My Experience with the TWU

Everyone in my family has been longstanding union members, and I understood the immense value they hold.

Despite this, before my internship at the NSW Branch of the Transport Workers’ Union and Senator Tony Sheldon’s office, I had little understanding of how they work internally. My week with the TWU was very unique, given that it followed the week in which the coalition’s draconian union-busting bill was being debated in parliament.

During my experience, I spent time in the Members’ Service Centre, discovering the lengths each member of the team goes to in seeking fairness for union members. Following this, I accompanied a Lead Organiser for a day, which included various fieldwork, meetings with other organisers, and a concrete industry meeting. This was the most insightful day I spent at the TWU because it gave me a depth of understanding about how unions achieve their outcomes. During my remaining time at the union, I attended a Fair Work Commission hearing, a SafeWork NSW meeting, and learnt about how to achieve consistency in media messaging.

Among all of this, the most memorable part in my time at the TWU was my conversation about the importance of women in the transport industry, her lacking conditions when she was a bus driver, and the unparalleled value of women in the union movement.