Ka kuhu hoki ngā wāhine Māori ki ngā mahi i ngā tāone. Tae rawa ki te tau 1966, 38 o ngā kaimahi hanga (kākahu, papanga hoki) he wāhine Māori, e 21 ōrau he kaimahi tari, e 27 ōrau hoki o ngā kaimahi kāwanatanga. Ka tūhono rātou ki ngā tūmomo uniana. I te tau 1969, he nui ngā wāhine i roto i ngā uniana i ngā mahi hoahoa, horoi kaka, nēhi niho, wheketere pihikete tiakarete, i ngā mahi tūpeka, mahi ki roto toa, hōtera, wharekai hoki. I te tau 1969, 29 ōrau (103,891) o ngā mema uniana he wāhine; hautoru i te uniana mahi tari. Heoi, kāore i tokomaha ngā kaiārahi wahine i ngā uniana, ka mutu, ruarua rawa ngā wāhine Māori.
Kōkiri i te wā e wera ana te haeana
I kī te mema uniana a Joyce Hawe i aro a ia me ōna hoa kaimahi hanga kaka ki ngā uniana whai muri i tētahi mautohe mō te utu: ‘Ia rā, ia rā ka kōrerorero mātou mō te uniana. Nō te mea, kei ō mātou te kaha ki te whakamutu i tā mātou mahi. Koira anake tō mātou kahanga.’1 Ahakoa kei te kāinga ngā whānau, me te mahi i ngā haora e 8 ki te 10 i ia rā, he nui ngā wāhine ka kuhu ki ngā hui uniana whai muri i te mautohe.
Ngā uniana kaimahi tuitui kākahu
Ko Joyce Hawe tērā o Te Arawa, he kaimahi mīhini ki Progress Manufacturing ki Porirua. I kake a ia ki ngā tūranga teitei o te Uniana o Pōneke mō ngā Kaimahi Tuitui Kākahu. Nō muri i tētahi mautohe mō te utu nāna i kōkiri, ka piki haere a ia i ngā tūranga o te uniana i te tekau tau atu i 1960. I te tau 1970, ka tū a ia hei perehitini tuarua mō te Uniana o Pōneke mō ngā Kaimahi Tuitui Kākahu, ā, i te tau atu i 1976, ka eke hei kaiwhakarite. Ko ia te wahine Māori tuatahi kia tu hei mema matua o te Tōpūtanga o ngā Kaimahi o Aotearoa i te tau 1981.
Ngā uniana kaimahi tari
Tae rawa ki te tekau tau atu i 1980, e 22 ōrau o ngā wāhine Māori e kuhu ana i roto tari. I te tau 1985, ka kowhiringia a Helena Schenkel hei perehitini mō te Uniana o ngā Kaimahi Tari o Waitaha. Koia te wahine tuatahi ki te tūranga perehitini i ngā tau e 47. Ka tuhono a Schenkel ki te uniana i a ia e mahi ana hei kaiwhakahaere wheketere i Watties. Ka tu a ia ki te komiti Māori o te Tōpūtanga o ngā Kaimahi o Aotearoa, waihoki, ka tū a ia i te taha o te Bruce Bay Trust ki te whakahē i te keri koura ki ngā whenua Māori ki Te Tai Poutini. Ā koia te perehitini o Rākau Te Kura, he peka o te Rōpū Wāhine Toko i te Ora.
Te whakamutu i te whakaiti wahine
I roto a Helena Schenkel i te Uniana o ngā Kaimahi Tari, i hāpai i te mana o te wahine i ngā āki o ngā kaimahi tāne taikaha. Hei tāna, kāore ētahi o ngā kaimahi wāhine tamariki ake i te matatau ki ngā rerenga kōrero pēhi pērā i te kōrero, ‘Kia ora rā kōtiro ātaahua, kei te pēhea koe kare.’ Ka mate ngā wāhine te huri tuarā ki ērā tū momo kupu whakawhiu, te whārere ō rātou tūranga mahi rānei, te kōrero rānei ki ngā pirihimana. Heoi, ko te kōrero nui pea, mā ngā tikanga me ngā ture tiaki kaimahi kē hei whakamarumaru i a rātou ngā wāhine.
Hei whakautu i ngā āki a ngā mema Māori, ka tīmata te Uniana o ngā Kaimahi Tari o te Puku i ngā akoranga ārai i te kaikiri i te tau 1987, te tautoko i ngā kaupapa Māori i te uniana, me te hāpai i ngā rā whakatā mō ngā tangihanga, me te rapu i tētahi kaiwhakahaere Māori.
Ngā uniana mō ngā kaimahi hōtera, hōhipera, wharekai hoki
I ngā tau pokapū o 1980, ka tokomaha ake ngā wāhine Māori i whai wāhi ki ngā uniana hōtera, hōhipera, wharekai hoki. Nā ngā mahi mautohe me ngā aukatinga a ngā uniana, ka oho ake te wairua hihiko o ngā kaimahi wāhine; i tua atu, ka nui atu ngā Māori me ngā wāhine ka tū hei āpiha uniana.
I te tau 1986 ka tonoa e te Uniana o ngā Kaimahi Hōtera ngā taraketi 20 ki te Hui a Ngā Kaimahi Māori. He wāhine ngā kaikōrero e toru i tohua e te uniana kia kauhau ki te hui – ko Wikitōria Paaka, ko Celia Akapita, ko Sonja Harmer. I tae anō a Marie Normile, hekeretari o te Uniana o ngā Kaimahi Hōtera o Te Matau a Māui. Neke atu i te 400 ngā taraketi i te hui wānanga. I kōrerotia, ka mutu i whakakorengia he mōtini kia tū motuhake ngā kaimahi Māori ki tō rātaou ake uniana. Ko te whakaaro o te hui kia kaha te hāpai i ngā take Māori i roto i ngā uniana kei te tū.
