Author: Rebecca Macfie Publisher: Wellington Awa Press, 2021. 410 pages.

For eight years prior to her premature death in 2016, Helen Kelly was President of the Council of Trade Unions, a job about which she was passionate.

From her earliest days Helen absorbed the activist, political and social views and values of her parents and argued these at school and among her friends. As a student at Wellington Teachers’ College, she became president of the students’ association.

Helen worked as a teacher for only a short time before taking on a role with two closely allied unions that merged to become the Combined Early Childhood Union of Aotearoa (CECUA). Quality affordable childcare and the wages and status of early childhood workers was, for her, an immediate concern.

The Employment Contracts Act 1991 made individual contracts, rather than collectively negotiated agreements, the basis of employment. Unions were defined as no more than voluntary bargaining agents. Union membership plunged dramatically. Despite this, Helen’s energy, drive, commitment, infectious enthusiasm and clear, focused thinking achieved improved pay and conditions in the early childhood sector.

As President of the Council of Trade Unions, she gained wide publicity when she supported the right of New Zealand actors to seek a collective agreement with the producers of The Hobbit, being filmed in New Zealand. Opponents claimed this could lead to the film being produced offshore. The dispute became highly polarised and Helen was accused of placing jobs at risk. She was ridiculed and abused, however, as an advocate for workers, it was obvious she was not someone who was going to yield when the going was tough.

Helen argued strongly for better protection for workers in the dangerous forestry industry and additional compensation for the families of workers killed, whether they were union members or not. She also stood beside the families of the 29 miners killed in the Pike River mine explosion and sought a judicial review of the decision to take no action against the Pike River company or its manager. A spokesperson for these families said, “She was our friend. She genuinely cared.” A member of another union said, “We related to her through her humanity.”

In the last few months of her life Helen kept working for as long as she was able. She showed no self-pity and never complained. She had work to do and friends and family to love and be loved by.

In beautifully clear prose, Rebecca Macfie tells the story of Helen’s life with attention to detail and a collection of photographs. Her admiration for Helen is apparent on every page. Helen emerges as someone who was highly intelligent, analytical, insightful, immensely hard working, with natural charm and determination and who was never spiteful even when things were going against her. Her commitment to the right of workers to fair compensation that would enable them to live with dignity was life-long. What is deeply moving is the story of Helen’s commitment to justice with compassion.