Jessie Cato Joins the ASU Team

I am Jessie and I've recently come on board part time at your ASU as a Local Government Project Officer.

I have my final year of a Bachelor of Social Science degree to complete at the University of Adelaide next year. I chose this degree for its focus on social justice and equality. The core subjects of my degree concentrate on the fields of gender, work and social inquiry.

I came to know ASU as a participant in the PLEA (Progressive Labor Education Association) Programme in July this year. The Programme ran in the university mid year break and involved students interested in the advancement of progressive ideals. My involvement included time at Parliament house in Canberra, placements in Labor ministerial and electorate offices and a placement in your ASU. Being in the office and seeing the way this Union works tirelessly to protect and empower its members was inspiring. The passion and dedication the team put into their work motivated me to think about how I could help, where I wanted to go in my career and the ways in which I could use my skills to be involved in the Union movement.

Before I started at University I was a full time retail employee and had been since I left school at 15. Once I commenced studying I worked nights in a casual position in the hospitality industry. The jobs were precarious by nature with ever changing contracts and agreements, almost always in the employer's interest. I had almost resigned myself to this being a part of working life and it wasn't until my experiences with ASU that I realised I have rights and there are some really hard working people here to work with me to protect them. That's when I knew I wanted to be involved in any way that I could.

I was lucky enough that a position as an ASU Local Government Project Officer opened. The role is about developing principles around what is volunteer and what is paid work and to develop tools to appropriately work with volunteers and recognise the important part volunteers and paid employees play within local government. Having only been in the role two weeks, I'm excited to start getting out and about, meeting members, hearing your ideas and achieving what I saw all the ASU team working towards during my PLEA placement - happy, safe and secure workplaces.

I'm looking forward to meeting with some of you soon!