Elba Cruz and her family were deeply involved in the left movements in Chile in the early 1970s, especially the Socialist Party of Chilean President Salvador Allende. Elba and her family found refuge in Australia after Allende was overthrown in a military coup in 1973.

 

Elba found work at the laundry at Canberra Hospital in the mid 1980s. Casualisation was a big issue: management divided the workforce, with casuals made to wear white uniforms while permanents wore blue. The union won permanency for many workers, but Elba and two of her workmates were left as casuals. 

 

When the union convened a meeting about the issue in the laundry’s cafeteria, every worker voted to strike. This is their story. “When I look back I think if I had stayed quiet, nothing would have happened”.

 

One of a series of programs on the lives of working class women.