Typecasting resisted

Press, 12 May 1984, Page 26

Typecasting resisted

PA Wellington New Zealand’s first female industrial mediator, Janet Scott, says she will strongly resist being pushed into dealing with women’s issues. “I’m very keen not to be typecast as a women’s mediator,” she said. Ms Scott, assistant director of the industrial relations division of the Labour Department, said she had always had a strong personal interest in the rights of working women. She was aware there had been calls for a woman mediator and she recognised that some sensitive issues arose which might be better dealt with by a woman. However, she felt strongly that all mediators must do the full range of duties and she believed her appointment was made because she was the best applicant for the job. “I don’t think it would do the cause of women or

industrial relations one jot of good if that principle was discarded,” she said. Ms Scott’s appointment, which brings the strength of the service up to nine, is a statutory one made by the Governor-General on the recommendation of the Minister of Labour after consultation with both the Federation of Labour and the Employers’ Federation. Ms Scott, aged 37, joined the Labour Department in 1971 as a Social science graduate and quickly moved into the field of industrial relations as well as working on the Commission of inquiry into Equal Pay. In 1973 she went overseas where she worked for the British Government’s Commission on Industrial Relations. She returned in 1978 as part of the team setting up the industrial relations division in the Labour Department, later being appointed assistant director with responsibility for industrial policy.