The human coffee cup with a powerful imaginary crocodile

After making a big impact on the SIA campaign at her Gippsland primary school, IEU Rep Margaret Gatehouse wowed a broader audience with her presentation at the Women’s Rights at Work conference at Trades Hall, Carlton.

IEU Rep Margaret Gatehouse on the Women On Strike panel (read her full story in the upcoming edition of The Point)

Margaret, the IEU Rep at St Laurence O’Toole Primary School in Leongatha, has become a champion of the SIA campaign through her innovative and fun approach. She made an equally strong impression on the “Women on Strike” panel on the first day of the WRAW conference in late August.

Margaret told the 200 WRAW participants that she “fell into the role of union representative, not fully understanding what I would be expected to do and the courage I had to find within myself”.

She certainly found it. Margaret led a stunning range of lawful campaign activities at her school. There were posters and placards, slogans on car windows and a petition for parents to sign.

When her emails to the head of the Victorian Catholic Education Commission bounced back, she sought his boss.

“I wrote to the Pope instead, who I know for a fact supports the rights of workers to take industrial action.”

That innovative escalation attracted local media attention, with journalists intrigued by what Margaret described as the “un-Christian anti-worker actions of Catholic employers in Victoria”. The coverage helped take the campaign beyond the school and into the wider community.

“None of these things seem difficult,” Margaret said, “but when you are not a brave person, they are quite difficult”.

When state school colleagues went on strike in March, IEU members at St Laurence’s demonstrated their solidarity by standing outside the gates before classes.

“I told all the teachers at St Laurence’s that although I felt very uncomfortable standing in front of the parents wearing black and carrying a placard, I was going to do it because we are not just trying to change things for us, but for future generations of Catholic school workers,” Margaret said.

“To use one of my student’s more colourful expressions ‘I was sh**ting myself’.”

As she approached the school gate, Margaret drew on advice from American poet Maya Angelou to “bring your people with you” in difficult times.

“She was referring to the people who have loved us and been there for us, our ancestors and friends who have given us strength.”

Margaret thought of her sister, mother… and Janet her imaginary childhood crocodile! “…and by the time I reached the gate I was surrounded by an army of invisible loved ones.

After a while, the visible people came too – the other teachers and aides, one by one. Just before the bell rang, most of us were standing outside the gate carrying placards, dressed in black, except for my daughter, a teacher at a state school, who came dressed in red.”

Other events followed: The Black Mourning Morning Tea forged solidarity, bringing staff together around a long, black-draped table, black food, a black cake and a soundtrack of AC/DC's Back in Black.

Members wore black each Wednesday, prompting questions from students. Margaret used these opportunities to discuss Catholic Social Teaching and ask whether denying teachers the right to strike was consistent with its principles. She said the question prompted some interesting dinner-table conversations!

The prospect of handing out pamphlets to parents was intimidating, until Margaret confided in a colleague, who suggested they organise a coffee van to visit.

“We put the QR code on the cups... then stood beside the van asking people to scan their cups and sign the petition in support of our SIA.

“I dressed up as a coffee cup with a big QR code on me so that people could scan me if they wanted to. The teachers from Mary MacKillop Secondary College in Leongatha came and joined us. It was a joyful caffeinated morning.”

Margaret urged WRAW delegates with protected industrial action rights to use them: “because it’s very difficult to negotiate if you don’t have that right”.

“I am not a brave person, I’m just a school teacher, I don’t have any special powers except that I am surrounded by invisible people who have loved me. My hope for you is that the people who have loved you, help you to be brave in your fight for your rights.”

WRAW attendee and IEU member Samantha Ferrero said Margaret had a big impact because she “hadn’t waited for someone else to create momentum”.

“She found ways to make noise, build awareness and make the campaign visible in her own community. It was such a practical demonstration of what grassroots unionism can look like.

You don’t need to have a huge platform or be in a major city to have influence – sometimes it starts with one person deciding that an issue deserves to be heard.”