Union Maid

Biography

Union Maid is : Lita Gillies

Lita was born in Melbourne in 1969, and grew up in a family of strong personalities with strong political views.

When she was a child, her mother worked as an interpreter for the Australia - USSR Friendship Society. Lita recalls vividly her visits to the Soviet ships that docked in Melbourne, the Moscow Circus and the Bolshoi Ballet.

Lita's view of politics and politicians is: “the people who desire political power, are exactly the people who should never have it.” Although she says she can't remember who said it, or whether that is the exact quote, she believes that “it sums up [her] view of politicians quite nicely.”

Lita founded The Archer Bar Poet's Society in 2005, to raise money for non profit art groups in her area. It is still running, every Tuesday night, at The Archer Bar and Cafe in Essendon. One of her poems, Dreaming Of Paris, has been played on 3RRR.

In early 2006, a friend asked Lita to help out on a picket line. She hasn't stopped helping out since. She remembers:
“It was a freezing cold Ballarat night. I was introduced to Dave Kerin, from Union Solidarity. We started talking about what he did, and I couldn't believe the stories he told me. I wondered why the media didn't cover stories about workers in struggle. I think that was the moment I decided to start fighting the good fight. I knew I had to do something. I'm a single parent. If I don't fight for my kid's rights, no one else will. So, here I am!”

Lita's musical training began when she was 3 years old, spending every Saturday morning at Yamaha Music School. She auditioned for the Victorian College Of The Arts Secondary School when she was 12 Years old, and spent the next six years studying double bass and piano. At that point, she decided that she had had enough of music, and wanted to explore other areas. And, she did.

Lita is now a co-ordinator for Union Solidarity, as well as working at the Australian Services Union. It was through her work with Union Solidarity that she returned to her musical roots. She wrote her first song, We Are Union, on the car trip back from Ballarat. The many picket lines and community assemblies she has helped on has inspired the lyrics to all her songs.

Her cd, We Are Union, is her way of vocalising her protest against governments who don't listen and greedy employers who treat workers badly. It is also a celebration of workers who understand that unity brings strength and the capability to fight injustice.

“Fighting the IR laws and the Building Industry Imporvement Act is the only way we can ensure that our children, or future children, have the same working rights and conditions as the ones we were born with.”

Proceeds from We Are Union will go to the CFMEU fighting fund and Union Solidarity