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Mary Rohan (?–?)

This article was published:

Rohan, Mary (?-?) cleaner on railways, trade union official 

Birth: details unknown. Unmarried?. Death: details unknown. 

  • Worked as a cleaner on railways. Activist on the protest committee of the Federated Miscellaneous Workers’ Union (FMWU) in its later days.
  • Became first female organiser for NSW branch of the FMWU after the takeover in mid-1950s.
  • Continued in organising position for a few years with some people suggesting that her position was made difficult by some of the male members not responding well to a female organiser. There were no more female organisers until the early 1970s.
  • She returned to cleaning on railways which had by this time offered equal pay.

Sources
Margo Beasley, The Missos: A History of the Federated Miscellaneous Workers Union, Allen & Unwin, pp 29, 45-46, 121.

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Citation details

'Rohan, Mary (?–?)', People Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/rohan-mary-34655/text43586, accessed 27 April 2025.

© Copyright People Australia, 2012