Vale Gavin Penn

1955-2021

A member of the AWU since 1980, Gavin Penn was a true trade unionist, if ever there was a dictionary with the words, his name would be printed alongside.

His colleagues and union friends remember him best as an advocate for the underdog and minorities, as an official of the union for thirty years Gavin worked his way up from delegate to official, his passion for the trade union movement was remarkable and well respected, having worked in many of the industries he represented Gavin knew how to advocate for his fellow unionist.

Those close to him in the AWU remember a funny, loving person who had a brilliant sense of humour with a lot of witty banter thrown in. There isn’t anything he wouldn’t do for his AWU family, he believed in getting the best out of everyone and making the branch into a thriving community that took on the ‘big guys’ and stood up for the little ones.

Gavin was a compassionate and generous person who never showed bias toward anyone, and supported people in what they believed in. It is a great loss to us all that he is no longer with us, and we will miss him terribly.

The AWU would like to extend condolences to Gavin’s family and friends at this time, he will forever be a valuable part of the AWU and its history and we will miss him immensely.