Out@PSA & Out@work talks to Gay Wellington

On the third Tuesday of every month from 6pm-7pm we invite guest speakers along to talk to Gay Wellington members. Folk in the wider GLBTI community are also welcome to sit in.

Yesterday our guests were Sarah and Eileen from the PSA union and the NZ Council of Trade Unions. We had about 20 people in the audience, which was a fabulous turn-out.

Sarah told us about Out@PSA, a network for PSA members who identify as gay, lesbian, intersex, transgender, takataapui, fa'afafine or bisexual.

Eileen talked about the CTU network called Out@Work. This group was set up in 2000 as the Council of Trade Union's network for lesbian, gay, takataapui, bisexual, intersex, transgender and fa'afafine union members.

We learnt how unions will be passionate advocates for GLBTI issues. The role of both organisations is to promote respectful, diverse, and inclusive workplaces.

Eileen also mentioned some very useful information provided by the Human Rights Commission. For example, the "A to Z for employers and employees: pre employment guidelines". This publication offers a lot of good advice and answers questions such as 'What are the situations where the sexual orientation of a job applicant can be taken into account?'

A big thanks to Sarah and Eileen for taking the time out to talk to us :-)