With Helen, I went to Sydney yesterday for what is being described as the 'biggest action since the 1970s' in support of equal pay. 3,000 people at a meeting in the Sydney Town Hall - the best organised, most positive and effective public meeting I have ever attended. Helen's close collaborator on many issues Narelle Clay, president of the Australian Services Union in charge.
What distinguishes this case is that it is not simply equal pay for same work (hard enough historically) but seeking equal pay for comparable work. With significant support from Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard.
Here Narelle and Helen at Wollongong before setting out, after they addressed those travelling north, along with Jennie George, first woman president of the ACTU and Arthur Rorris, head of the Labor Council.
A tribute to heroes of equal pay over the years.
There was a march, with some really cute horses.
It was a sunny winter day for a march, Helen in her element.
I was very pleased with this photo below, enlarge (by clicking on image) to see the broil of energy...
This spotless Men-in-Black machine seemed a creature deserving caricature, were it not entirely serious — and surely, in any serious situation, a provocative magnet not just to mature people who think it an object of fun but others who might be inflamed.
Helen's daughter Corina was there, on left below with other organisers of a hugely successful intergenerational feminist conference earlier in the year.
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