We’re United For WA
Our candidates are workplace delegates, union activists, and everyday members who share one thing in common: a commitment to building a stronger union for you.
We can’t wait to introduce you to our full team of experienced union members from Western Australia. In the meantime, here’s a sneak preview!
United For You will be running candidates from across the union and state.
Meet Your Team
Dave Jallah
Disability Support Worker | Western Australia East
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I have been a UWU member for 7 years and work as a Disability Support Worker at AbilityWA. I joined because I believe as workers we deserve fairness, respect and a strong voice together. Being a union member means I am not alone - we stand together, protecting our rights and building better conditions for everyone. Outside work, I have been involved in politics and am a devoted husband, father and grandfather, passionate about volunteering, mentoring, and strengthening local communities.
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The union stood by me and my coworkers when our hours were reduced, our workload increased, and our income dropped. They helped us recover back pay and protect our weekend rates, fighting to make sure we were treated fairly. I am standing to fight for fair conditions and represent the voices of disability support workers and the people we serve. I want to be a strong voice for my community and make sure everyday people are represented in the decisions that shape our future.
I am supporting United For You because it prioritises the needs and voices of all members and I believe it works in the interest of all to achieve positive outcomes with the people.
Catalina Gonzalez
Director of Aged Care | Western Australia
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I became a union member over twenty-five years ago and immediately I felt like I had found a home. As a child, I migrated from Colombia with my mom, who was a single mom, and I got to see how difficult it was for her to enter the workforce. The kinds of abuses she suffered in the workplace, how the boss thought that because she was new to the country, because she had very little English, they could take advantage of her, how they overworked her, how they underpaid her. That really inspired me as I joined the workforce to join the union and eventually to start working for the union to ensure that no one felt and had to deal with the kind of abuses that my mom had to go through. I have really dedicated my life to doing that.
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I have seen firsthand how powerful it has been to have a union that is able to innovate and use lots of different levers to win. I have seen the importance of the union having political power. I have seen the importance of having involved delegates that drive campaigns, speak up, talk to politicians, talk to the media, meet with bosses, and take action. We need a union that is a fighting union, a strategic union, a union that is responsible with members' money, and a union that wins. I believe in a union that is not stuck in the past. I believe in a union that understands bosses are not who they used to be years ago, that we need to use every tool to fight the boss, including our political power, being smart with technology, and engaging with workers in digital spaces. At the same time, still taking action, representing members, and ensuring members get all the services they need. The union should be in every space and using every single strategy available to win for workers.
Pat O'Donnell
Director of Member Engagement | Western Australia North
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I joined the union 23 years ago as a security officer at the Casino in Perth and became a workplace delegate. I witnessed firsthand the power of workers uniting. I helped improve staffing levels, secured on call pay during breaks, and unionised the security team in preparation for bargaining. In 2008, I became a union official, and in 2013, Assistant Secretary for WA, leading campaigns in hospitality, manufacturing, cleaning, and security.
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As Director of Member Engagement, I am proud to be part of a team that has assisted over 40,000 members a year in joining the union and provides expert advice and support to over 25,000 members annually.
Members need a union ready for the challenges of the future, not stuck in the past.
Kim Prescott-Brown
Special Needs Education Assistant | Western Australia East
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I joined the union over 25 years ago when I first started working as an Education Assistant. I come from a proud union family and knew this was the only way to make sure our working conditions were upheld and wages needed to grow to ensure we had a liveable wage. My industry is predominantly female and we needed to ensure they were able to support themselves and their families. I have always had the mantra to leave my industry in a better place than I found it. I currently serve as WA Branch President, Member Councillor, and workplace delegate. Outside work, I have two beautiful daughters and five adorable grandchildren. I am a sports lover, a netball tragic, and love the real football (soccer).
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I will never forget having the opportunity to speak in front of about 20,000 unionists in a union alliance to fight for wages and conditions in Education while we were fighting a horrid Liberal government led by Colin Barnett. Members from UV, CSA and SSTWA stood together and marched up the Terrace through the city. We shut down roads, had people shouting out from buildings, cars tooting. We went all the way to Parliament House. I was part of the leading group and when we got to the top, I turned to see the sea of people still walking and chanting their way up. A sight to behold. I am standing because I have experience, passion and commitment to the union and its members. I believe everyday members should have a strong voice and be well represented in the decision making process that will guide our union in the future. United For You are experienced, honest and committed. I believe they only have the members' needs foremost in their minds and they have a proven track record. They have the ability to work as a UNITED team to achieve what is needed for members.
Carolyn Smith
UWU WA State Secretary & Director of ECEC | Western Australia
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I have been part of the union really all my working life. I joined the union two days after I started my apprenticeship with the old State Energy Commission at Kwinana Power Station, partly because the shop steward asked me and he looked like the kind of guy you want on your side, but also because I knew you needed to be with a group, you needed to have solidarity and strength together. I have been a union member, a health and safety rep, a union delegate, and then came to work for the union. I came to United Workers Union after 15 years of activism with the Metal Workers Union. What I really love is the members. Our members do incredibly important work. They keep our hospitals clean, support children with special needs in schools, educate and care for our youngest, look after our oldest in their most vulnerable times, work in disabilities, bake bread, make drinks, serve you at the casino. Really important jobs, but they are not always respected for the work they do.
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I have stood beside United Workers Union members for twenty-five years. We have fought and won some really big campaigns. Have we always got it right? No, but we have gone back, fought again, and had a lot of really good wins. Whether it was marching down St. George's Terrace with thousands of education workers fighting cuts to EAs and AIEOs, or fighting privatisation of hospitals and getting Fiona Stanley Hospital brought back in house. Sometimes it's the little things too, sitting with a member talking about money they are owed, getting a permanent job, or helping an aged care worker get permanent residency. This union is too important to risk. The West Australian union is too important to put in other people's hands. We need to be guiding our own future. For workers in hospitals, schools, disability support, casinos, manufacturing, and bread baking, from the Kimberley down to Esperance, we want to keep working hard, keep supporting you, and keep winning.