October 14, 2016
Helen Kelly a staunch supporter of Maori workers
A Maori trade unionist has praised the late Helen Kelly for keeping the ahi kaa of worker’s rights stoked up high.
The former Council of Trade Unions president died this morning of lung cancer at the age of 52.
Sharryn Barton, the convenor of the E Tu union’s runanga, says Ms Kelly was a fighter for working people.
Her campaigns around deaths in the forestry industry and the employment rights of meatworkers affected many Maori whanau.
"Workers that work for Talley- AFFCO, 70 percent are tangata whenua and Helen was right in supporting them and trying to progress their issues. She certainly was a staunch supporter of our people, in fact everyone in Aotearoa. She not only cared about the workers, she cared about their families as well," Ms Barton says.
Copyright © 2016, UMA Broadcasting Ltd: www.waateanews.com