art refreshment rooms were<br />
built at Albury, Junee <strong>and</strong> Werris Creek.<br />
Until just prior to the First World War, all the<br />
refreshment rooms were leased to private operators, but<br />
after 1915 the government stopped renewing leases <strong>and</strong><br />
took over the running <strong>of</strong> the refreshment rooms. In <strong>NSW</strong><br />
at the height <strong>of</strong> the steam era, there were over 120 such<br />
rooms scattered over the rail network. They proved a<br />
lucrative business for operators, who <strong>of</strong>ten had leases for<br />
several refreshment rooms. The larger refreshment<br />
rooms also provided accommodation for travellers.<br />
The move from private lease to government control <strong>of</strong><br />
the refreshment rooms proved to be a financial success,<br />
going from losses under the lease arrangements in 1915<br />
to a pr<strong>of</strong>it <strong>of</strong> over 68,000 pounds in 1920. The splendour<br />
<strong>of</strong> the facilities <strong>and</strong> quality <strong>of</strong> service was also getting<br />
good reviews.<br />
210<br />
Platform Buffet Service, Central 1948<br />
“I recently had occasion to spend a day at Werris Creek.<br />
I engaged a room at the R.R.R <strong>and</strong> also had my meals<br />
there <strong>and</strong> desire to testify to uniform courtesy <strong>of</strong> the<br />
manager <strong>and</strong> his staff <strong>and</strong> to the excellent service<br />
rendered generally. Everything was spotlessly clean <strong>and</strong><br />
the food good <strong>and</strong> well served…..The whole conduct <strong>of</strong><br />
the establishment was in such a striking contrast to that<br />
<strong>of</strong> the other public houses visited during a tour <strong>of</strong> the<br />
north-west that I feel impelled to give it <strong>of</strong>ficial<br />
recognition.” 5<br />
Pub With No Beer<br />
Early refreshment room proprietors made regular<br />
representations to the <strong>Rail</strong>way Department requesting<br />
permission to serve alcohol to passengers, reporting<br />
requests <strong>and</strong> abuse by passengers not able to buy<br />
alcohol.<br />
This however, was also a time when the temperance<br />
movement was gaining momentum, which among other<br />
activities, lobbied to prevent the extension <strong>of</strong> liquor<br />
licenses to the railway refreshment rooms. They also<br />
gained unlikely allies in some publicans, especially<br />
those located near to railways, who saw licensed<br />
refreshment rooms as an intrusion into their business.<br />
Others argued that alcohol on railway stations was a<br />
recipe for disaster. The Newcastle Morning Herald<br />
editorial <strong>of</strong> 19 February 1879 summarises some <strong>of</strong> the<br />
sentiments <strong>of</strong> those opposed to licensing the Triple Rs.<br />
“We ask whether it would not be better, in the interest <strong>of</strong><br />
all classes <strong>of</strong> society, to leave well alone. Hitherto we<br />
have been able to conduct …. Our railways without the<br />
assistance <strong>of</strong> Licensed Refreshment Rooms …. What is<br />
wanted is …. Real Refreshment Rooms; that is,<br />
comfortable halting places, at which travelers may not<br />
only partake <strong>of</strong> wholesome <strong>and</strong> necessary refreshments,<br />
but have a reasonable time allowed them to do so.” 6<br />
The sale <strong>of</strong> liquor at refreshment rooms was finally<br />
sanctioned in 1883, but was restricted to ‘bona fide<br />
travellers’ <strong>and</strong> was forbidden to rail employees.<br />
The chances <strong>of</strong> travellers becoming inebriated from their<br />
stop at the refreshment rooms was unlikely.<br />
Notwithst<strong>and</strong>ing that the major Triple Rs provided full<br />
meals <strong>and</strong> quite extensive menus, stoppage times for<br />
meals <strong>and</strong> drinks were kept to a minimum, <strong>and</strong> were<br />
usually between 10 <strong>and</strong> twenty five minutes.<br />
4 Cited in Haynes <strong>and</strong> Hannah, op., cit., p235<br />
5 Letter from Inspector <strong>of</strong> the bank <strong>of</strong> <strong>NSW</strong>, tendered to Royal commission into the railways <strong>and</strong> tramways in 1924, cited in<br />
Chris Banger, The <strong>Rail</strong>way Refreshment Rooms <strong>of</strong> <strong>NSW</strong> 1855-1995, Part 1, ARHS Bulletin, Vol 54, no 789 , July 2003, p263<br />
6 Cited in Messner, op.cit., p 13<br />
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Working on the Triple R<br />
Female waitresses (or the women in grey or Triple R<br />
Ladies as they were referred to) earned about 35<br />
shillings per week (just under half the wages <strong>of</strong> men).<br />
They were not classified as permanent workers <strong>and</strong> had<br />
no access to government superannuation, long service<br />
leave or sick pay. If sub-managers were married, their<br />
wives commonly assisted with management duties at<br />
country refreshment rooms. Women performed the bulk<br />
<strong>of</strong> the catering <strong>and</strong> kitchen duties, waiting <strong>and</strong> counter<br />
service, as well as cleaning, ironing <strong>and</strong> laundry at<br />
localities <strong>of</strong>fering accommodation. Larger rooms<br />
employed a male chef who supervised female cooks, as<br />
well as young boys – ‘usefuls’ – to perform general<br />
duties. 7<br />
The Triple Rs were generally staffed by a manager<br />
(usually male), several women in the kitchen or serving<br />
<strong>and</strong> a boy who did odd jobs. Prior to being taken over by<br />
the Department in 1916, they were privately operated<br />
<strong>and</strong> not within the ambit <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Rail</strong>ways Act, or within<br />
the coverage <strong>of</strong> the Australian <strong>Rail</strong>ways <strong>Union</strong> <strong>and</strong> it<br />
suited management to keep it that way.<br />
Long hours in broken shifts were worked to service<br />
passengers at all hours <strong>of</strong> the day <strong>and</strong> night, seven days<br />
per week. There were complaints <strong>of</strong> understaffing, long<br />
shifts, <strong>and</strong> harassment, poor wages, injuries <strong>and</strong> death,<br />
<strong>and</strong> consequently very high turnover <strong>of</strong> staff. Andrew<br />
Messner provides information for one six month period<br />
prior to the depression in 1929, where more than 20% <strong>of</strong><br />
the female refreshment rooms staff at Central resigned,<br />
whilst another 27 were terminated. 8<br />
<strong>Rail</strong>way Refreshment Rooms, C<strong>of</strong>fs Harbour<br />
7See Messner, Train Up !, op.cit., pp 34-36<br />
8Ibid, p 37<br />
9Cited in Hearn, op.cit., p66<br />
10Cited in hearn, p64<br />
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“You see they had to be on duty when trains came in, to<br />
prepare <strong>and</strong> serve a train which might take two hours.<br />
The larger rooms served full meals, the smaller rooms,<br />
light refreshments. But when the train went out <strong>and</strong> the<br />
clearing up was done, the girls would be <strong>of</strong>f for a couple<br />
<strong>of</strong> hours <strong>and</strong> then back to meet the next train.” 9<br />
Hours <strong>of</strong> operation <strong>of</strong> the refreshment rooms were <strong>of</strong>ten<br />
like 2.30 am to 4.30 am, followed by 7 am to 8.30am; or<br />
9.30am to 11.30am followed by 9.30 pm to 11.30pm to<br />
accommodate main traffic.<br />
An eight hour day was usually spread over twenty one<br />
hours <strong>of</strong> the day. The women in grey were <strong>of</strong>ten known<br />
as being ‘grumpy’ – which would seem perfectly<br />
underst<strong>and</strong>able under the circumstances. Many also<br />
lived in railway accommodation <strong>and</strong> had compulsory<br />
deductions from their wages for meals <strong>and</strong><br />
accommodation, even if they lived <strong>of</strong>f-site.<br />
The grievances outlined <strong>and</strong> the particularly high turnover<br />
<strong>of</strong> staff, indicates a deeper set <strong>of</strong> concerns than just<br />
the immediate industrial issues. The accounts <strong>of</strong><br />
harassment <strong>and</strong> denigration, coupled with husb<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong><br />
wife management teams in country locations, has an<br />
almost feudal tenor about it. The blatant neglect <strong>of</strong>, or<br />
concern for refreshment room workers welfare or safety<br />
in coming <strong>and</strong> going from the job at all hours is<br />
alarming. The impression is more <strong>of</strong> abused <strong>and</strong> bullied<br />
house servants <strong>of</strong> the spoiled aristocracy than <strong>of</strong> public<br />
employees.<br />
Lorna Bridge, who worked at the Grafton Refreshment<br />
Room, described the varied <strong>and</strong> hard work at the Triple R.<br />
“There was a terrible lot <strong>of</strong> work to be done, you know,<br />
washing walls, cleaning windows, cleaning silver, doing<br />
the brassware, polishing floors. Everything was done on<br />
h<strong>and</strong>s <strong>and</strong> knees – scrubbing <strong>and</strong> polishing. Curtains<br />
had to be washed <strong>and</strong> you know, just everything. I was<br />
tea <strong>and</strong> s<strong>and</strong>wich girl. Oh, everything, just flat out from<br />
daylight ‘til dark.” 10<br />
By the end <strong>of</strong> 1938, there were over 1,200 staff<br />
employed in refreshment rooms across the state. Sydney<br />
Station was the biggest refreshment room operation in<br />
the state <strong>and</strong> while not <strong>of</strong>fering accommodation,<br />
employed over 200 staff to work the two dining rooms,<br />
bars, platform kiosks <strong>and</strong> fruit stalls. The refreshment<br />
rooms also prepared wicker baskets for travelers <strong>and</strong><br />
‘basket boys’ were a regular sight on major stations.<br />
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“Apart from the usual array <strong>of</strong> waitresses, counter-girls<br />
<strong>and</strong> usefuls, the Sydney dining rooms were managed by<br />
chefs who supervised a team <strong>of</strong> grill, fish, vegetable,<br />
sweets <strong>and</strong> pastry cooks. Butchers, piemakers,<br />
tobacconists, cordial makers were also employed onsite,<br />
as were a large complement <strong>of</strong> kitchen, scullery,<br />
pantry, cleaning <strong>and</strong> boiler-room staff……[from the<br />
early 1920s] two musicians were also on the payroll at<br />
Sydney, <strong>and</strong> a matron was employed to oversee the<br />
wellbeing <strong>of</strong> a large staffing complement.” 11<br />
Feeding the Troops<br />
During WWII the <strong>Rail</strong>ways were requested to provide<br />
meals <strong>and</strong> light refreshments to defence force personnel<br />
travelling by rail throughout <strong>NSW</strong>.<br />
The war years, with packed troop trains, with schedules<br />
<strong>and</strong> movements mostly kept secret, saw the Triple Rs<br />
feeding up to 4000 troops at a time. The inability <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Triple Rs to cope with this upsurge <strong>of</strong> business was<br />
initially overcome by supplementing permanent staff<br />
with volunteers from the Red Cross <strong>and</strong> Girl Guides.<br />
“The most important country refreshment room in <strong>NSW</strong><br />
for troop movements during the early stages <strong>of</strong> the<br />
mobilisation was Albury. During one 48 hour period<br />
6,000 men arrived there in 12 trains <strong>and</strong> were provided<br />
with meals before departing for Victoria.” 12<br />
In addition to troops that stopped at the rooms, they also<br />
provided packed refreshments <strong>of</strong> s<strong>and</strong>wiches, fruit <strong>and</strong><br />
cake. “ During March 1942, 9,000 United States troops<br />
were conveyed to Brisbane from Sydney on 18 trains.<br />
These men were provided with meals at every<br />
refreshment room on the North Coast route. ……..In one<br />
36 hour period, 13,500 troops bound for Brisbane were<br />
conveyed in 27 trains originating from both Melbourne<br />
<strong>and</strong> Sydney. These troops were served 26,850 meals <strong>and</strong><br />
were provided with 3,792 packet meals by the<br />
refreshment rooms along the route.” 13<br />
Other activities during the war that the Triple Rs were<br />
called on for catering, usually at very short notice,<br />
included movement <strong>of</strong> German <strong>and</strong> Italian (<strong>and</strong> later<br />
Japanese) prisoners <strong>of</strong> war, transported by rail to<br />
prisoner <strong>of</strong> war camps. The R.R.R were called on to<br />
cater for other related facilities, such as the construction<br />
<strong>of</strong> the military aerodrome at Tocumwal, catering <strong>and</strong><br />
canteen facilities for the defence <strong>and</strong> munitions works at<br />
11 Messner, op.cit., p 41<br />
12 Chris Banger, op.cit., p264<br />
13 Ibid., p 264<br />
14 Interview with Lorna Bridge, in Hearn, op.cit., p68<br />
15 Messner, op.cit., p44<br />
212<br />
Catering for the Troops (State rail Archives)<br />
St Marys <strong>and</strong> the work <strong>of</strong> the Allied Works Council,<br />
established to build aerodromes, barracks, docks,<br />
bridges <strong>and</strong> roads. All <strong>of</strong> these projects <strong>and</strong> those<br />
involved with them needed to be fed.<br />
Lorna Bridge worked on the Grafton RRR during the<br />
war years, <strong>and</strong> recalls the chaos <strong>of</strong> the work:<br />
“When the troops came in we’d have to start work at 4<br />
a.m. And then we’d have to work right through the day<br />
then, until about half past seven at night. And then<br />
sometimes when the train came in, a late troop train<br />
we’d work up until about ten. We had hospital trains <strong>and</strong><br />
prisoner <strong>of</strong> war trains …. We had trestles down the back<br />
<strong>and</strong> we used to feed them there …..mostly Italians <strong>and</strong><br />
Japs. Sometimes there would be 3000 on one train, yes<br />
my word, we used to get through them though. We didn’t<br />
have any dishwashers in those days, we used to do<br />
everything by h<strong>and</strong>.” 14<br />
There are also many memories <strong>of</strong> people being str<strong>and</strong>ed<br />
due to accidents, bushfires or floods <strong>and</strong> the like, to find<br />
solace at the Triple R.<br />
It seems that Triple R china <strong>and</strong> crockery were also<br />
popular collectibles. Messner reports on media accounts<br />
<strong>and</strong> railway data that shows a disappearance just after<br />
the war <strong>of</strong> some 35,000 spoons, 25,000 cups <strong>and</strong><br />
thous<strong>and</strong>s <strong>of</strong> towels from the refreshment rooms. This<br />
could be due in part to a policy by the Department, to<br />
minimise stoppage times, that allowed passengers to pay<br />
a deposit , take their drink with them <strong>and</strong> claim a refund<br />
at the next stop. 15<br />
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<strong>Union</strong>ising the Triple R<br />
Prior to the Triple RRRs coming under direct control <strong>of</strong><br />
the <strong>Rail</strong>ways Department, the employees were not<br />
railway employees or covered under the <strong>Rail</strong>ways Act.<br />
They could not be covered by the ARTSA. As Mark<br />
Hearn recounts, management wanted to keep them<br />
separate from the mainstream workforce <strong>and</strong> the<br />
conditions they enjoyed.<br />
Rosemary Webb also points out that even when the<br />
refreshment rooms came under Departmental control,<br />
catering staff were not classified as permanent, but<br />
rather on a permanent casual basis which meant they<br />
were denied job security <strong>and</strong> benefits enjoyed by<br />
permanent employees. 16<br />
The Secretary <strong>of</strong> the Shop Assistant’s <strong>Union</strong> made initial<br />
union representations in the early 1920s on behalf <strong>of</strong><br />
refreshment room workers to management. It wasn’t<br />
until 1923 that the ARU first admitted <strong>and</strong> classified<br />
catering staff with other non-salaried employees such as<br />
porters <strong>and</strong> usefuls. In 1928 refreshment room workers<br />
were integrated into the general Traffic Branch <strong>of</strong> the<br />
ARU. 17<br />
The only award relating to the refreshment rooms prior<br />
to 1938 was that covering the Hospitality, Caterers <strong>and</strong><br />
Restaurant Employees <strong>Union</strong>. The ARU had formed its<br />
own RRR Division in 1923, with CJ Starkie (porter at<br />
Petersham) elected as Divisional secretary <strong>and</strong> Miss AF<br />
Graham (Central Refreshment Rooms) as Divisional<br />
President. These two activists laid the early essential<br />
groundwork in raising the plight <strong>of</strong> the refreshment<br />
room employees with management <strong>and</strong> within the<br />
union. 18 Rather than consolidate or improve their<br />
bargaining position, the move into the Traffic Branch <strong>of</strong><br />
the union clearly weakened it <strong>and</strong> the groundwork <strong>of</strong><br />
organising by Starkie <strong>and</strong> Graham.<br />
With the subsuming <strong>of</strong> the Refreshment Room Division<br />
within the Traffic Branch <strong>and</strong> the rolling <strong>of</strong> their key<br />
organisers, came the lack <strong>of</strong> commitment to the plight <strong>of</strong><br />
these workers from some <strong>of</strong> the union <strong>of</strong>ficials. The<br />
Refreshment Rooms no longer had specialist<br />
representation from its own division, or its own<br />
organisers. Industrially, this ‘merger’ left the<br />
Refreshment Rooms under-represented, if not seriously<br />
neglected for some time to come.<br />
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The grievances in the refreshment rooms, as outlined<br />
above, centred around working hours, broken shifts,<br />
grade classifications, understaffing, compulsory<br />
deductions for accommodation, occupational health <strong>and</strong><br />
safety, permanent employment <strong>and</strong> management’s<br />
refusal to allow employees to wear union badges.<br />
Workplace representatives were also frustrated <strong>and</strong><br />
undermined in their efforts by some <strong>of</strong> the full-time<br />
union organisers. One example is in relation to<br />
representations by Starkie on behalf <strong>of</strong> a Miss Mitchell<br />
at Central, who was forced to pay for on-duty breakages<br />
(a regular grievance was that such breakages were<br />
automatically deducted from wages). The union<br />
organiser, Davis had compromised with management,<br />
agreeing that she would pay for the breakages. 19<br />
The already appalling conditions <strong>of</strong> refreshment room<br />
workers deteriorated further during the Depression years<br />
<strong>and</strong> despite continued efforts <strong>and</strong> representations to the<br />
union, by union representatives such as C.J Starkie <strong>and</strong><br />
Miss A.F. Graham little was done to improve the<br />
situation for ten years. A major campaign was eventually<br />
organised by the ARU in the 1930s (under the leadership<br />
<strong>of</strong> the new Secretary, Lloyd Ross, but primarily<br />
organised by Eileen Powell).<br />
Eileen Powell (who was later to become the<br />
unsuccessful Labor Party c<strong>and</strong>idate for the federal seat<br />
<strong>of</strong> North Sydney) organised the ARU’s RRR campaign<br />
that began in 1937. ‘We were getting reports from the<br />
per way reps <strong>and</strong> traffic staff that the girls were working<br />
under very poor conditions’ 20<br />
Her skill as an organiser <strong>and</strong> strategies are well worth<br />
keeping in the modern organising guide book. She<br />
toured the worksites to gather information on conditions<br />
16Rosemary Webb, Commemeorating Our Dear Departed Equal Pay Activists, Workers Online, 5 March 1999<br />
17See Messner, op. cit., Pp 36-37. See also Rosemary Webb, A Refreshing Advance, Workers Online, 2 July 1999.<br />
18Rosemary Webb, A Refreshing Advance, op.cit.<br />
19Rosemary Webb, A Refreshing Advance, Workers Online, 2 July 1999.<br />
20 Hearn, op. cit., p 66<br />
Catering Services Staff, 1964<br />
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<strong>and</strong> where hostile employers existed, she organised to<br />
meet the women out <strong>of</strong> work to discuss their conditions<br />
<strong>and</strong> joining the union. She used popular media such as<br />
Women Today to gain public support <strong>and</strong> embarrass the<br />
government, before making an award application.<br />
The following extract relating to the RRR campaign<br />
from Women Today, illustrates the strategy <strong>of</strong> appealing<br />
to general sentiment around working conditions <strong>and</strong><br />
reflects a subtlety that goes well beyond sloganising or<br />
rhetoric. : “What would my women readers say if their<br />
husb<strong>and</strong>s came home <strong>and</strong> said: ‘My boss has started a<br />
boarding house at the factory <strong>and</strong> all the employees<br />
must live there, or if not pay board to him just the same’.<br />
Wouldn’t their wives be indignant?”<br />
The ARU took its case to the <strong>NSW</strong> Conciliation<br />
Commissioner in 1938, to be granted only a small wage<br />
increase, but no response on the other grievances about<br />
accommodation, hours or meals. So, the union appealed<br />
to the full bench <strong>of</strong> the Commission, represented by<br />
Eileen..<br />
“It was unusual in those days, well it was unknown for<br />
a woman to be in the arbitration court <strong>and</strong> there were<br />
very few in the legal pr<strong>of</strong>ession. When the judgement<br />
came down they cut the spread <strong>of</strong> hours, made provision<br />
for overtime, increased wages …. And abolished the<br />
compulsory board <strong>and</strong> lodging payment, so that meant<br />
that the girls who could live at home …. Had their wages<br />
increased by the one pound a week they were paying for<br />
board <strong>and</strong> lodging. So it was a very good result for<br />
them.”<br />
The success with the Full Bench made Eileen the first<br />
woman advocate to argue <strong>and</strong> gain an award in the<br />
Commission. After 8 years with the ARU, running<br />
<strong>Rail</strong>road <strong>and</strong> organising members, Eileen resigned from<br />
the ARU, to care for her mother <strong>and</strong> took up a position<br />
at the Labor Council’s radio station 2KY<br />
End <strong>of</strong> an Era<br />
In 1957, the US based consultants EBASCO were<br />
retained to report on all areas <strong>of</strong> railway operations,<br />
including the refreshment rooms. It was noted in the<br />
report that the metropolitan Triple Rs <strong>and</strong> kiosks were<br />
operating at a pr<strong>of</strong>it, whereas some <strong>of</strong> the country rooms<br />
<strong>and</strong> buffet services were declining. The consultants<br />
suggested a return to the past, recommending among<br />
21Women Today, September 1937, cited in Hearn, op.cit., p 68<br />
22Eileen Powell, 1938-40 State Secretary’s Report, p 14, cited in Hearn, p 68<br />
23Chris Brady, op.cit. p265<br />
24Chris Brady, op.cit. Part II, ARHS Bulletin Vol 54, No 790, August 2003, Pp 297 ff<br />
214<br />
other things, that ‘the operation <strong>of</strong> most <strong>of</strong> the country<br />
rooms should pass to private lessees… <strong>and</strong> that some<br />
rooms should reduce their level <strong>of</strong> service or be closed’.<br />
The rooms at Blayney, Carrathool, Culcairn, Dungog,<br />
Gloucester, Harden, Molong, Penrith, Queanbeyan,<br />
Tamworth, Wagga Wagga, Wellington <strong>and</strong> Yass Junction<br />
all closed around the time <strong>of</strong> the release <strong>of</strong> the report. A<br />
number <strong>of</strong> other country refreshment rooms were leased<br />
to private operators. In the 1960s more rooms were<br />
closed, including Bathurst, Moss Vale <strong>and</strong> C<strong>of</strong>fs<br />
Harbour.<br />
While refreshment rooms were moving towards final<br />
retirement, the Triple R service was renamed as Trading<br />
<strong>and</strong> Catering in 1962-63 (in the 1980s it was renamed as<br />
Retail <strong>and</strong> Catering Services), to reflect a shift in<br />
emphasis <strong>and</strong> activities. These included, in addition to<br />
metropolitan <strong>and</strong> the remaining country refreshment<br />
rooms <strong>and</strong> on-board services, with new catering<br />
facilities opening at a number <strong>of</strong> mainly metropolitan<br />
locations. Under new arrangements, some <strong>of</strong> the major<br />
Triple Rs such as Dubbo, Grafton City, Junee,<br />
Wollongong, Gosford, Newcastle, Sydney <strong>and</strong><br />
Tamworth survived into the 1990s. A number <strong>of</strong> the<br />
kiosks <strong>and</strong> st<strong>and</strong>s still operated on metropolitan <strong>and</strong><br />
country stations <strong>and</strong> a few <strong>of</strong> the original RRR facilities<br />
or reduced versions still operate in some locations, such<br />
as Wollongong, Newcastle, Dubbo, Junee <strong>and</strong> Glenn<br />
Innes.<br />
The decline in steam train travel resulted in the decline,<br />
<strong>and</strong> ultimately the demise <strong>of</strong> the Triple Rs. Diesel didn’t<br />
require long stops <strong>and</strong> the major interstate prestige trains<br />
(such as Southern Aurora, Spirit <strong>of</strong> Progress) all had onboard<br />
buffet or dining cars.<br />
Country passenger services further declined with<br />
increases in road <strong>and</strong> air travel. The Intercity XPT<br />
doesn’t stop long enough for passengers to get<br />
refreshments. Most <strong>of</strong> the remaining <strong>Rail</strong>way<br />
Refreshment Rooms were closed by the mid 1970s.<br />
The Triple Rs are now just a part <strong>of</strong> railway nostalgia.<br />
The few remaining rooms that were kept were once<br />
more leased to private operators. Many <strong>of</strong> the gr<strong>and</strong> old<br />
buildings have been taken over by historical societies or<br />
become part <strong>of</strong> the station <strong>of</strong>fices; others retained their<br />
liquor licences <strong>and</strong> became pubs.<br />
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Women at Eveleigh<br />
Lucy Taksa<br />
Women worked at Eveleigh from 1887. Admittedly,<br />
their numbers were extremely small. In that first year <strong>of</strong><br />
full operations the ratio was 1,162 to 1. That one woman<br />
was Mrs. Jane Colgate McDougall, a laundress at<br />
Eveleigh in that year who was classified as a Cushion<br />
Cover Maker from 1 May 1888 <strong>and</strong> an upholstress in<br />
1890. 1 A year later she was joined in this occupation by<br />
her daughter Annie who only stayed at Eveleigh for one<br />
year. By contrast Jane remained there until her<br />
retirement on 3 September 1911, juggling upholstery<br />
work with <strong>of</strong>fice cleaning.<br />
Another couple <strong>of</strong> upholstresses joined Jane <strong>and</strong> Annie<br />
in 1891, <strong>and</strong> three more women worked as caretakers <strong>of</strong><br />
various barracks at Eveleigh. In total 50 upholstresses<br />
were employed in the period before 1939. Like Jane, a<br />
number <strong>of</strong> them also cleaned <strong>of</strong>fices <strong>and</strong> undertook<br />
laundry work. During the First World War their numbers<br />
were augmented further. Seven worked as machinists in<br />
the tarpaulin sheds <strong>and</strong> stores <strong>and</strong> five as shorth<strong>and</strong><br />
writers <strong>and</strong> typists. In 1918, the first woman clerk<br />
appeared at Eveleigh <strong>and</strong><br />
by the eve <strong>of</strong> World War<br />
Two forty-nine women<br />
had worked in its <strong>of</strong>fices.<br />
Far from being temporary<br />
intruders in this industrial<br />
l<strong>and</strong>scape, a large<br />
number <strong>of</strong> these women<br />
were Eveleigh stalwarts.<br />
Upholstress Maria Adair,<br />
for instance, worked<br />
there for thirty-eight<br />
years, her cousin Maggie<br />
Wauhop for thirty-six<br />
years. 2 Similarly,<br />
Gertrude May Dickson<br />
was a short-h<strong>and</strong> writer<br />
<strong>and</strong> typist in the Chief<br />
Mechanical Engineer’s<br />
<strong>of</strong>fice for 19 years, while<br />
Maria Imelda Healy was<br />
a clerk in the same <strong>of</strong>fice<br />
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for 38 years. In some cases these women were related<br />
to each other or to men employed in other parts <strong>of</strong> the<br />
workshops. Generally they worked in very small groups,<br />
isolated from the majority <strong>of</strong> Eveleigh’s employees <strong>and</strong><br />
<strong>of</strong>ten from each other as well. Such conditions were<br />
markedly different from those experienced by the<br />
women employed in Eveleigh’s Munitions Annexe<br />
during World War Two. 3<br />
Eveleigh was drawn into the war effort in 1939 after<br />
Defence Department <strong>of</strong>ficials made a request to the<br />
Commissioner for <strong>Rail</strong>ways for space to be made<br />
available to manufacture 18-pounder shells. Plans were<br />
prepared in August <strong>of</strong> that year <strong>and</strong> the Munitions<br />
Annexe was located in the Tender Shop <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Locomotive workshops under the Ministry <strong>of</strong> Munitions<br />
'Shadow Factory' Scheme. In May 1940 munitions work<br />
began there, although in January 1941 the plant was<br />
converted for the production <strong>of</strong> 25-pounder shells. In<br />
November 1942 female process workers were<br />
introduced into the Annexe after an additional gallery<br />
First Women Apprentices, Chullora Training Centre<br />
1 Jane Colgate McDougall, <strong>Rail</strong>way Personal History Card, State Records <strong>NSW</strong>, CGS 12922.<br />
2 Maria Adair <strong>and</strong> Maggie Wauhop, <strong>Rail</strong>way Personal History Cards, State Records <strong>NSW</strong>, CGS 12922.<br />
3 Information from Eveleigh Employee Database produced by Lucy Taksa using <strong>NSW</strong> Government Gazette Employee Lists<br />
obtained from the <strong>NSW</strong> State <strong>Rail</strong>way Authority Archives (SRAA)<br />
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was built consisting <strong>of</strong> a meal room, a change room with<br />
lockers, a rest room <strong>and</strong> hot water for washing <strong>and</strong><br />
showers exclusively for the women. Records for 68 <strong>of</strong><br />
these women were found in the State <strong>Rail</strong> Authority<br />
Archives. Some <strong>of</strong> them came from rural <strong>NSW</strong>. A<br />
number had already been railway employees. Others<br />
combined their munitions work with carriage cleaning at<br />
Eveleigh <strong>and</strong> also Central Station or waitressing in<br />
refreshment rooms. Their incursion into the workshops<br />
was, however, short-lived. On 12 June 1943 the Annexe<br />
ceased production. 4<br />
Although these women experienced the same sort <strong>of</strong><br />
segregation <strong>and</strong> isolation as those who had previously<br />
performed various railway-related jobs at Eveleigh, they<br />
were more visible. Despite the hessian partitions that<br />
surrounded them, their numbers <strong>and</strong> their location in the<br />
very centre <strong>of</strong> the main locomotive workshops had an<br />
impact on the men, many <strong>of</strong> who thought it was<br />
inappropriate for women to be working in such large<br />
numbers so close to them. Bob Matthews, who was an<br />
apprentice in the locomotive workshop from 1940<br />
commented on how the influx <strong>of</strong> women munitions<br />
workers ‘dramatically’ changed the place, not only<br />
216<br />
because <strong>of</strong> the work they were doing but as importantly<br />
because they had what he referred to as ‘a separate<br />
identity’. ‘They were all fenced <strong>of</strong>f’, he said, ‘<strong>and</strong><br />
nobody was allowed in because security was very tight.’ 5<br />
These women experienced extremely dangerous<br />
conditions. The 35lb lifting restriction for female<br />
workers did little to protect them from hideous<br />
accidents. Quite a few had their fingers severed. Such<br />
dangerous conditions were the norm for the majority <strong>of</strong><br />
Eveleigh’s male workers, whose representatives fought<br />
long <strong>and</strong> hard to improve first aid <strong>and</strong> medical<br />
resources. 6<br />
According to Frank Bollins the rank-<strong>and</strong>-file shop<br />
committee fought for improved conditions in the<br />
workshops from 1926 by raising ‘the whole concept <strong>of</strong><br />
improved <strong>and</strong> more adequate first aid facilities’. As part<br />
<strong>of</strong> its campaign for an ambulance to take injured<br />
workers to hospital <strong>and</strong> fully qualified medical<br />
assistance in Eveleigh’s first aid rooms, the committees<br />
printed up the proposal in ‘a clearly legible form’ <strong>and</strong><br />
‘circulated it amongst the workers’ who were asked to<br />
endorse it at a series <strong>of</strong> mass meetings. In Frank’s view,<br />
they succeeded in fulfilling the latter aim because it ‘fell<br />
4 <strong>NSW</strong> Government <strong>Rail</strong>ways, <strong>Rail</strong>way At War: A Record <strong>of</strong> the Activities <strong>of</strong> the <strong>NSW</strong> Government <strong>Rail</strong>ways in the Second World<br />
War, Sydney, n.d., State <strong>Rail</strong> Authority Archives (SRAA) M27 [1], p. 22, p. 46, pp. 52-54 pp. 56-57; Personal Cards,<br />
Mechanical Branch, SRAA; <strong>NSW</strong> Department <strong>of</strong> <strong>Rail</strong>ways, 'History <strong>of</strong> the War Effort, Mechanical Branch, September 1939 -<br />
December 1942', typewritten mss., SRAA, M143, pp. 1-9, pp. 42-43; Annual Report (AR) <strong>of</strong> the Commissioner For <strong>Rail</strong>ways for<br />
the Year 1940, SRAA, R10/9, pp. 24-25; AR for 1941, SRAA R10/10, p. 11, p. 17.<br />
5 Interview: Bob Matthews conducted by Joan Kent on 20 February 1996.<br />
6 Women’s Employment Bureau (WEB), In the matter <strong>of</strong> an application by the Ministry <strong>of</strong> Munitions under regulation 11 <strong>of</strong> the<br />
National security (Employment <strong>of</strong> Women) Regulation’, pp. 3-4. Decisions <strong>of</strong> Women’s Employment Board, Manpower<br />
Directorate, Australian Archives Series: SP 191/1/0; Item 25621 Part 2, Box 5; Personal Cards, SRAA.<br />
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in line with what the railways may have had in mind for<br />
the future <strong>of</strong> the medical service’. The result was the<br />
full-time appointment <strong>of</strong> industrial nurses. 7<br />
The first nurses were employed at Eveleigh in April<br />
1946. Heather Duffy lasted only four months before<br />
being transferred to another First Aid Station, while the<br />
services <strong>of</strong> Winifred Williams were terminated in May<br />
the following year ‘owing to her recent marriage’. Her<br />
replacement was Agnes Mary Lions, who became<br />
Senior Industrial Nurse in February 1947 <strong>and</strong> remained<br />
at Eveleigh until 1968. 8 A total <strong>of</strong> ten nurses worked at<br />
Eveleigh. One <strong>of</strong> these women, Lucia Anna Nardi,<br />
transferred there from the Chullora workshops in the<br />
late 1940s <strong>and</strong> stayed until she retired in 1973. These<br />
nurses worked in the First Aid Rooms that were adjacent<br />
to the Locomotive workshops, the Carriage workshops<br />
<strong>and</strong> the Running Sheds. 9 Their relationships with the<br />
men were always ambiguous, partly because they were<br />
women <strong>and</strong> partly because their employment closed <strong>of</strong>f<br />
an avenue for promotion for men, who had previously<br />
occupied the salaried position <strong>of</strong> full-time First Aid<br />
<strong>of</strong>ficer. In addition, the nurses challenged the skills the<br />
men had acquired through their first aid training through<br />
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the Ambulance Corps that had been established in the<br />
railways in the late nineteenth century. Those who had a<br />
long association with the Corps vehemently questioned<br />
the nurses’ expertise.<br />
This was simply one dimension <strong>of</strong> the men’s opposition<br />
to the employment <strong>of</strong> these women. Frank Bollins<br />
recalled being ‘on a platform at a mass meeting in the<br />
carriage works, defending the right for the nursing<br />
sisters to be there <strong>and</strong> arguing with some <strong>of</strong> the male<br />
workers as to why they should be retained.’ This ‘was<br />
quite an interesting fight’ led by those workers ‘who<br />
could see a little sinecure they had an eye on for a<br />
number <strong>of</strong> years going down a spout’. 10 But the hostility<br />
was more pervasive. There ‘was an immediate reaction’<br />
to the women’s appointment, in his view, because <strong>of</strong> ‘the<br />
absolute conservatism’ <strong>of</strong> ‘the old… railway workers’<br />
whose usual practice’ had been to ‘go to the first aid<br />
room’ <strong>and</strong> ‘have a bit <strong>of</strong> a yarn with the first aid <strong>of</strong>ficer’<br />
about ‘any personal problems’ including ‘haemorrhoids<br />
or piles <strong>and</strong> a few other male problems’ which they<br />
found too embarrassing to ‘talk to a female nursing<br />
sister about’. 11<br />
Lifting the Engine, Eveleigh<br />
7Stan Jones, ‘Eveleigh - The Heart Of The Transport System’, Daily News: Feature for Transport Workers, 19 January, 1939;<br />
Interview with Frank Bollins conducted by Russ Herman in 1987 for the Combined <strong>Rail</strong>way <strong>Union</strong>s Cultural Committee Oral<br />
History Project; Interview with Frank Bollins conducted by Lucy Taksa on 10 August 1998 for the Work, Technology, Gender<br />
<strong>and</strong> Citizenship at the Eveleigh <strong>Rail</strong>way Workshops Oral History Project funded by the AustralianResearch Council.<br />
8Agnes Mary Lions referred to herself as Mary. File on Mary Lions held by the <strong>NSW</strong> College <strong>of</strong> Nursing Archives.<br />
9SRAA Personnel files.<br />
10Interview with Frank Bollins, 1987.<br />
11Interview with Bob Matthews.<br />
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During the 1950s, the numbers <strong>of</strong> women working at<br />
Eveleigh also increased in the carriage cleaning<br />
sections. Before that time women engaged to clean<br />
trains worked at Central Station. During World War Two<br />
increasing numbers were directed into this work by the<br />
<strong>Rail</strong>way Manpower Committee to replace men who had<br />
joined the armed forces. Some would later work at<br />
Flemington, Mortdale <strong>and</strong> the McDonaldtown Air<br />
Conditioning Depot located within Eveleigh’s<br />
boundaries <strong>and</strong> best known as ACDEP. In 1981 there<br />
were around 200 at ACDEP from a range <strong>of</strong><br />
nationalities. Eva Dobrowolska, who came from Pol<strong>and</strong><br />
in 1965 <strong>and</strong> began cleaning at Punchbowl three years<br />
later, was elected the Australian <strong>Rail</strong>ways <strong>Union</strong> subbranch<br />
Secretary at ACDEP in the early 1980s, a<br />
position she lost after becoming pregnant. From 8.30am<br />
until 4.50pm she was responsible for cleaning two<br />
carriages ‘from top to bottom’. Those who worked the<br />
Women at work in Eveleigh Workshops (State Library <strong>of</strong> <strong>NSW</strong>)<br />
218<br />
day shift like Eva, <strong>and</strong> also those who worked the night<br />
shift, experienced awful working conditions <strong>and</strong><br />
injuries. There were also major claims made <strong>of</strong><br />
discrimination <strong>and</strong> harassment. Although conditions<br />
were gradually improved as the 1980s progressed, ‘in<br />
1986, the ARU’s traffic industrial <strong>of</strong>ficer, Nick Lewocki,<br />
reported that’ the carriage cleaning staff had been made<br />
redundant as a result <strong>of</strong> altered work practices. Some<br />
were transferred to other cleaning depots <strong>and</strong> others<br />
were retrained. Ironically, the large numbers <strong>of</strong> women<br />
cleaners rendered ‘surplus by the scaling down <strong>of</strong><br />
operations at the Eveleigh Workshops’, were replaced<br />
by twenty-seven men who were trained to do the<br />
cleaning by the women themselves. As Mark Hearn<br />
puts it, history’s wheel had turned full circle. 12<br />
Associate Pr<strong>of</strong>essor Taksa is Head <strong>of</strong> the School <strong>of</strong><br />
Organisation <strong>and</strong> Management, <strong>and</strong> Director <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Industrial Relations Research Centre at U<strong>NSW</strong>.<br />
12 Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC) Files for Case No. 2878 <strong>of</strong> 1981 - Public Transport Commission <strong>of</strong> New<br />
South Wales <strong>and</strong> Australian <strong>Rail</strong>ways <strong>Union</strong>.Mark Hearn, Working Lives: A history <strong>of</strong> the Australian <strong>Rail</strong>ways <strong>Union</strong> (<strong>NSW</strong><br />
Branch), Hale & Iremonger, Marrickville, 1990, pp. 138-141; AIRC Files for Case No. 2878 <strong>of</strong> 1981<br />
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A Few Good Women<br />
The following selection <strong>of</strong> women<br />
currently on the job has been chosen<br />
to illustrate both the diversity <strong>of</strong><br />
women’s work within the rail<br />
industry, as well as touch on some <strong>of</strong><br />
the issues that may be unique to<br />
women workers. Many <strong>of</strong> these<br />
issues are likely to take on greater<br />
significance as women occupy an<br />
increasingly diverse range <strong>of</strong><br />
occupations within the industry <strong>and</strong><br />
the unions representing these<br />
workers.<br />
It would not be surprising to see<br />
some <strong>of</strong> these women take on full-time roles within the<br />
union, as did Eileen Powell, <strong>and</strong> more recently Sallie<br />
Higgins. Sallie continues to push boundaries in the<br />
industry, first gaining the respect <strong>of</strong> her co-workers as a<br />
freight driver in the Hunter, then as an organiser in the<br />
Locomotive Division <strong>of</strong> the RTBU, <strong>and</strong> representing<br />
members on the union decision-making bodies at state<br />
<strong>and</strong> national levels. Most <strong>of</strong> the women here are<br />
similarly trailblazers or pushing the boundaries <strong>of</strong> their<br />
chosen jobs.<br />
One distinction that can be made about many women<br />
joining the railways, in contrast to many <strong>of</strong> their male<br />
counterparts who previously joined as first-job seekers<br />
following a family member, or accidentally or as one <strong>of</strong><br />
the few secure jobs available, women are choosing the<br />
railways as a career. These women are coming to the job,<br />
not as inexperienced youth, but as older experienced<br />
workers who have done other jobs <strong>and</strong> have consciously<br />
chosen to seek a career in the industry.<br />
Cleaning Up Our Mess<br />
Diane Seymour – Carriage Cleaner<br />
Diane is a carriage cleaner at <strong>Rail</strong>Corp’s Mortdale<br />
depot. She is the union delegate on the job, <strong>and</strong> a young<br />
single mother. In her short time on the job she has had a<br />
taste <strong>of</strong> difficult management, being sacked <strong>and</strong> then<br />
reinstated, as well as some frustrating moments around<br />
union matters.<br />
Before joining the railways as a ‘rover’ in 2000, Diane<br />
had worked in a number <strong>of</strong> retail jobs after leaving<br />
1 Interview with Diane Seymour, July 2005<br />
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Diane Seymour<br />
school. The prospect <strong>of</strong> more stable<br />
work with better conditions led her<br />
to apply for a guard’s position,<br />
which was unsuccessful. She was<br />
later contacted <strong>and</strong> <strong>of</strong>fered the<br />
position <strong>of</strong> a ‘rover’ train cleaner.<br />
This involved four-hour shifts,<br />
travelling on designated trains <strong>and</strong><br />
cleaning loose rubbish in the<br />
carriages. “You would ride a train,<br />
clean it then get <strong>of</strong>f. For example<br />
you might start at Hornsby, move<br />
through <strong>and</strong> clean, then get <strong>of</strong>f at<br />
Pymble.”<br />
She was later <strong>of</strong>fered the same ‘roving’ role on the City<br />
Circle, on 6-hour shifts for five days per week on a<br />
rotating roster. It was here that she came into conflict<br />
with one <strong>of</strong> her supervisors, who she eventually wrote a<br />
letter <strong>of</strong> complaint about, only to be sacked a week later<br />
for ‘performance <strong>and</strong> attendance’ reasons. In response to<br />
a situation that she considered simply as ‘unfair’, <strong>and</strong><br />
having had no previous experience with unions, she took<br />
the matter to the RTBU. The union organiser, Andrew<br />
Baker pursued the matter with management <strong>and</strong> had<br />
commenced arbitration proceedings, when management<br />
<strong>of</strong>fered to reinstate Diane.<br />
This initial <strong>and</strong> positive experience with the union<br />
encouraged Diane to nominate as union delegate at her<br />
new work location at Mortdale Depot. The depot<br />
employs approximately 120 workers, 30 <strong>of</strong> which are<br />
carriage cleaners. In the intervening period she took<br />
maternity leave to give birth <strong>and</strong> care for her son, Luke.<br />
When she returned to work, she was more alert <strong>of</strong> some<br />
<strong>of</strong> the poor conditions <strong>and</strong> the fact that the incumbent<br />
union delegate didn’t seem to be doing a lot to change<br />
the situation.<br />
As Diane describes it, “there was a lot <strong>of</strong> bullshit with<br />
management, there were rostering concerns, some<br />
health <strong>and</strong> safety issues, <strong>and</strong> people were as angry with<br />
the union as with management for doing nothing about<br />
it. I have a basic belief that you have to st<strong>and</strong> up for<br />
what you believe in, <strong>and</strong> fight for what is right <strong>and</strong> fair,<br />
whether it is with management or the union.” 1<br />
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The carriage cleaners are mostly permanent-part-time<br />
employees, which has its own drawbacks for single<br />
parents such as Diane. Currently, they have been advised<br />
that the eight-hour roster they are working will be<br />
reduced to six hours on the next roster. For a single<br />
parent budgeting time <strong>and</strong> money, the reduction by ten<br />
hours per week is both disruptive in terms <strong>of</strong> routine<br />
planning such as child care, <strong>and</strong> reduces the household<br />
income by one quarter. This level <strong>of</strong> unpredictability <strong>and</strong><br />
‘family unfriendly’ work practice can be vital. Diane<br />
gives the example <strong>of</strong> a single father on shift work at her<br />
depot.<br />
“If it wasn’t for his mum <strong>and</strong> family being available to<br />
care for his daughter at these times he wouldn’t be able<br />
to keep the job. Or, if he kept the job without these<br />
support networks, he wouldn’t be able to keep his<br />
daughter…This is an area that still needs a lot <strong>of</strong> work<br />
before we get close to anything like ‘family friendly’<br />
workplaces. The people making decisions – usually male<br />
managers <strong>and</strong> union <strong>of</strong>ficials – mostly don’t have the<br />
same direct family or child rearing responsibilities. They<br />
are either older people, or their partners have the main<br />
responsibility.”<br />
These issues are some <strong>of</strong> the reasons that a single mother<br />
with more than enough to occupy her time <strong>and</strong> energy<br />
also finds it important to put in effort as a local union job<br />
delegate. She is also concerned that if more isn’t done in<br />
this area, many <strong>of</strong> her colleagues will become<br />
disenchanted with the job <strong>and</strong> the union <strong>and</strong> simply<br />
leave.<br />
Mother <strong>and</strong> Daughter Guard Team<br />
Nikki <strong>and</strong> Tina Edson<br />
Nikki has seniority over Tina in the job, yet Tina is<br />
Nikki’s mother. In a slight reversal <strong>of</strong> the story <strong>of</strong> so<br />
many male rail workers who went into the job because<br />
fathers, uncles <strong>and</strong> brothers had gone before them, Tina<br />
<strong>and</strong> Nikki Edson did it the other way round. Nikki<br />
joined the railways as a guard, then convinced her<br />
mother to make a career change to the railways.<br />
Tina was working in welfare <strong>and</strong> community service<br />
jobs, <strong>and</strong> liked the sound <strong>of</strong> a ‘mid-life’ career change.<br />
Their timing was also impeccable, they both joined prior<br />
to the Olympics <strong>and</strong> worked out <strong>of</strong> Homebush <strong>and</strong><br />
around Sydney for that period before relocating to their<br />
home base <strong>of</strong> Newcastle.<br />
2 Interview with Nikki <strong>and</strong> Tina Edson, May 2005<br />
220<br />
Tina had been in her<br />
previous work for 22<br />
years – so it was a huge<br />
change, from welfare<br />
into the railways. Nikki<br />
was earning more as a<br />
guard than Tina had ever<br />
earned in welfare. Nikki<br />
remembers her mother<br />
working extra jobs to<br />
make ends meet. “The<br />
only problem I could see<br />
with the job was the<br />
hours <strong>and</strong> shift work –<br />
but mum was doing mad<br />
hours in youth work<br />
anyway <strong>and</strong> mostly not<br />
getting paid for it.” 2<br />
Nikki Edson<br />
Tina came to see the merit in her daughter’s argument.<br />
”It was a big change for me, <strong>and</strong> a complete change in<br />
work culture. The biggest thing that struck me was the<br />
difference in money, there wasn’t a big difference in<br />
hourly rate – but with overtime <strong>and</strong> shifts, in welfare you<br />
didn’t get paid for the extra hours, you could put in a<br />
hundred hours in a week <strong>and</strong> still take home your<br />
$30,000. When I started as a guard I was earning<br />
between $45,000 <strong>and</strong> $50,000, <strong>and</strong> when you work you<br />
get paid. I have no regrets, like the flexibility <strong>of</strong> hours<br />
<strong>and</strong> the work.”<br />
They both have similar perspectives <strong>and</strong> love the job.<br />
They can work hours they like <strong>and</strong> that suit their<br />
lifestyles. They agree that the people they work with are<br />
good, ‘in most depots drivers <strong>and</strong> guards get on well.’<br />
They both insist that other factors permitting, they’ll<br />
both retire on the railways in Newcastle. Nikki says<br />
‘maybe not as a guard, but definitely as a rail worker.’<br />
Tina will be happy to be the ‘old guard at Newcastle’ in<br />
years to come.<br />
Nikki would love to be a driver at some stage, but being<br />
in Newcastle is more important. “If I could keep<br />
Newcastle as my depot I’d love to be a driver. Its great<br />
fun, something I’d really like to do, as long as I can be<br />
close to home <strong>and</strong> my family <strong>and</strong> friends.” Tina has no<br />
ambition to be a driver, preferring the mixing <strong>and</strong><br />
talking with people. “In Newcastle the personal <strong>and</strong><br />
interpersonal stuff is wonderful – all grades get on well,<br />
inspectors, shunters, signals, drivers, guards all get on<br />
<strong>and</strong> are helpful.”<br />
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On Guard Duty<br />
Tina <strong>and</strong> Nikki have worked busy<br />
times in Sydney, <strong>and</strong> dealt with<br />
some <strong>of</strong> the less attractive aspects<br />
<strong>of</strong> the travelling public, but don’t<br />
view the work as particularly hard<br />
or strenuous work – ‘you can have<br />
your bad days, <strong>and</strong> people can get<br />
aggressive <strong>and</strong> abusive, but<br />
mostly its pretty good.” Tina still<br />
pinches herself. She describes<br />
trips to Scone or Dungog, <strong>and</strong><br />
sitting on the train taking in the<br />
countryside <strong>and</strong> scenery, <strong>and</strong><br />
thinking to herself ‘I’m getting<br />
paid for this’.<br />
They both make light <strong>of</strong> some <strong>of</strong> the actual duties, <strong>and</strong><br />
describe them as a part <strong>of</strong> a larger social event. “You<br />
sign on (talk to everyone first, chat <strong>and</strong> muck around),<br />
go into meal room – gotta have a chat there as well,<br />
discuss your first job. Then you’ll be up front with your<br />
driver – more chat.”<br />
As guards, they open <strong>and</strong> close doors, ensure that the<br />
train is safe <strong>and</strong> answer passenger questions. In the city<br />
they got a lot more annoying questions, <strong>and</strong> more<br />
abusive behaviour from passengers. ‘Its more laid back<br />
in Newcastle. People are more casual, a pleasure to go to<br />
work – in Sydney you’d cop the flack <strong>and</strong> abuse for<br />
whatever was going wrong.’<br />
They describe being on the railways like belonging to a<br />
‘secret society’. “People that we’d worked with in<br />
Sydney still give a wave when you pass them on a trip.<br />
It’s the same all over the world, we have guys that go<br />
over to America, <strong>and</strong> railway workers their just welcome<br />
them as a part <strong>of</strong> the culture <strong>of</strong> the ‘railway society’.”<br />
They also identify negative aspects <strong>of</strong> the job. The main<br />
ones being fatalities <strong>and</strong> assaults – not common at<br />
Newcastle, but things that they had experienced in their<br />
time in Sydney. Tina <strong>and</strong> Nikki both describe their worst<br />
day on the job as when Tina was involved in a fatality. A<br />
passenger had taken a short-cut over an embankment at<br />
Casula <strong>and</strong> was hit by the train. “They sort <strong>of</strong> try to<br />
prepare you for that sort <strong>of</strong> thing, but it was a long<br />
fifteen minutes or so before finding the body. I had to get<br />
people <strong>of</strong>f the back <strong>of</strong> the train so they didn’t witness the<br />
body. I then had to look for <strong>and</strong> I found the body – he<br />
was a mess <strong>and</strong> still alive by a few minutes…. I went<br />
back to the train <strong>and</strong> informed passengers what had<br />
happened”.<br />
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Guards at Central<br />
“Everyone was so good. The passengers were so<br />
compassionate hugging <strong>and</strong> comforting. The driver was<br />
distressed – I found myself back in a counselling role<br />
with the driver – chatting <strong>and</strong> trying to get him calm”.<br />
The inspectors <strong>and</strong> supervisors were great – they were<br />
helpful – they knew what it was like for me. They put me<br />
in a cab back to Hornsby, picked up Nikki <strong>and</strong> went to<br />
meet up with my brother. The management was good –<br />
‘take as long as you like – whatever you need in terms <strong>of</strong><br />
time, counselling’, lots <strong>of</strong> hugs <strong>and</strong> concern. People<br />
would call <strong>and</strong> check how you were”.<br />
In Newcastle there are about eight women guards now<br />
(out <strong>of</strong> total <strong>of</strong> about 70 workers). These women are<br />
staggered over different time frames <strong>and</strong> seniority.<br />
While some have been on the job for many years, the<br />
majority are reasonably new <strong>and</strong> started around the time<br />
<strong>of</strong> the Olympics. The representation <strong>of</strong> women in the<br />
guards’ ranks has also increased in Sydney <strong>and</strong> other<br />
locations since the Olympics.<br />
They both ‘lucked in’ with their transfers to Newcastle,<br />
people who were meant to come here ahead <strong>of</strong> them for<br />
different reasons didn’t, so they both got to move back<br />
to their home town. ‘People retire here, so it was hard to<br />
get a position. Then a lot <strong>of</strong> the older guys retired – so<br />
there is more opportunity now, but we won’t budge so<br />
there will be the same problem in future.’<br />
The advantages they both see in working in Newcastle in<br />
contrast to Sydney is that its still smaller <strong>and</strong> closer than<br />
in Sydney, still enough <strong>of</strong> a country town. “There are<br />
too many people in Sydney – you can avoid people. Here<br />
you are in regular contact – you have to get on. In the<br />
city you might not see your roster clerk or inspector<br />
unless there is a problem, here you chat with them<br />
almost every day. People are more co-operative, more<br />
prepared to have a chat”.<br />
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Working the Olympics<br />
Nikki <strong>and</strong> Tina started on the job just before the<br />
Olympics. Nikki in October 1999, <strong>and</strong> Tina in the<br />
Australia Day intake in 2000. At the time <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Olympics they were based at Homebush. They describe<br />
it as the most amazing time.<br />
“Working the Olympics was great – people from<br />
everywhere, a lot <strong>of</strong> different ethnic groups <strong>and</strong><br />
languages – no problems – they were there to watch<br />
their teams <strong>and</strong> have fun. Events results would be<br />
announced through the train, people were singing their<br />
national songs <strong>and</strong> cheering. Wall to people – amazing<br />
to experience people in that setting. Their behaviour<br />
was so different compared to say football drunks <strong>and</strong><br />
louts after a rugby match– people were so well behaved<br />
<strong>and</strong> civilised. There was a change immediately<br />
afterwards – it was like the drugs wore <strong>of</strong>f – people went<br />
back to being aggro again.”<br />
Nikki describes it as a genuinely proud ‘moment’. “The<br />
fact that we blitzed it in terms <strong>of</strong> public transport –<br />
everything went without any obvious hitch – we were<br />
proud being a part <strong>of</strong> that. We did it! The feeling <strong>of</strong><br />
getting through it <strong>and</strong> doing it so well <strong>and</strong> then we got<br />
the Minister for Transport Carl Scully coming out <strong>and</strong><br />
giving us medals <strong>and</strong> certificates <strong>of</strong> appreciation. It’s<br />
the only time I’d seen any decent recognition <strong>of</strong> the job.<br />
It felt good.”<br />
They continue to enjoy their work experience <strong>and</strong> being<br />
able to share it with each other. “Working in the same job<br />
is great– we both benefit <strong>and</strong> support each other– we talk<br />
work. Check each other’s rosters – go to work together<br />
or meet up for lunch”. Nikki is an<br />
only child <strong>and</strong> the two have always<br />
shared a close relationship, <strong>and</strong><br />
now their work adds to it. “We don’t<br />
have any problem spending the<br />
extra time together, it’s even<br />
improved our relationship. Not<br />
everyone sees the positives; they see<br />
us <strong>and</strong> <strong>of</strong>ten see ‘double trouble.’ Its<br />
great fun”.<br />
In Case <strong>of</strong> Emergency<br />
– Rebecca Ferguson<br />
Rebecca Ferguson is a Senior Fire<br />
Equipment Officer with State <strong>Rail</strong><br />
Fire Service. She works as a part <strong>of</strong><br />
a small dedicated team <strong>of</strong> ten<br />
3 Interview with Rebecca Ferguson, May 2003<br />
222<br />
people. The Fire Service was reinstated a few years ago<br />
after being disb<strong>and</strong>ed. With the support <strong>of</strong> the <strong>NSW</strong> Fire<br />
Brigade <strong>and</strong> the Firefighters <strong>Union</strong>, the Service was reestablished<br />
in State <strong>Rail</strong>.<br />
Rebecca is the first woman to be employed in the role,<br />
which has traditionally been a male-dominated job. We<br />
are responsible for fire safety <strong>and</strong> management in the<br />
City Underground system, responding to fire, toxic<br />
substances, terrorism, <strong>and</strong> a range <strong>of</strong> other situations.<br />
Our work includes responsibility for the fire<br />
management system, monitoring / isolation <strong>of</strong> detectors,<br />
isolating sectors where maintenance or other work is<br />
being carried out, hot work permit issues, <strong>and</strong> any<br />
ordinary incident in the rail network. With the recent<br />
bombings on the Spanish railways <strong>and</strong> the London<br />
Underground, the job takes on a renewed significance as<br />
railway systems around the world look to improving<br />
security against such attacks.<br />
Rebecca is a relative newcomer to the industry. She has<br />
worked in State <strong>Rail</strong> for about 5 years. One year as a<br />
Customer Service Attendant, <strong>and</strong> the past 4 years with<br />
the State <strong>Rail</strong> Fire Service.<br />
She’d worked in a few jobs before joining State <strong>Rail</strong>,<br />
both while she was at school <strong>and</strong> after leaving school.<br />
She was looking for something challenging, with variety<br />
<strong>and</strong> responsibility – “a job that I could grow <strong>and</strong><br />
develop in. I had completed qualifications in fire<br />
fighting, <strong>and</strong> when the job in Fire Services came up I<br />
jumped at it. I haven’t been disappointed- it is an<br />
interesting job with a great group <strong>of</strong> people.” 3<br />
Prior to starting with State rail, Rebecca had previously<br />
done a number <strong>of</strong> what you might<br />
Rebecca Ferguson describe as traditionally ‘feminine’<br />
jobs. “These were interesting jobs<br />
with their good <strong>and</strong> bad points, but<br />
my job with Fire Services really is<br />
fantastic. It’s a diverse job with a lot<br />
<strong>of</strong> variety <strong>and</strong> responsibility, the<br />
money is good <strong>and</strong> the conditions<br />
suit my lifestyle. ….One <strong>of</strong> the<br />
positive aspects <strong>of</strong> the job is that I<br />
have been able, <strong>and</strong> encouraged to<br />
develop a range <strong>of</strong> skills <strong>and</strong><br />
knowledge, through study <strong>and</strong><br />
through the experience <strong>of</strong> my<br />
colleagues on-the-job. It is a great<br />
opportunity to pick up a range <strong>of</strong><br />
new <strong>and</strong> useful skills.”<br />
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An entry requirement is to have completed the<br />
Certificate II in Fire Fighting Operations. Rebecca<br />
completed this qualification through the <strong>NSW</strong> Fire<br />
Brigade. Once in the job there is a range <strong>of</strong> training <strong>and</strong><br />
skills development that is required before you are able to<br />
perform the work. These include safeworking, electrical<br />
hazards, sub-station entry, gas detection operation, highrail,<br />
<strong>and</strong> first aid.<br />
The team works a 10/14 roster where we do 2 ten hour<br />
day shifts, then 2 fourteen hour night shifts, followed by<br />
four days <strong>of</strong>f. “This wouldn’t suit everyone, but I found<br />
that once I got used to the hours <strong>and</strong> the body clock<br />
adjusted, it suits my lifestyle. I live in the country, <strong>and</strong><br />
manage to get time to do things on the property <strong>and</strong> with<br />
my life, <strong>and</strong> so my time can be balanced between work<br />
<strong>and</strong> family <strong>and</strong> social commitments.”<br />
Rebecca has no hesitation in saying that she would<br />
recommend work in the industry generally <strong>and</strong> certainly<br />
within the Fire Service. “While the industry may have<br />
changed over the years through restructures <strong>and</strong> other<br />
changes, there are a lot <strong>of</strong> positive opportunities for<br />
people entering the industry. There may not be the<br />
guaranteed ‘job for life’ as there was in the past, but<br />
where does this exist nowadays. There is however, a<br />
range <strong>of</strong> opportunities where people can map out their<br />
own careers, learn new skills <strong>and</strong> get paid reasonable<br />
money to do interesting work. The opportunity exists to<br />
gain formal training <strong>and</strong> on-the-job skills <strong>and</strong><br />
experience that can be used for progress within the<br />
industry as well as transferable to other jobs <strong>and</strong><br />
industries.”<br />
Rebecca is also involved in the government’s<br />
‘spokeswoman program’ <strong>and</strong> has found satisfaction in<br />
being able to speak with people <strong>and</strong> <strong>of</strong>fer advice <strong>and</strong><br />
information on a range <strong>of</strong> issues. Many <strong>of</strong> these are<br />
union issues, where I can either advise or refer people to<br />
the appropriate <strong>Union</strong> source for information. She has<br />
also started to become more involved in the <strong>Union</strong> <strong>and</strong><br />
would like to be more involved in future, <strong>and</strong> look<br />
forward to doing some <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Union</strong> training courses in<br />
the near future.<br />
“I have had family members who have been strong<br />
unionists <strong>and</strong> have impressed upon me the historical<br />
gains <strong>and</strong> benefits <strong>of</strong> unions <strong>and</strong> the roles that they can<br />
play in helping other people in different ways”….I see<br />
the <strong>Union</strong> as providing a source <strong>of</strong> empowerment to<br />
members through awareness, information <strong>and</strong> other<br />
resources. When you have reliable information you are<br />
less likely to be fooled or deceived in your work <strong>and</strong> you<br />
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have much greater control over your work life.”<br />
The concepts <strong>of</strong> teamwork <strong>and</strong> trust are ones that we<br />
<strong>of</strong>ten hear in relation to most areas <strong>of</strong> work. Rarely are<br />
both achieved, however, Rebecca provides an insight<br />
<strong>and</strong> hope in the way her workplace operates. In other<br />
ways she describes an informal relationship that has<br />
existed in many rail workplaces for a long time. “ The<br />
Fire Services team is a tight <strong>and</strong> close unit, that spends<br />
a lot <strong>of</strong> time together. It is almost like a mini-family in<br />
some ways, <strong>and</strong> we have our squabbles <strong>and</strong> differences,<br />
but when things get tough you know you can trust <strong>and</strong><br />
depend on the team to be there to back you up <strong>and</strong> to<br />
look out for you. The nature <strong>of</strong> the work is such that in a<br />
dangerous situation you are putting your personal safety<br />
<strong>and</strong> sometimes your life in the h<strong>and</strong>s <strong>of</strong> the team. That<br />
requires an incredible trust <strong>and</strong> respect <strong>of</strong> the team<br />
members.”<br />
The Williamson Sisters<br />
Following railway <strong>and</strong> Werris Creek tradition, but with a<br />
gendered twist is the Williamson sisters. There are six <strong>of</strong><br />
them, all from Werris Creek, <strong>and</strong> all but one followed<br />
their train driver father into the railways. Marsha <strong>and</strong><br />
Lesley are the remaining two still on the job.<br />
Marsha joined the telegraphy section in Werris Creek in<br />
1966, <strong>and</strong> Lesley followed a dozen years later. The two<br />
sisters are currently working with ARTC in Newcastle,<br />
Werris Creek Station<br />
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<strong>and</strong> are facing redundancy in the near future as the<br />
company has notified employees that only two <strong>of</strong> the<br />
current eleven positions will be retained, <strong>and</strong> the 2 will<br />
be located in Adelaide. 4<br />
It was a good secure job if you could get it. Marsha<br />
recalls her first attempt in applying for the job. “ I went<br />
to Sydney, got one question wrong in the exams, another<br />
girl got the job. Next time I got a perfect score <strong>and</strong> got<br />
the job.” Marsha’s starting salary was $23 per fortnight<br />
<strong>and</strong> had to pay her mum $15 board<br />
The telegraphy <strong>of</strong>fice at Werris Creek consisted <strong>of</strong> two<br />
on the switchboard, four in telegraph, supervisor,<br />
teleprinter operator – usually eight or nine just on day<br />
work.<br />
We had a lot <strong>of</strong> codes we had to use, we had to h<strong>and</strong><br />
write, h<strong>and</strong> to have reasonably clear h<strong>and</strong>writing, then<br />
we thought we were the ants pants when we got a<br />
typewriter.<br />
The technology changed a lot in the time that the sisters<br />
have been there. “It was exciting – we had to learn the<br />
new systems, then teach others how to use it. Everything<br />
was h<strong>and</strong> written, the new switchboard was about 12<br />
inches wide compared to the big old one, telex became<br />
obsolete, we started using computers…. Just had to<br />
adjust – it was also exciting to learn the new things, <strong>and</strong><br />
the computers – keyed in all the freight trains.”<br />
When Lesley joined the telegraphy <strong>of</strong>fice, Marsha was<br />
her supervisor at Werris Creek – they also live together.<br />
At one point there were 3 Williamson sisters in the<br />
<strong>of</strong>fice. Lesley insists that she didn’t get any special<br />
treatment, or at least not in the positive sense, <strong>and</strong> recalls<br />
a time when Marsha ‘took her into the boss once’.<br />
Marsha is unapologetic, ‘she had to respect the authority<br />
<strong>of</strong> the job, at home was different, what happened at work<br />
stayed at work’.<br />
Marsha was in Werris Creek between 1966 <strong>and</strong> 1983.<br />
She then transferred to Newcastle. “We were told then<br />
that Werris Creek would start winding back Previously,<br />
at its peak there would have been up to 1000 rail<br />
workers employed at Werris Creek, now there’s about<br />
20.The Station was the centre <strong>of</strong> town back then.” Lesley<br />
stayed at Werris Creek until 1990, then left the job for a<br />
while <strong>and</strong> returned <strong>and</strong> joined Marsha in Newcastle.<br />
They have worked in a number <strong>of</strong> jobs. Lesley was in the<br />
telegraph section from 1978 to 1990, <strong>and</strong> has worked as<br />
a station assistant, trainee signaller, <strong>and</strong> is currently<br />
employed as an Incident Information Officer.<br />
4 Interview with Marsha <strong>and</strong> Lesley Williamson, June 2005<br />
224<br />
More Playful Times<br />
Lesley <strong>and</strong> Marsha fondly remember times when there<br />
were many more light moments on the job. “Things<br />
have changed – not much play now - there was a time<br />
one night when they brought the football train up –<br />
David Hill [then CEO <strong>of</strong> State <strong>Rail</strong>] came over to the<br />
telegraph <strong>of</strong>fice – brought some grog with him, we had a<br />
drink. The main focus then was to get your job done”.<br />
Marsha also insists that when she was leaving Werris<br />
Creek for Newcastle “ the DS bought a carton over. Now<br />
you’d be out <strong>of</strong> the place, if you want to lose your job,<br />
that’s the way to do it now – have a drink”<br />
“Workers are becoming more selfish, you’ve got your<br />
friends who will look after you, but people are generally<br />
much more selfish now – its dog eat dog. The boss was<br />
part <strong>of</strong> your team; you’d look after each other. In the<br />
country you get on with people you work with. We’d all<br />
get in a car or two <strong>and</strong> go to the pictures on the<br />
weekend. Since they told us they are cutting our eleven<br />
jobs to two <strong>and</strong> moving them to Adelaide, things<br />
changed after that – nobody cares now, probably just<br />
take redundancy <strong>and</strong> see what happens”.<br />
Even though they are facing imminent redundancy, they<br />
would <strong>and</strong> do reluctantly <strong>and</strong> selectively advise friends<br />
or relatives to seek work on the railways. “Not with<br />
ARTC – their ethics are bad – they just don’t care about<br />
their workers. Wouldn’t give you two bob for ARTC. But<br />
there are areas, country stations <strong>and</strong> so on that are still<br />
good to work in.” Their nephew [the son <strong>of</strong> the sister<br />
who didn’t join the railways] started at Werris Creek as<br />
a trainee driver, maintaining a strong family tradition.<br />
They defend their co-workers as the real value <strong>and</strong> asset<br />
<strong>of</strong> the job, <strong>and</strong> a close-knit group <strong>and</strong> express concern<br />
that the future won’t hold the same loyalty to the job.<br />
“People outside the industry turn their nose up <strong>and</strong> say<br />
you ‘only’ work on the railways – but everyone that<br />
works there has got a bit <strong>of</strong> pride in their job. We can say<br />
what we want – like family – just don’t let an outsider<br />
knock it. Theirs a lifetime <strong>of</strong> railways in our family, its in<br />
the blood. The railways <strong>of</strong> the future won’t have many<br />
people in it, <strong>and</strong> people will come to the job purely for<br />
money. A lot <strong>of</strong> the railways will be in museums.”<br />
Whatever their future in the industry, the railways is all<br />
the richer for having the Williamson sisters in their<br />
family for the past decades.<br />
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Women on the Freight Footplate<br />
The Pacific National Four<br />
Pacific National has four new drivers in the Hunter<br />
Valley (Leah Pearce, Suzanne Molattam, Am<strong>and</strong>a<br />
Butcher <strong>and</strong> Bronwen MacDonald)– all recent graduates<br />
from their initial driver training, <strong>and</strong> all <strong>of</strong> them women.<br />
The PN four were originally five, but one <strong>of</strong> their<br />
colleagues has since left the job. They all hope to soon<br />
be driving freight trains on the mainline. This is the<br />
patch that previously belonged to Sallie Higgins as the<br />
lone woman on the footplate <strong>of</strong> the Hunter freight locos.<br />
Suzanne Molattam & Bronwen MacDonald agreed to be<br />
interviewed <strong>and</strong> discuss the details <strong>and</strong> their thoughts on<br />
their new career choices. Until August <strong>of</strong> 2004, these<br />
women had headed <strong>of</strong>f on different career paths.<br />
Suzanne was working in detention centres around the<br />
country for a private company.<br />
Bronwen had spent the past eight years with the local<br />
Council as a swimming coach <strong>and</strong> on the outdoors staff<br />
in parks <strong>and</strong> gardens, fire mitigation, waste services,<br />
employed as a full-time casual. Responding to the<br />
adverts for locomotive assistants meant a wage cut for<br />
Suzanne <strong>and</strong> an increase for Bronwen, but promised the<br />
possibility <strong>of</strong> stability <strong>and</strong> permanency for both.<br />
Bronwen has 2 teenage children, <strong>and</strong> since starting with<br />
Pacific National has ‘parented by mobile phone’.<br />
Suzanne, as a guard in detention centres was travelling<br />
away to different locations – ‘Christmas Isl<strong>and</strong>, Western<br />
Australia, South Australia – six weeks away, two weeks<br />
away – then the company lost the contract – new<br />
company were going to employ people locally. I had a<br />
house here, so decided to re-establish here.<br />
They thought that they were going to be a second person<br />
or ‘assistant’. Had no idea what it involved, so it was a<br />
pleasant surprise to learn that this was part <strong>of</strong> the<br />
training to become driver. Neither were interested in<br />
pursuing traditional ‘feminine jobs’ preferred what they<br />
describe as ’non-girly jobs’– prefer to get out <strong>and</strong> muck<br />
in get the h<strong>and</strong>s on.<br />
However, as Bronwen explains “driving wasn’t a<br />
conscious career choice – if I want to be a train driver,<br />
rather a friend mentioned the job ad, so followed up<br />
with employment agency.” 5<br />
5 Interview with Suzanne Molattam <strong>and</strong> Bronwen MacDonald, June 2005<br />
On Wooden <strong>Rail</strong>s - Celebrating 150 Years <strong>of</strong> Work on the <strong>NSW</strong> <strong>Rail</strong>ways<br />
Bronwen MacDonald & Suzanne Molattam<br />
Learning the Ropes<br />
The company was looking for twenty people, <strong>and</strong> five<br />
women applicants were selected. As part <strong>of</strong> the routine<br />
recruitment process they went through the preliminary<br />
testing – aptitude test, maths, English, comprehension,<br />
mechanical <strong>and</strong> logical sequences, in all about six tests.<br />
Then there was the mental, with interview <strong>and</strong> questions<br />
about work – then the physical – colour blindness,<br />
general physical ability. Cardio, hearing, <strong>and</strong> drug<br />
testing.<br />
After being notified that they had been selected, they<br />
started work at Port Waratah. The new learning curve<br />
started with two weeks in the classroom in the<br />
safeworking, fatigue course –then out on the mainline as<br />
second person – keeping log books, checking signals,<br />
water <strong>and</strong> oil. They were tested on basic areas covered<br />
by the training, then went out as ‘observers’ or third<br />
person on normal shifts on the locos until qualified as<br />
second person. During this time they underwent verbal /<br />
oral tests by driver trainer. They did this until April, <strong>and</strong><br />
then all on-the-job learning, until they qualified as<br />
Competent Operator Grade 3.<br />
Then they were brought back in to Terminal Operator’s<br />
school. Two weeks course. Until 2 weeks ago [between<br />
April <strong>and</strong> June] both were classified as Terminal<br />
Operators Level 7. Now they have commenced the<br />
terminal drivers’ course, progressing then to become<br />
Level 10 Operators. This will enable Suzanne <strong>and</strong><br />
Bronwen to perform limited driving duties within the<br />
yard, but not on mainline, with a view to eventually<br />
becoming fully qualified drivers. After completing all<br />
necessary training they will progress to mainline driver<br />
when a position eventuates – so will train up then<br />
progress as opportunity presents.<br />
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‘When we first started even some <strong>of</strong> the management<br />
were not comfortable with bringing women onto the job.<br />
We work the same as the guys – we do the same work.<br />
Probably the most awkward thing now is for some <strong>of</strong> the<br />
guys not knowing how they should behave, in terms <strong>of</strong><br />
language use <strong>and</strong> so on, that’s something they need to<br />
work out.’<br />
Both agree that the job is good – even ‘excellent’ – the<br />
people are really great – <strong>and</strong> the variety <strong>of</strong> the work’.<br />
Not hard, sometimes challenging. Love the terminal<br />
work – the blokes have been great. More comfortable in<br />
terms <strong>of</strong> interactions with co-workers – honest,<br />
straightforward.<br />
Suzanne argues that there is no reason why women<br />
shouldn’t or can’t do this “we can still be women, still<br />
be feminine, giggle <strong>and</strong> carry on – but we can get in <strong>and</strong><br />
do the work. There was some disquiet among some<br />
drivers. Some were a bit resentful. It was another major<br />
change they had to put up with.”<br />
Many argue that the previous progression through the<br />
ranks to the footplate was unnecessarily protracted. In<br />
this day <strong>and</strong> age it can be done more quickly. Suzanne<br />
thinks it too quick – drawing a distinction between<br />
competent <strong>and</strong> ‘competent’ <strong>and</strong> receiving basic training<br />
– not really addressing the full range <strong>of</strong> skill <strong>and</strong><br />
knowledge required. Bronwen puts more trust in her<br />
own <strong>and</strong> others capability <strong>and</strong> confident that she can<br />
perform the work, but still has some reservations about<br />
whether the process is adequate.<br />
“It is one thing to ask about identifying a signal, <strong>and</strong><br />
knowing whether it is functioning properly <strong>and</strong><br />
indicating the right things”.<br />
Bronwen is cynical about the value <strong>of</strong> much <strong>of</strong> the<br />
classroom-based learning. “If I’ve got a query – people<br />
are only too ready to help – everybody has been<br />
fabulous, <strong>and</strong> most real learning happens on the job. I<br />
don’t learn a lot in the classroom, I wait until I get out<br />
on the job with a mentor”<br />
Suzanne, on the other h<strong>and</strong>, feels that more could be<br />
done both in the classroom <strong>and</strong> on-the-job. “I don’t feel<br />
prepared. I believe that they could prepare us better <strong>and</strong><br />
teach us better, even in the classroom– in this job it is<br />
unforgiving – you don’t have the time to learn later. I am<br />
wary <strong>of</strong> the preparation. We can do the job, but we don’t<br />
necessarily know it.”<br />
There are shared concerns, not about their own personal<br />
capability, but whether the process prepares employees<br />
adequately to deal with a range <strong>of</strong> contingencies.<br />
226<br />
“What do you do in a situation as a second person when<br />
driver has a heart attack – as personality types we may<br />
be able to deal with it, but not sure that we are prepared<br />
well enough for these types <strong>of</strong> contingencies. We are<br />
succeeding because <strong>of</strong> who we are, we have good<br />
mentors, almost despite the training”.<br />
They are both concerned that they will be required to do<br />
things that we are not properly prepared for. ‘Pacific<br />
National doesn’t particularly want collaboration or<br />
mateship, looking out for each other – they are<br />
encouraging ‘looking out for yourself’ <strong>and</strong> focusing<br />
only on your own requirements’. The personal attributes<br />
described are those <strong>of</strong> experienced, adult, evolved<br />
people <strong>and</strong> employees The doubts are around whether an<br />
inexperienced worker would benefit from the process.<br />
Family Friendly<br />
The two women work 24 hour rotating rosters with<br />
variable start times, which under most circumstances is<br />
disruptive in terms <strong>of</strong> regular routines <strong>and</strong> family, social<br />
<strong>and</strong> community commitments. The work is all over the<br />
place <strong>and</strong> dependent on new rosters <strong>and</strong> allocations.<br />
Suzanne as a single person, quite enjoyed the hours,<br />
while Bronwen as a single parent simply ‘dealt with it’.<br />
Many male drivers on the railways were previously<br />
supported by their women – their mothers or their wives<br />
- allowing them to work erratic hours knowing that their<br />
children <strong>and</strong> homes were being cared for <strong>and</strong><br />
maintained, <strong>and</strong> knowing that they would be fed <strong>and</strong><br />
cared for on their return.<br />
Bronwen matter-<strong>of</strong>-factly says you just ‘wing it’. Her<br />
children are 14 <strong>and</strong> 16 years <strong>of</strong> age, are responsible,<br />
‘good kids’ <strong>and</strong> independent enough to cope. Her<br />
daughter competes in swimming at state <strong>and</strong> national<br />
level, requiring commitment to training, early mornings<br />
<strong>and</strong> all that goes with a regular sporting undertaking.<br />
Bronwen insists that while the hours can be disruptive<br />
Bronwen MacDonald<br />
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Suzanne Molattam<br />
<strong>and</strong> inconvenient,<br />
they can also benefit.<br />
In some ways, she<br />
can now do more<br />
with her kids,<br />
because she can be<br />
there at some times<br />
when she couldn’t<br />
previously.<br />
Despite some <strong>of</strong> the<br />
drawbacks to the job,<br />
both Suzanne <strong>and</strong><br />
Bronwen see<br />
themselves staying<br />
with the company for<br />
some time into the future, if not as a driver then<br />
‘somewhere within the company’. They don’t have any<br />
direct reference with dealing with ‘the company’ in a<br />
range <strong>of</strong> situations. Reflecting maturity <strong>and</strong> workforce<br />
experience, <strong>and</strong> an ‘open mind’ they are prepared to wait<br />
<strong>and</strong> see how their new area <strong>of</strong> employment goes. ‘A lot<br />
<strong>of</strong> the drivers want to tell you the bad stuff about the<br />
company, but nowadays there are a lot <strong>of</strong> companies like<br />
Pacific National.’ They are both happy with the<br />
opportunity presented, the fact that the company is<br />
prepared to train them, pay reasonably well <strong>and</strong> keep<br />
them in regular, secure employment.<br />
In many ways, Bronwen <strong>and</strong> Suzanne, <strong>and</strong> their other<br />
new colleagues at Pacific National represent a new<br />
generation <strong>of</strong> workers in the industry. They are not<br />
joining as naïve juniors, but with life <strong>and</strong> work<br />
experience in other industries. They have different<br />
expectations <strong>of</strong> their employer <strong>and</strong> the industry than<br />
existed last century. In other respects, they are the ‘meat<br />
in the s<strong>and</strong>wich’ <strong>of</strong> a transition period in the industry,<br />
where there are tensions around changes in conditions<br />
<strong>and</strong> practices <strong>of</strong> employment, <strong>of</strong> which they are a part.<br />
They will be embraced by some <strong>of</strong> their colleagues,<br />
while others will revive age-old suspicions around their<br />
work potentially being ‘devalued’ or eroded through the<br />
new practices <strong>and</strong> the new employees required to<br />
perform their jobs under the new arrangements.<br />
Organising on the Station<br />
– Joanne McCallum<br />
Joanne McCallum has worked in the industry for just<br />
over nine years <strong>and</strong> currently works as a Customer<br />
Service Attendant (CSA) at Tuggerah Station on the<br />
6 C<strong>and</strong>idate information in <strong>Rail</strong> & Road, December 2004, p13<br />
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Central Coast. She has been an active union activist<br />
during much <strong>of</strong> that time, <strong>and</strong> has held positions as<br />
President <strong>of</strong> the CSA Sub-Division, <strong>and</strong> as the first<br />
female Secretary <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Rail</strong> Operations Division. In the<br />
recent union elections held in late 2004, Joanne was also<br />
elected as the RTBU National Vice-President<br />
(Affirmative Action – Women).<br />
The latter position allows Joanne the opportunity to<br />
pursue her interest <strong>and</strong> commitment to women union<br />
members. In her nomination for the position she stated:<br />
“I am st<strong>and</strong>ing for this position because I believe that<br />
women in the RTBU need strong <strong>and</strong> effective<br />
representation <strong>of</strong> their interests on the job <strong>and</strong> in<br />
industry generally at the highest levels <strong>of</strong> our union.<br />
In <strong>NSW</strong> women are campaigning for increased<br />
maternity leave provisions <strong>and</strong> leave sharing rights as<br />
part <strong>of</strong> the general campaign for a new Enterprise<br />
Agreement in <strong>Rail</strong>Corp. These claims were developed by<br />
the women attending the <strong>NSW</strong> Branch Women’s<br />
Conference this year which was attended by women<br />
from all sections <strong>of</strong> the union.” 6<br />
As is the case with many more recent entrants to the<br />
industry [ten years as opposed to those with 30 or 40<br />
years service], Joanne came to the job as a mature <strong>and</strong><br />
experienced person with other industry experience.<br />
Immediately prior to becoming a rail worker, she had<br />
worked in retail management, <strong>and</strong> decided it was time<br />
for a change. On the advice <strong>of</strong> her brother-in-law she<br />
applied unsuccessfully for a job at Hornsby, then shortly<br />
afterwards received a call <strong>of</strong>fering her a job on the City<br />
Circle. Trying to get closer to home on the Central<br />
Coast, she applied for a position as relief Customer<br />
Service Attendant (CSA) for the Central Coast, which<br />
meant doing a range <strong>of</strong> jobs between the Hawkesbury<br />
Joanne McCallum<br />
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<strong>and</strong> Morisset. She started at Morisset, but ended up<br />
working the signal box at Wyong, <strong>and</strong> for a while<br />
transcribing at Gosford.<br />
With the introduction <strong>of</strong> Network Control, she<br />
discovered that her paperwork had not been properly<br />
processed <strong>and</strong> as she describes, she ‘fell through the<br />
cracks’ <strong>and</strong> was required to go back to her home station<br />
<strong>of</strong> Town hall as Cleaner. Instead she applied for a CSA<br />
position at Berowra before taking up her current position<br />
at Tuggerah. In good railway tradition, she loves her job<br />
<strong>and</strong> hopes to retire, not only in the job, but also at<br />
Tuggerah.<br />
“The best thing about this job is the people, those you<br />
work with <strong>and</strong> those you get to deal with in the job. I love<br />
the interaction with people on the stations, that’s why I<br />
decided I couldn’t stay in the signal box, I need to get<br />
out <strong>and</strong> talk with people. There is also a lot <strong>of</strong> variety<br />
<strong>and</strong> responsibility in the job… I do everything from<br />
opening the station, cleaning, ticket sales, <strong>and</strong> range <strong>of</strong><br />
customer service matters <strong>and</strong> enquiries. On the<br />
afternoon shift you work alone <strong>and</strong> are responsible for<br />
running the station.” 7<br />
<strong>Union</strong> Activism<br />
Joanne became active in the RTBU after a number <strong>of</strong><br />
experiences early in her railway career. The mix up with<br />
her papers not being signed <strong>of</strong>f <strong>and</strong> requiring her to relocate,<br />
made her realise that she didn’t underst<strong>and</strong> the<br />
system she was working in well enough. Then there<br />
were other developments such as Job <strong>and</strong> Work Re-<br />
Design that exposed things that she <strong>and</strong> her colleagues<br />
were not happy with.<br />
She also describes being annoyed at people who would<br />
vote on a matter, agree to redundancy or some other<br />
personal benefit, then complain about loss <strong>of</strong> conditions<br />
or entitlements, then blame the union. “I first attended a<br />
union meeting in Sydney [didn’t even know where the<br />
<strong>of</strong>fice was then], <strong>and</strong> said my piece. Surprisingly, I was<br />
asked back, <strong>and</strong> as positions came up people encouraged<br />
me to nominate for them. Then it just went from there.”<br />
There are a lot <strong>of</strong> grievances <strong>and</strong> problems that Joanne<br />
sees need improvement in the industry. One such issue<br />
is the increase in ‘red tape’ <strong>and</strong> the unnecessary layers <strong>of</strong><br />
reporting <strong>and</strong> accountability within the management <strong>of</strong><br />
the stations. “When I was in retail, if there was<br />
something that could save money or resolve a problem,<br />
you just fixed it. In State <strong>Rail</strong> you had to go through all<br />
the hoops <strong>and</strong> levels <strong>of</strong> management. I had to learn how<br />
7 Interview with Joanne McCallum, July 2005<br />
228<br />
to work within that inefficient system. In recent times it<br />
has got worse rather than improved as even newer<br />
layers are added.”<br />
“It also became obvious that not enough women were<br />
actively involved in the union. It was very male<br />
dominated, <strong>and</strong> not particularly welcoming for most<br />
women, so I hoped that if I became more involved then<br />
this might also encourage other women to get involved,<br />
<strong>and</strong> it has.”<br />
Joanne sees these developments as healthy for the union<br />
<strong>and</strong> the industry. She argues essentially a ‘men are from<br />
Mars, women are from Venus’ argument to suggest that<br />
male <strong>and</strong> female workers approach things differently<br />
<strong>and</strong> <strong>of</strong>ten have different industrial priorities. “Quite<br />
<strong>of</strong>ten men will only look at the money side <strong>of</strong> an issue,<br />
where women might look at the same issue from a<br />
perspective <strong>of</strong> broader entitlements or the impact on<br />
family life.”<br />
Women’s Issues on the <strong>Rail</strong>ways<br />
Joanne describes many <strong>of</strong> the women coming to work on<br />
the railways as younger, better educated, <strong>and</strong> from a<br />
diverse range <strong>of</strong> ethnic, cultural <strong>and</strong> work backgrounds.<br />
This brings a set <strong>of</strong> workplace issues, as well as issues<br />
that need to be addressed within the union. She believes<br />
that if the priorities <strong>of</strong> these women are taken up by the<br />
union, <strong>and</strong> they are encouraged <strong>and</strong> supported in raising<br />
their concerns, then not only will they participate more<br />
in the union <strong>and</strong> industrial issues, but that it is also more<br />
likely that they will assist in finding good resolutions<br />
<strong>and</strong> innovations around these issues.<br />
Contrary to some sc<strong>of</strong>fing from some quarters, the<br />
specific work with women members has the potential to<br />
provide non-threatening <strong>and</strong> comfortable environments<br />
Joanne McCallum addressing union women's conference<br />
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for women to discuss a range <strong>of</strong> issues relating to their<br />
work. “Some women, whether it be because <strong>of</strong> ethnic<br />
differences or beliefs, or other reasons, don’t feel<br />
comfortable or confident to raise matters in a group <strong>of</strong><br />
men. So, meetings <strong>of</strong> women members provides them<br />
with that opportunity <strong>and</strong> confidence.”<br />
The recently convened Women’s Campaign Committee,<br />
that Joanne has been centrally involved with hopes to<br />
both encourage greater participation <strong>of</strong> women union<br />
members, as well as develop campaigns to address key<br />
issues affecting women workers. Joanne sees the main<br />
priorities <strong>of</strong> this group as campaigning around “child<br />
care, especially for shift workers, <strong>and</strong> working out how<br />
Joanne McCallum, Kelly Budden,<br />
Linda Carruthers, Sallie Higgins<br />
<strong>and</strong> Wendy Wirth, 2005<br />
On Wooden <strong>Rail</strong>s - Celebrating 150 Years <strong>of</strong> Work on the <strong>NSW</strong> <strong>Rail</strong>ways<br />
RTBU Women's Conference, 2004<br />
we can gain reliable <strong>and</strong> cost-effective access to child<br />
care that suit our members work requirements. The other<br />
major issue is the ‘family commitment’ type leave<br />
entitlements, whether it be for young children, or family<br />
illness, or single parent access in school holidays.”<br />
The necessity for working arrangements to tailor to<br />
social <strong>and</strong> family commitments has always been<br />
important in Joanne’s life. She describes how she <strong>and</strong><br />
her husb<strong>and</strong> Tom, who works for Energy Australia in<br />
High Voltage Protection, have supported <strong>and</strong><br />
synchronised each other’s career choices. When Tom<br />
was doing his apprenticeship, Joanne stayed in retail<br />
management to ensure stable income <strong>and</strong> day work,<br />
while he did shiftwork. Then it reversed, when Joanne<br />
decided to move to the railways <strong>and</strong> work shifts, her<br />
husb<strong>and</strong> changed to day work. Even with the dem<strong>and</strong>s<br />
<strong>of</strong> the job <strong>and</strong> her union work, Joanne insists on having<br />
allocated time that is hers, to indulge in her tapestry or<br />
other strictly leisure activities.<br />
Joanne reminds us that the industry, as one that has a<br />
high incidence <strong>of</strong> relationship breakdown <strong>and</strong> related<br />
issues, needs to look at creative ways <strong>of</strong> addressing these<br />
issues. The work <strong>of</strong> the Women’s Campaign Committee<br />
can only assist in bringing many <strong>of</strong> the issues to the fore,<br />
<strong>and</strong> in developing sensible solutions for existing <strong>and</strong><br />
future human issues within the industry.<br />
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230<br />
Carriage Cleaning, Central<br />
RRR staff Orange<br />
Buffet Counter, South Grafton, 1951<br />
Staff C<strong>of</strong>fee Break<br />
Diane Seymour, RTBU Delegate's Conference 2005<br />
Fruit & Veg, Central 1953<br />
Women attending International Transport Federation forum, Sydney 2003<br />
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Baking for the RRR<br />
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On-board services, 1961<br />
RRR Junee<br />
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On Wooden <strong>Rail</strong>s - Celebrating 150 Years <strong>of</strong> Work on the <strong>NSW</strong> <strong>Rail</strong>ways<br />
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Henry Lawson (Government Printing Office Collection, State Library <strong>of</strong> <strong>NSW</strong>)<br />
<strong>Chapter</strong> 7 - A Rich Mix