About chriswhite

Chris White now lives in Darwin, Northern Territory. He was Secretary of the United Trades and Labour Council of SA. He is honorary Secretary of APHEDA NT. contact chrisdwhite@bigpond.com He is a Honorary Senior Research Fellow at The Northern Institute Charles Darwin University. He lived in Canberra from 2005 researching labour law and industrial relations and worked for the union ASMOF and then the NTEU ACT. He tutored in Politics for two years at the ANU Politics and International Relations. He has been criticising WorkChoices, specifically the labour law supressing the right to strike, the repression of building and construction workers, and reporting on the new China labour laws . He writes on social justice challenges. He links into international solidarity for workers and the disadvantaged. He worked for the SA unions for 27 years. First as an Industrial Officer for the Australian Workers Union SA branch. Then he was for 10 years Research Officer/Industrial Advocate for the LHMU, then the Miscellaneous Workers Union SA branch, now United Voice. In 1985 he was elected Assistant Secretary of the United Trades and Labor Council of SA and then in 1998 elected Secretary until 2001. He was on the ACTU executive for 15 years. He represented unions on SA Industrial Relations and Occupational Health and Safety and Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation Commisions and social justice and employment committees. From 1998 to 2002 he was a Director and Trustee of SA Statewide Superannuation Trust and United Superannuation Pty Ltd. He was active in Socially Responsible Investment decisions. For 10 years he was on the board of the SA Working Womens Centre. For 15 years he was Chair of the Junction Theatre Company. For 6 years he was Ministerial Arts Board member on the State Theatre Company. He was awarded a Centenary Medal Commonwealth Honour for contributions to unions and the community. From 2003-2005 he was a Board member SA Housing Trust Board In 2002 he was on the Offenders Aid and Rehabilitation Services (OARS): prison rehabilitation and restorative justice. For 30 years he was active in the SA East Timor Association and now Patron. Since 1974 he has been a member of the ALP and with SA unions organising in state and federal election campaigns. He has been active in the ACTU Your Rights at Work Worth Fighting For campaign. He was a Post Graduate Research PhD scholar 2003-2006 School of Law, Flinders University researching 'The right to strike', but for personal reasons did not complete his thesis. He was a radical student activist, editor of ON DIT and Secretary of the Student's Union. He completed a Law degree LLB and Arts (Honours Politics) in 1972. He then worked for a year as a law tutor at the University of Adelaide Law School before his career with the unions. He is an advocate and consultant on workforce and social justice issues. contact chrisdwhite@bigpond.com