APHEDA People: Tim Dymond (UnionsWA)
Union Aid Abroad-APHEDA is about people – people working together to make things better for all. As the global justice organisation of the Australian union movement, each and every APHEDA supporter, member, partner, activist and participant here in Australia and all around the world contributes to the work it takes to tackle inequality and injustice.
This month we meet Tim Dymond who talks to us about why he thinks joining APHEDA is the most practical way for unionists to live their values with people around the world.
What does it mean to be union to you?
For me, to be union is to understand that value in our society is created by people working together. In the words of the song:
‘They have taken untold millions that they never toiled to earn/But without our brain and muscle not a single wheel can turn’
Why do you think it’s important for APHEDA to grow its membership base and build internationalism among unionists in Australia?
Because joining Union Aid Abroad – APHEDA is the most practical way for unionists to live their values with people around the world.
Through APHEDA I was able to visit a ‘Place of Learning’ project in a mountainside village in Timor Leste. At the time, APHEDA worked with Groupo Feto Foinsa’e Timor Lorosa’e (GFFTL). They taught literacy and income generation skills to rural women who wanted to learn to read and write in their local language Tetum.
In the Middle East I was able to meet with representatives of APHEDA’s longtime partner organisation, the Women’s Humanitarian Organisation. They run health and early childhood programs in the Burj el-Barajneh refugee camp for Palestinians in Beirut.
What part of APHEDA’s work are you most connected to/proud of? Why?
The Asbestos. Not Here. Not Anywhere. campaign to ban asbestos in the Asia-Pacific region, and globally, is a cause which I have promoted here in Western Australia. Asbestos is a significant issue in Western Australia because the former mine at Wittenoom is one of the largest contaminated sites in the world.
What do you see as the work that is most important for Union Aid Abroad to focus on into the future?
I think Climate Change is the issue that will hit all the areas where Union Aid Abroad APHEDA supports projects. No aspect of life in will be unaffected by it.
Read APHEDA’s Building union power in the clean energy transition – South and South East Asia Policy Brief.
@ASUWABranch shows their solidarity with the @apheda & #ausunions #NotHereNotAnywhere campaign to ban #asbestos around the world pic.twitter.com/0LPG1iSL79
— Tim Dymond (@timdy) August 8, 2017
When you have one-on-one conversations with people asking them to join Union Aid Abroad, how do you describe the work and ask people to join?
I always talk about how APHEDA works with partner organisations ‘on the ground’ in the countries where it works. This makes it a collective justice rather than an individual charity organisation. That’s why it needs members; not just occasional donors.
They’ll sometimes say yes, but they’ll usually pay some cash.
Joining is simple. Fill out the join form today. Or give us a call on 02 9264 9343.
