No problem gutting on freezing chain

Press, 9 June 1980, Page 6

No problem gutting on freezing chain

PA Wellington A Feilding freezing worker, Jean Sidney, who has been gutting on a Borthwick’s chain for three years, felt a little guilty yesterday because she had no problem to discuss at a Human Rights seminar on non-tradi-tional occupations. "They must be a bit disappointed in me; they seemed to think that I had had union troubles, but the union enccv.’-.ged me to attend the seminar,” she said. "They expected me to have faced difficulties, when I worked on the .chain last year before my baby was bom. I worked up to two weeks before he was bom, and there were no problems. You just get used to things and do your work. “I think that I have wasted their time. They did pay for us to come here for the week-end.”

Ms Sidney obviously was not the only one who had been problem-less at the two-day seminar on crossing the sex . barrier, in employment. '

An Auckland woman, Alison • Goodman, who is a photocopier technican, said that although she had enjoyed the seminar, she felt the Organisers twisted things.

“They played up the per-.

sonal things, like if a bloke pays you* a compliment he’s insulting you. I love being a lady .and I like getting all the attention from the males. These people seem to think it’s terrible to be like that,” she said. ■ “I felt shouted dawn, too, and I feel that they took a really anti-company attitude to everything. They want to get the unions into everything. They object to everything, even bottom-pinching, which I think is not all that bad.” Miss Goodman said that she also objected to the suggestion. that women form groups. “They keep on talking about human rights but then they suggest that we should form women’s groups to deal with these problem males. That seems backwards to me.”

Evelyn Hughs, a farm advisory lecturer, felt that the seminar had forced her to think about some issues which she had previously formed no attitude on.

“I have never felt special —- if that is the’right word — because I was in . one of these non-traditiona! occupations, and I don’t really think that this is important,” she said. .

Some of the participants felt that the earlier seminar was helpful and that it tackled the.right areas.

Lee Thompson, a . male kindergarten teacher, said that he felt a sense of solidarity now, knowing he was not the only one in his.situation.

"People ’have always overreacted because. I .am male. I just want to be treated as a person, not female or, male,” he said.

A Wellington barrister, Helen Cull, also found the week-end helpful. “I was amazed at’ the guts of some of these people here. Some of these women have really had courage to walk on to a freezing chain or into a truck-driving business. 1 felt a sense of solidarity, too, although in my profession I ■ don’t have many of the problems that face others.

“Our only real difficulty is with promotion to partnership. There is always this fear of the child-rearing thing.” A--Human Rights Commission education and information worker, Elizabeth Crayford, said that she was not disappointed that some people had no problem, in their jobs.

“We found it difficult to find people in these kinds of jobs, and .naturally we had a range of ideologies present. However, I think the weekend was very worth while,” she said.