Liz Ross
Encyclopedia
Liz Ross is a long-term Socialist activist and author based in Melbourne
, Australia
. She has campaigned for Women's Rights
and Gay Liberation
since 1972 and was a union
delegate in the Department of Social Security
for ten years during the Hawke
era. Notably, she has contributed detailed accounts of industrial struggle
in Australia, with militant
workers in the both defunct Builders Labourers Federation
and the Royal Australian Nurses’ Federation. She is also a member of the Trotskyist organisation Socialist Alternative
and a representative of the Australian Lesbian and Gay Archives
.
, which outlined the history of the militant Builders Labourers Federation
. David Renton of Labour History
called the book "a wonderfully partisan account that takes seriously the challenge of understanding the past through the eyes of the people who realised that strong trade unions of unskilled workers are a rare and precious thing, the men and (very often) women who fought against the bosses and the courts."
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. She has campaigned for Women's Rights
Women's rights
Women's rights are entitlements and freedoms claimed for women and girls of all ages in many societies.In some places these rights are institutionalized or supported by law, local custom, and behaviour, whereas in others they may be ignored or suppressed...
and Gay Liberation
Gay Liberation
Gay liberation is the name used to describe the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender movement of the late 1960s and early to mid 1970s in North America, Western Europe, and Australia and New Zealand...
since 1972 and was a union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
delegate in the Department of Social Security
Department of Social Security
The Department of Social Security is the name of a defunct governmental agency in the United Kingdom.The DSS replaced the older Department of Health and Social Security, from 1988 until 2001, when it was itself largely replaced as a department of the Government of the United Kingdom by the...
for ten years during the Hawke
Bob Hawke
Robert James Lee "Bob" Hawke AC GCL was the 23rd Prime Minister of Australia from March 1983 to December 1991 and therefore longest serving Australian Labor Party Prime Minister....
era. Notably, she has contributed detailed accounts of industrial struggle
Industrial action
Industrial action or job action refers collectively to any measure taken by trade unions or other organised labour meant to reduce productivity in a workplace. Quite often it is used and interpreted as a euphemism for strike, but the scope is much wider...
in Australia, with militant
Militant
The word militant, which is both an adjective and a noun, usually is used to mean vigorously active, combative and aggressive, especially in support of a cause, as in 'militant reformers'. It comes from the 15th century Latin "militare" meaning "to serve as a soldier"...
workers in the both defunct Builders Labourers Federation
Builders Labourers Federation
The Builders Labourers Federation is an Australian trade union organisation which existed from 1911 until 1972, and from 1976 until 1986, when it was permanently deregistered in various Australian States by the federal Labor government and some state governments of the time. This occurred in the...
and the Royal Australian Nurses’ Federation. She is also a member of the Trotskyist organisation Socialist Alternative
Socialist Alternative (Australia)
Socialist Alternative is a Trotskyist political organisation in Australia formed by an expulsion from the former International Socialist Organisation in 1995. It is one of the largest groups of the Australian far Left, claiming to have the largest active membership. With branches across...
and a representative of the Australian Lesbian and Gay Archives
Australian Lesbian and Gay Archives
The Australian Lesbian and Gay Archives is a non-profit, community-based organisation of volunteers committed to the collection and preservation of material reflecting the lives and experiences of LGBT Australians. The material collected is either produced by LGBT people in Australia or...
.
Writing
In 2004, Ross wrote Dare to struggle, dare to win! Builders Labourers fight deregistration, 1981-94 published by Vulgar PressVulgar Press
Vulgar Press is a publishing house based in Melbourne, Australia. Established in 1999, the publisher's stated aim is "the publication of working-class and other radical forms of writing". Vulgar Press publishes a number of books and magazines for alternative and non-profit companies and organisations...
, which outlined the history of the militant Builders Labourers Federation
Builders Labourers Federation
The Builders Labourers Federation is an Australian trade union organisation which existed from 1911 until 1972, and from 1976 until 1986, when it was permanently deregistered in various Australian States by the federal Labor government and some state governments of the time. This occurred in the...
. David Renton of Labour History
Labor History (journal)
Labor History is an inter-disciplinary, peer reviewed journal which publishes articles regarding the history of the labor movement in the United States, Europe and other regions and countries....
called the book "a wonderfully partisan account that takes seriously the challenge of understanding the past through the eyes of the people who realised that strong trade unions of unskilled workers are a rare and precious thing, the men and (very often) women who fought against the bosses and the courts."
Selected books
- Rebel Women in Australian Working Class History, (With Sandra BloodworthSandra BloodworthSandra Bloodworth is a labour historian and socialist activist, based in Melbourne, Australia. She has been involved in radical politics since the 1970s, where she has played roles in the women's, Aboriginal, anti-uranium mining and trade union movements...
, Janey Stone, Tom O'LincolnTom O'LincolnTom O'Lincoln is an American born Marxist historian, author and one of the founders of the International Socialist Tendency in Australia. He attended UC Berkeley in 1966 and joined the International Socialists who had participated in the Free Speech Movement two years earlier...
, Diane Fieldes. Edited by Bloodworth and O'Lincoln), Red Rag, Melbourne, 2008. - Dare to struggle, dare to win! Builders Labourers fight deregistration, 1981-94, Vulgar Press, 2004.
- How capitalism is costing us the earth, Socialist Alternative, Melbourne, 2008.
Selected articles
- It was a riot! 30 years since Australia's first Mardi Gras, Socialist Alternative, Edition 125, February 2008.
- Why capitalism is not the answer, ON LINE Opinion, 2008.
- Gay Liberation: Pink triangles, red banners, Australian Gay Left, (Originally appeared in Socialist Action no 13, October 1986).