took time off work to attend, and their wages were made up by job collections. The two major issues at the conference were the forthcoming equal pay claim, including "intensive activity outside of the Arbitration Commission in support of any application" with demands also being made on individual employers, and demands for childcare. On the negative side, most of the speakers at the conference were men. In January 1970, Sylvia Bramston, who had been a leading force in winning equal trades rate for some women members at National Instruments, became the first woman to work full-time for the AEU on organising and campaign questions, as she was sent around Victoria to recruit and organise the equal pay campaign for three months. As the union stepped up its industrial action around equal pay, more women were drawn into membership, and into shop steward positions. As indicated earlier, it was not only male workers who needed to be convinced of the virtues of fighting for equal pay. Sylvia Bramston explained the transformation of the views of many women workers, and the degree to which class conflict played a role in chnaging consciousness: It was a case of building the women's confidence ... you've been doing this job for x number of years, you're good at it. Do you think somebody, just because he wears a pair of pants, can come in and do it better than you, with no experience? You've got to build your confidence, you're worth something. Don't think you're