Workers’ solidarity is often predicated on some kind of real-world human connection. People are so much more likely to understand shared experiences and shared struggle when they’re able to sit down together and talk to each other, face-to-face, about the things that unite them as workers. It’s the same reason why union organisers put such an emphasis on one-on-one communication. And it’s for the same reason that the far-right can flourish when the community connection is lost.
It’s also for this reason that Union Aid Abroad-APHEDA places such an emphasis on facilitating in-person connections between unionists from Australia and overseas. Sometimes, that means Australian unionists going abroad, such as through our long-running study tours, which offer an opportunity to visit our overseas projects and observe their impact firsthand. And sometimes it means supporting our comrades from overseas to come here.
For several years now, the South Australian union movement has been supporting comrades from overseas to participate in the SA Union’s Anna Stewart Memorial Project, a hands-on training program that has empowered over 1,000 participants to step up in their unions and workplaces. In the last two years, this tradition of international engagement has gone from strength to strength due to a new collaboration between APHEDA, SA Unions and the Working Women’s Centre of South Australia (WWC SA).
This year, two leading Timorese women unionists travelled to Australia to participate in the program. They were Abelita Sousa Li Soares, a domestic worker, union activist and board member of the Working Women’s Centre Timor Leste (WWCTL) and Etelvina Sarmento, General Secretary of the General Workers Union Timor Leste (SJT-TL).
Abe and Etel, as they’re known, visited both Melbourne and Adelaide, where they spent time with several unions and Trades & Labour Councils. The first week in Melbourne included a day with the Women’s Team at Trades Hall and a few days with the United Workers Union (UWU), visiting workplaces with Timorese workers and delegates. The visit culminated in a benefit concert by the legendary Melbourne punk band the Painters and Dockers, organised by the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) Victoria branch, which raised funds for our projects in Timor.
While in Adelaide, they participated in the Anna Stewart Project training at SA Unions before spending time at the WWC SA. The local APHEDA activists’ group also organised a social reception on their last night in Australia as a way for other SA unionists to make that crucially important connection with Abe and Etel and further entrench this living tradition of internationalism.
Being part of Union Aid Abroad–APHEDA means being part of a great international network of unionists like Abe and Etel and global justice activists. If you haven’t joined yet, now’s the time at apheda.org.au/join
