Kōrero: Women’s labour organisations

The National Advisory Council on the Employment of Women (NACEW) holds its first meeting in 1967. Pictured (from left) are Jean Ballard, Elizabeth Orr, H. C. J. (Tommy) Thompson, C. W. Sydall, Jack Hunn, Tom Shand, Noel Woods, Ria McBride, Miriam Gilson and Lesla Kennedy. Most of the women were members of the Joint Committee on Women and Employment (JCWE) formed by the Federation of Business and Professional Women's Clubs, Federation of University Women, National Council of Women and the YWCA to agitate for equal pay and employment opportunities. The exceptions were Ballard (a JCWE nominee to NACEW) and Kennedy (a Department of Education nominee). Shand was Minister of Labour; Thompson, Sydall and Woods were the Department of Labour’s senior staff. Hunn had been a highly regarded public servant and was the JCWE’s preferred choice for chair.