There are films that document history, and there are films that breathe life into it. Women of Steel is the latter—a story not just of workplace discrimination, but of working-class women who turned exclusion into resistance, and resistance into victory. Directed by Robynne Murphy—herself a core organiser in the campaign—the film is an unforgettable testament to what solidarity looks like in practice: relentless, disciplined, collective struggle from below.

The documentary follows the 14-year battle of a group of mostly migrant women in Wollongong who demanded the right to work at the BHP steelworks. Locked out of jobs purely because of their gender, they did not appeal to the goodwill of the company. They organised. They marched. They built alliances across unions, communities, and cultures. And most crucially—they fought as a collective, grounded in the understanding that solidarity was not a slogan but a strategy.

In an era where individual empowerment is often sold as liberation, Women of Steel reminds us that real change is built through struggle, patience, and the messy, often exhausting process of uniting workers across difference. These women faced down not only the corporate power of BHP, but also the entrenched sexism of the labour movement itself. They weren’t just excluded from jobs—they were excluded from the institutions that claimed to represent them.

Yet they persisted. They held pickets, built solidarity with unions, challenged the courts, and refused to be divided. They brought to life what Marxists have long understood: that the power of the working class lies in its unity—and that the most militant and transformative currents often come from those most marginalised within it.

This wasn’t a struggle for token representation. It was a battle for jobs, survival, and recognition as part of the organised working class. And they won—not because they had powerful backers, but because they had each other.

What makes Women of Steel so politically sharp is how clearly it shows the dialectic of struggle and solidarity. This wasn’t a group of women acting on their own—it was a movement that forced the labour movement to confront its exclusions and expand its understanding of who “the working class” includes. It reminds us that every gain we have today—anti-discrimination protections, equal opportunity, women in industrial jobs—was won by people who were told to wait, told to be quiet, and refused to do so.

In the context of today’s struggles—whether migrant care workers demanding rights, trans workers resisting workplace exclusion, or feminised sectors fighting for equal pay—Women of Steel offers not just inspiration, but a guide. It’s not enough to expose injustice. We must organise against it—together.

Red Spark proudly hosted two screenings of Women of Steel:

• Brisbane on 24 April, with speakers Robynne Murphy (director) and Adela Brent from Australia Solidarity with Latin America (ASLA)
• Melbourne on 3 May, as part of our May Day program, featuring Robynne Murphy and Pipin Jamson, Indonesian activist and co-founder of the Indonesian Academics Union

Each screening was followed by a rich and powerful discussion on international solidarity, feminist organising, and the relevance of the Women of Steel struggle for today’s movements—from small towns in Australia to union-building efforts across Latin America and Southeast Asia.

Women of Steel is more than a film—it is a battle cry from the past, echoing into our present. A call to reject fragmentation and individualism, and to return to a politics rooted in class unity, collective action, and uncompromising women’s liberation struggle.

We don’t need inspiration—we need each other. And this film shows us exactly what that looks like.