Chapter 6: - Rail, Tram and Bus Union of NSW

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*On Wooden Rails Chapter 6 8/30/05 8:50 PM Page 206 On Wooden Rails - Celebrating 150 Years of Work on the NSW Railways In 1967, the RailRoad carried an article by the Goulburn Sub-Branch Secretary that captured some of these concerns. The article referred to the ‘invasion’ of female labour during the war years, in the cleaning sheds, and as ticket collectors, and, more recently, into the goods sheds and the parcels office. He was concerned that ‘the influx of women would result in men resigning or having their career opportunities closed off.’ 2 Conversations with managers and co-workers, provide evidence of ongoing discomfort among much of the male workforce with increasing numbers of women on the job. This says more about the comfort zones as well as insecurities of these workers, and a reality check that demands that not only do some of these attitudes need to change, but that the job is changing and industrial conditions are also being influenced by these trends. Women are not ‘breaking down’ established conditions, as is so often the catchcry, quite the contrary, increased women’s employment is adding a new and different mix to the industrial demands of the workforce. Much of it having a civilising effect. As the balance of gender shifts so too do the interpersonal dynamics in the workplace, the acknowledgement of different facilities, and importantly an acknowledgement of different ways of working. Issues of ‘family friendly’ policies and work practices are buoyed as more workers with family responsibilities are employed on the railways. Whereas in the past, the social outcast status of much rail work was borne by male workers and their families adjusting to shift work and broken hours, is gradually shifting. The need to organise rail work that reflects a concern for greater parenting responsibilities by male and female workers, and a need to consider employees’ whole life requirements is increasingly taking centre stage in many industrial agreement negotiations. 2 RailRoad, 20 January, 1967 p5 206 Women Cleaners AC Department (State Rail Archives) It must be remembered that women have always had roles in the rail industry, whether it be in running the Triple Rs and customer service facilities, station work, cleaning, and certainly during national emergencies, such as wartime, filling a wide range of occupations. Women have also played an important, if under-stated complementary role to the employment of their male partners. When a man was ‘in the service’ this usually meant that his wife and family shared those service conditions and responsibilities. A number of the illustrations of work contained in this book, demonstrate that the life of the remote fettlers was shared by their womenfolk, and in many situations, the country station master, fettler, gatekeeper, signalman, job was shared (formally or informally) by his partner. It was not unusual for the wife of fettlers or station masters to be engaged on gatekeeping duties or station duties, for example. In other ways, women have always played an important support role on the railways, through women’s auxiliaries and organising groups. The support provided to organise social and industrial events to either provide relief to unconscionable working conditions or to coordinate strikes or other industrial actions is well documented. These were not ‘sandwich and cup of tea roles’, but organising and campaigning roles essential to the industrial disputes. In more recent times, with employee shortages in some areas, and in particular the recruitment and training activities to secure more driver numbers, we are seeing more women cross some of the traditional occupational boundaries in the industry. It was not long ago that the thought of a woman on the footplate would have been generally ridiculed and met with hostility. More recently, even the sacred threshold of the footplate has given way to women drivers. First in very isolated and small numbers, now with increasing regularity. This section of the book does not make any special claims in relation to women workers, nor does it appeal to special dispensations or considerations. It doesn’t argue that women are ‘taking over’ the railways or are the dominant force in the workforce. Rather, it simply acknowledges the work that women have performed and continue to do in the railways, and to give that work and its place in the railway story its due and proper place. Linda Carruthers, RTBU Research and Education officer, who has been closely involved with efforts around organising and educating women members, Chapter 6 - No Place for a Woman
*On Wooden Rails Chapter 6 8/30/05 8:50 PM Page 207 claims that the number of women employed in the railway is “not particularly significant, with currently around 11% of the workforce as women. The numerical proportion is not the issue, but how these women work and are treated in the industry, and what they can bring to the workplace is whats important”. 3 Industrial officers such as Eileen Powell, gained a reputation as tenacious fighters for union conditions and entitlements during the 1930s, as well as a tireless campaigner and activist for pay equity and related issues for women workers. . Her efforts and organising skills during the Refreshment Rooms campaign and successful award claim are recounted in this Chapter. Eileen Powell has earned a respected place in the history of the labour movement. She first became involved in ALP politics by attending branch meetings with her mother at the age of eight. She joined the ALP at the age of fifteen and was Assistant Secretary of the Stanmore Branch when she was sixteen. This was the same time that she started work in Trades Hall performing secretarial duties. She was employed by the ARU between 1936 and 1944. Apart from building a reputation as skilled organiser and communicator, and her work around winning an award for Triple R workers, she spent much of her life campaigning for women workers. She was actively engaged in Pay Equity work from the mid 1930s with the Council for Equal Pay. She gave evidence in the 1935 Female Wage Case in the Industrial Commission (at the age of 22), appeared with Evatt in the 1942 Female Wage Case, and officiated on the Labor Women’s Central Organising Committee. Eileen was the Australian correspondent for the ILO Committee of Experts in the 1940s and 1950s, and appeared in the 1969 National Wage Case which adopted the principle of equal pay for equal work. 4 These efforts around pay equity, as well as her union and Labor party activism were maintained throughout her life. Her work included, organising both in the ALP and the union movement, broadcasting on 2KYand public speaking, writing and editing for RailRoad and the Labor Council, as well as documenting many of these aspects of the labour movement. Eileen was on the project committee for the ARU official history, Working Lives, written by Mark Hearn in 1990. Eileen Powell passed away in 1997, and in her passing, the labour movement lost a remarkable and dedicated ambassador. On Wooden Rails - Celebrating 150 Years of Work on the NSW Railways Pat Groves was the first woman to be become a ‘signalman’ on the NSW railways in the 1977. Despite hostility from superiors and colleagues, Pat continued to work in signalling, and as a union activist. Pat was involved in lobbying for a full-time women’s organiser position in the ARU in the 1980s. Pat was instrumental in lobbying for the establishment of the ARU Women’s Committee. .In 1981 the Branch Conference had agreed to establsih a women’s committee, but seemed to take a back seat to other industrial issues. The Secretary’s Report to the 1984 Conference, reported that “while in the process of establishing the Committee and making it fully operational, the 1982/83 crisis intervened and other campaigns developed…. And the A.R.U.’s total energies were directed towards the retention of jobs…The committee did, however, manage to meet on a number of occasions and is beginning to operate on a strong basis.” 5 . Similarly, the proposal for a woman’s organiser was defeated by 2 votes at the 1987 State Conference of the ARU. Pat expressed her concerns and disappointment at the obstacles and slow response to changes that would encourage more women to enter the industry. ‘They are moving in slowly. We have two signalmen, women signalmen, a few ASMs, shunters, guards, fettlers, but never in a mad rush.’ 6 Similar stories can be found in many areas of the industry. Hearn provides the example of Mary Stratton, who joined the industry as a Station assistant at Town Hall in the 1950s at the age of thirty seven. She earned 28 pounds per fortnight for ten hour days with two hour 3 Interview with Linda Carruthers, 4 Rosemary Webb, Commemorating Our Dear departed Equal Pay Activists, Workers Online, Issue 3, March 1999 5 ARU Conference Reports, 1984, p75 6 Pat Groves interview in Hearn, op.cit., p 136 Station Announcer (State Rail Archives) Chapter 6 - No Place for a Woman 207
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Chapter 6: - Rail, Tram and Bus Union of NSW

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