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Issue No. 164 | 06 December 2002 |
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The Politics of Security
Interview: Trade Secrets Industrial: It�s About Overtime, Stupid Unions: Full Steam Ahead Bad Boss: The BBQ Battle Axe Economics: Different Dimensions of Debt History: Raking the Coals History Special: Wherever the Necessity Exists History Special: Learning from the Past History Special: A 'Cosy Relationship' Politics: Regime Change for Saddam International: World War Corporate: Industrious Thinking Review: Jack High Culture: Duffy�s Song Satire: A Nation of Sooks Poetry: Mr Flexibility
The Soapbox Awards The Locker Room Bosswatch Month In Review
 Old SilverThe Golden (Th)OngOvertime Cap is FlawedOutsourced Education
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News Vale: Peggy Errey
Peggy was a stalwart of the Miscellaneous Workers Union holding the position of South Coast Sub-Branch President for many years, as well as in the broader movement having served on the Executive and being a life member of the South Coast Labour Council. Peggy's other achievements included her role in assisting the establishment of the South Coast Workers Medical Centre and the South Coast Workers Childcare Centre. Above all however, Peggy made an enormous contribution to the rights of migrant women workers particularly in the cleaning industry, where she successfully mustered the collective strength of the movement in support of this struggle. Arthur Rorris, South Coast Labour Council Secretary said Peggy will be remembered for her lifetime of struggle both in and outside the workplace." "Peggy Errey was a true pioneer for the rights of working women in our region and one of the great union women in Australia." "Peggy's campaigning for equal pay for woman, her tireless role in promoting unity and solidarity in the South Coast union movement and her commitment to social justice over 40 years will be her lasting legacy." ************** Eulogy for Margaret "Peggy" Errey by Ian West MLC Margaret "Peggy" Errey was a life-long activist, feminist and trade unionist. Peggy was a strong, principled and humanitarian woman. She never lost sight of her aims and beliefs as she engaged in the various struggles in her life. She was a realistic and hard-working person who expected no greater reward than the satisfaction of helping others to help themselves. Peggy was born in 1914 in County Cork, in the south of Ireland, when the Irish troubles were brewing and the Great War was consuming Europe. She grew up in a large family that was committed to the Republican cause--a commitment she held throughout her life. She would tell of how as a child she would hide under her bed while the Royal Constabulary--the "Black and Tans"--raided the family home. Peggy's early teenage years in Ireland gave her an acute appreciation of the importance of good health, employment and education. The family was poor and struggled to find work and food for the children. The little joys that there were came from highlights such as the local dances organised by Sinn Fein, where they would laugh and dance and sing songs about the dream of a united Ireland. As a young adult Peggy went to England to search for work and was at one stage living in Manchester. She got a job as a trainee cook that allowed her to enjoy what she had been deprived of in Ireland--work and good healthy food. World War 2 had a great effect on her and she would tell of being in the underground shelters during the Bombing of London and how she lost her hair through absolute fear. The fight against fascism was very important to Peggy because she learnt the importance of basic values of freedom and equality. Peggy came to Australia in the post-war period and she ended up as a cook at the Fairy Meadow Commonwealth Hostel. She would listen to the steelworkers and wharfies who would tell, over the meals she cooked for them, about their struggles. Her time at Fairy Meadow really was her apprenticeship in Industrial Relations in this country. Before long she was a workplace delegate for the Liquor Trades Union. So began her career as a trade union activist. One event at Fairy Meadow that Peggy would recall with glee was a dispute she had with the Hostel management when they wanted to water-down the food being served to the hungry steelworkers and wharfies. Peggy told the management where to go and was sacked because of her stand. All the staff followed her out the door and surprise, surprise, management put her back! Many of those steelworkers and wharfies were returned serviceman from the Second World War and during those early Cold War years the Peace Movement had significant support. So Peggy was appalled when Prime Minister "Pig Iron Bob" Menzies was fighting to outlaw the Communist Party and divide the Labor Party. Peggy saw this attack on the right to organise and bargain collectively as the first step in the loss of freedom of speech and association. She feared the next step would be an attack on independent trade unions, which she believed were a cornerstone of a free and democratic society. During that period, Peggy also became involved in the South Coast Labor Council. In 1953 she became a delegate to that Labor Council from the LTU. In the 1960s, she worked at the Wollongong Campus as a cleaner and joined the Miscellaneous Workers Union and became a delegate to the South Coast Labor Council from the Missos. Her involvement in the Miscellaneous Workers Union included: � Being a Delegate from Wollongong University campus � Becoming a Supervisor in 1970 � Becoming Illawarra and South Coast sub-branch President � Being a State and Federal Councillor, Executive Member and Vice President of the NSW Branch � And becoming a Life Member of the union in 1980. All this work for the union she did for no financial reward. In 2000 the LHMU set up the "Peggy Errey Advanced Delegates Course". Peggy epitomised the organising model that is now being reinvigorated by many unions. It was during this period from 1960 to 1980 that, through Peggy's organising capacity, the University of Wollongong became an industrial site with conditions that were second to none in Australia for the MWU workers. The full-time cleaners at the University were envied for their 30-hour week and excellent wages. Peggy strove to make sure they appreciated the conditions that the union had won. Peggy was continuously active in trade union affairs because she knew that many struggles were long and difficult. Her reputation as an advocate for workers spread across the Illawarra. I recall being on a picket line and a Police Sergeant recognised her from 20 years previously! Such was her patience and commitment to a chosen cause. All the while, Peggy would have some other project going on. She helped establish the South Coast Medical Centre by lobbying Wollongong Council for a house and minimum rental. She cleaned and repaired site with so many other unionists such as Jack Lawry, Fred Moore and Joy Boserio--to name but a few of the many she was worked with. And she managed to help win funding from the State Government and private donors. Some of the many other campaigns she was involved in were the Women's Centre at Stewart Street the Jobs for Women program and the Migrant Resource Centre. With the ACTU she worked on the Working Women's Charter Committee and was a Delegate to ACTU Women's Conference. Peggy would say that no matter what the crisis "if you don't go fashionably then you might as well not go at all!". She was known for wearing high-heels all the time. In fact I recall when Peggy bought a pair of knee-high boots in the 1970s, she asked me how she looked. Now here was a 5-foot Irish woman with slightly bowed-legs (due to childhood malnutrition) prancing along in these high heels. I had to be honest and told her that she looked like Puss-in-Boots! Another important cause Peggy was heavily involved in around 1968-1970 was against the British Occupation of the 6 Counties of north-east Ireland. She was instrumental in tying various committees together into one organisation, Australan Aid to Ireland, where she did a lot of work alongside Anne Duffy-Lindsay. Peggy never forgot her roots and this was certainly an issue she always felt strongly about. Some of the other causes that Peggy was involved in that are no less important were: � Anti-Vietnam war protests � Anti-apartheid protests � Struggles to gain Aboriginal rights and � Work with migrants I last saw Peggy in late July and she was as enthusiastic as ever--full of that Irish blarney that saw her through her life. She really was a "Twentieth Century Activist". When I first met Peggy in 1977 in Wollongong I was a young and na�ve union organiser. Peggy taught me a great many things; she taught me to listen to people, to respect people without judging them and she taught me to organise like a good unionist. Besides being a friend, a mentor, a comrade and a teacher, Peggy's presence made my task as Sub-branch secretary of the MWU so much easier. One example of this was when the waterfront watchmen were engaged in a dispute over staffing on an overseas vessel. I tried everything I could to convince the members that it was time to talk but they didn't want to listen to a baby-faced blow-in from Sydney. They said "let's ask Peggy", so it was only after she gave the go-ahead that they were prepared to sit at the negotiating table with their bosses. Being such a people person, Peggy knew what was going on in the lives of many others. This was illustrated to me early on in my days in Wollongong. Walking down Crown St with Peggy would take you hours because every second person would stop for a chat. People would wave from cars and buses as they went by. When people had gone by Peggy would explain who they were, where they worked and who their kids were and their aunts and uncles and what their ailments and industrial issues were! Such was Peggy's love and knowledge of the people of Wollongong. Personal Struggles And it was the personal struggles of individual members of the union that Peggy was involved in that meant so much to her. Peggy was great on the workplace issues such as wages and conditions, unfair dismissals, harassment, vilification etc. but the off-the-job issues were just as important to her. She was often helping a battered wife or a person battling drug addiction or someone needing a place to stay for the night. She was there when someone had issues over sexual orientation. No personal issue was out of bounds for Peggy because she tried hard not to be judgemental. She could treat all women and men equally because she could empathise with anyone. Yet she helped people to help themselves rather than getting too mixed up in their private affairs. That is why she was and will always be so deeply loved and respected. However, Peggy was not a soft touch. She believed in responsibility and that respect had to be earned. She believed that people should take pride in their job and do it honestly. She believed in a fair go and "keeping your word"--once you made an agreement you had to stick to it. She was a true believer in the labour movement but her faith was not blind; on many occasions she openly expressed her frustration with the Labor Party and argued passionately at union forums. Peggy also believed strongly in education as an empowering tool for the working class; she fought strongly for the establishment and improvement of Wollongong University because she had never had the opportunity of a formal education herself. She would walk the streets to get petitions signed to support the establishment and funding of the university because she knew that life lessons alone were not enough. Peggy hoped that education would instil into people the importance of the fundamental democratic principles of free speech, independent courts, a free press and the universal right to vote. She also knew that education taught people to question themselves, their own values and authority. Peggy the Labor Party Activist Peggy was a true believer but not uncritical when she thought the Party was taking the wrong line. She was very active within the Party and in local campaigns for forty years. She did a lot of work to help John Kerin get elected to the Federal seat of Macarthur and Peggy was not going to let him forget it. When John Kerin was Treasurer of Australia in the early 1990s, Peggy led a delegation to Canberra to see him. When she was told that he was too busy to see them, she told his Secretary to "tell him it's Peggy Errey and then he'll want to see me!" and sure enough they were having tea with the Treasurer five minutes later. Peggy may have been involved with more causes and campaigns than you could remember, but she never forgot her roots or her family. She was always proud of her son and daughter and her grandkids, whether showing you all their photos around her house or telling you their latest news. Peggy highlighted for us all the rich complexity of collective humanity. Everyone who knew Peggy will carry her memory in our hearts and will remember her always. Vale Comrade
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