The first female president of the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions, Helen Kelly, has died at the age of 52. Kelly started her career as a school teacher and became a union delegate on her first day on the job. Kelly fought unrelentingly for health and safety in the forestry industry, which resulted in significant reductions in deaths at work. She was diagnosed with lung cancer in February 2015, and while trying to access quality medical care, started campaigning for the right to die with dignity and for access to medicinal cannabis. Kelly’s extraordinary legacy can be read in this obituary. She was a fighter til the end. The movement has lost another comrade. Vale Helen Kelly.
The first female president of the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions, Helen Kelly, has died at the age of 52. Kelly started her career as a school teacher and became a union delegate on her first day on the job. Kelly fought unrelentingly for health and safety in the forestry industry, which resulted in significant reductions in deaths at work. She was diagnosed with lung cancer in February 2015, and while trying to access quality medical care, started campaigning for the right to die with dignity and for access to medicinal cannabis. Kelly’s extraordinary legacy can be read in this obituary. She was a fighter til the end. The movement has lost another comrade. Vale Helen Kelly.
