Leadership The only woman at the table Union boss Sally McManus calls for an end to Australia’s gender imbalance By Jordaine Chattaway Leadership Union boss Sally McManus calls for an end to Australia’s gender imbalance By Jordaine Chattaway Previous article ‘I Knew In My Gut, That Singing The Anthem Wasn’t A Reflection Of My History.’ Next article Don’t Bench Half The Team UNION boss Sally McManus says she’s still often the only woman at the table when debating issues of national importance and no-one else seems to notice. The first female head of the Australian Council of Trade Unions in 90 years said even though women are being the hardest hit by Covid-19, and make-up half the population virtually all the decisions about their welfare are still being made by men. “I can’t tell you how many meetings I’ve been in on over the last three months where sometimes I’ve been the only woman,” she said. “It’s very annoying when you’re the only woman in the room and you’re the one who points it out!” During the crisis you’ve joined forces with the Government to help protect workers during this tough economical time – has that been challenging? I think the government understands us better and we understand them better too. It doesn’t mean we agree with each other. But I think the government knows that we don’t have horns now. I think it’s been easier too because we had common goals and a common enemy … (in the) pandemic and so it’s easier to work together with people who you may not always have the same ideological basis, but you’ve got a common goal and you’ve got a common platform that you’re moving from.Decisions were made relatively quickly around the implementation of Jobseeker and Jobkeeper. Are you happy with those initiatives or do you feel more could have been done? I think … how long JobKeeper took to come in … I think that was a mistake. I think we lost some jobs that could have been saved during that time. And the other obvious things are all the people that are missing out. It would have been better to have a universal system. So just universally, no matter how or why you’ve lost your job because of Coronavirus, it shouldn’t matter. covid19fwlivesally mcmanus Best of Future Women Diamond Meet the leaders: Erin Vincent By Odessa Blain Diamond Meet the leaders: Malini Raj By Odessa Blain Diamond Meet the leaders: Azmeena Hussain By Odessa Blain Diamond Meet the leaders: Shannan Dodson By Odessa Blain Diamond Meet the leaders: Elly Desmarchelier By Odessa Blain Equity A sneak peek inside the sold-out budget event By Odessa Blain Equity Inside the shared joke between Gallagher and Wong By Odessa Blain Leadership “Let’s lower the bar”: Why this CEO wants women to do a whole lot less By FW Your inbox just got smarter If you’re not a member, sign up to our newsletter to get the best of Future Women in your inbox.
