Life of pioneering trade unionist Sonja Davies honoured.A number of NZNO NZNO New Zealand Nurses Organisation staff and members were among the 1100 people who attended the funeral of nurse, pioneering trade unionist, child care campaigner, peace activist A peace activist is a political activist who strives for peace, and against war. Peace activists are part of the peace movement. The role played by peace activists in preventing wars have been questioned in a paper published by Dr. and Labour MP Sonja Davies Sonja Davies, ONZ (November 11, 1923 – June 12, 2005) was a New Zealand trade unionist, peace campaigner, and Member of Parliament. Davies helped to found the Working Women's Council, and in 1974 she became the first female executive of the Federation of Labour. (right) held at the Wellington Town Hall on June 19. Davies, who was 81 when she died on June 12, began her nursing training at Wellington Hospital Wellington Hospital is Wellington, New Zealand's main hospital located in the suburb of Newtown on Riddiford Street. It is the main hospital run by Capital & Coast District Health Board (C&CDHB), the others including Kapiti Helath Centre, Kenepuru Hospital and Porirua Hospital the in November 1941. She contracted tuberculosis (TB), as did 11 in her nursing class. The disease affected her health throughout her life. Speaking at her funeral, Governor General Silvia Cartwright Dame Silvia Rose Cartwright, PCNZM, DBE, QSO (née Poulter) (born November 7 1943) was New Zealand's second female Governor-General. She is a graduate of the University of Otago, where she gained her LL.B in 1967 and a former student at Otago Girls High School. described her as a New Zealand New Zealand (zē`lənd), island country (2005 est. pop. 4,035,000), 104,454 sq mi (270,534 sq km), in the S Pacific Ocean, over 1,000 mi (1,600 km) SE of Australia. The capital is Wellington; the largest city and leading port is Auckland. icon who "pricked the conscience of a nation" Prime Minister Helen Clark
"Sonja dedicated her life to speaking up for the rights of ordinary New Zealanders. Underlying all of this work was her struggle to make the world a better, fairer and more peaceful place," Beaumont said. NZNO's professional services manager Joy Bickley Asher said Davies' funeral was an opportunity to honour her contribution to the nation, and to women in particular. "It was a great gathering and a number of themes shaped the programme: trade unions, peace, Sonja's Ngai Tahu affiliations and her political and family life. It is important to remember, too, that Sonja's work as a nurse exposed her to TB, which affected her health for the rest of her life. The work of nurses, then as now, exposes them to particular health and safety risks." Bickley Asher said Davies' work developing the New Zealand Working Women's Charter was an extremely important legacy and the charter still served as a blueprint for the rights of working women. |
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