Interview with Morgan Evans, Aotearoa Legal Workers' Union The Aotearoa Legal Workers' Union was established in February 2019 to represent workers at legal workplaces in Aotearoa. It advocates for fair treatment and accountability in the profession. We recently caught up with one of its co-presidents, Morgan Evans to talk about how the union has developed over the last year. Can you remind us of why the union was set up and tell us why you yourself became involved in it? The key drivers for ALWU were the #metoo movement and the incidences of sexual assault that occurred at Russell McVeagh in the summer of 2015/16, which demonstrated so clearly the pervasive and dangerous power imbalances in our profession. This also led to consideration of other consequences of that power imbalance – for example, low pay, long hours and burnout. After the events of that summer came to the light, it became clear that legal workers did not feel empowered to speak out about these issues in their workplaces. The union was a way of giving them a voice. In terms of my own personal drivers, I wasn’t initially part of the group that set ALWU up (although a number of them were friends). I was a summer clerk at Russell McVeagh during that 2015/2016 period but chose to work at another law firm, where I had been for just over a year when the union was set up. Obviously, I’m a white middle-class male. For that reason, I wasn’t personally affected by the events that occurred during that summer and haven’t had to jump many of the hurdles that others face just to participate, never mind succeed, in the profession. Instead, I found that I thrived within the law firm environment because so many of the structural issues that the union is working to address do benefit people like me. So your own interests are best served by the existing position that those who worked long hours and could put up with the initial low pay, would later benefit more? I was initially thought to be “too corporate” for the union. In fact, I was invited along to my first ALWU meeting because the interim Executive thought
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that, if they could convince me that unionisation was a positive step, they could convince anyone! I was an easy sell and have been heavily involved with ALWU ever since. For me, it is all about using my position of privilege to do something positive and to make a difference for others. Part of ALWU’s message is that even if you are set up to succeed in the profession or are in a good team or at a good firm, there are others who aren't and are struggling. Again, it’s about recognising that you have been lucky and seizing the opportunity that affords you to help others. In an article, you quoted your grandfather who said that much is given to you and therefore much is expected of you. Is that how you would sum up your involvement? Yes, that is something I believe in and it rings true for lawyers in general. We are people to whom much has been given and that places a responsibility on us to give back to our communities. It is really what ALWU is all about: lifting each other up and creating a profession that lifts society up as well. Your executive seems to be made up of people very much like you, people who are starting out in the careers. Is that a fair comment? The Executive contains a broader range of ages and experience than people think. We are lucky to count senior associates, barristers and an Executive Manager among our ranks. That said, it would be fair to say that the driving force behind the union is a group of young people who are coming up through the junior ranks of the profession and saying that they won’t put up with the status quo – the promise of big money 10 to 15 years down the track isn’t worth low pay and overwork now. We want to do things a different way. Have you discovered new drivers now that the union is more established or has your focus changed? No, the core focus hasn’t changed but we are having to think very carefully about how we
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