The International Day of Mourning
On 28 April each year the International Day of Mourning is observed by unions, workers, their families and friends in more than 100 countries to remember the men, women and children who were killed or injured at work, or became sick from exposure to hazardous substances; were tortured, imprisoned, murdered or oppressed because of their trade union activities; and suffered degradation, pollution or destruction. In Australia every year about 440 workers are killed in work-related accidents—that equates to more than eight per week. Diseases such as cancer and asbestos-related illness cause an estimated 2,300 additional deaths per year—or 44 per week. Road accidents in Australia claim about 30 lives per week. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, more than 15 serious accidents occur every hour—or one injury every four minutes.
Worldwide there are at least 1.3 million worker deaths per year. This is nearly double the number of deaths due to war, of which 12,000 are children. Each year over 160 million new injuries and work-related diseases are reported. International trade unions estimate that each year over 200 trade unionists are killed or disappear, 8,500 are arrested, 3,000 are injured and almost 20,000 are fired for trying to improve basic working conditions. On construction sites around Australia construction workers stopped for a minute’s silence to remember their workmates. Our construction industry is one of the toughest industries to work in and statistics show that one construction worker is killed per week in Australia and hundreds more are injured.
On the following day, May Day, the church I attend held a special service to remember them, their families and their unions in prayer giving thanks to God for achievements that have been made. The International Labour Organization [ILO] has found the Rudd Government’s construction industry laws breach international labour standards by targeting workers and their right to belong to unions for prosecution in an unfair way. In a report handed down two months ago the ILO made a new ruling strongly criticising the role of government inspectors in the Australian Building and Construction Commission [ABCC] for abandoning their traditional role of protecting workers and enforcing legal entitlements. The ILO is the United Nations international body responsible for protecting basic worker rights and is made up of representatives from governments, employers and workers.
In its most recent report the ILO Committee of Experts found that the prosecution of workers should not be the primary duty of ABCC inspectors—it should be the protection of workers; the ABCC is biased in chasing workers not employers; the policy of prosecuting workers was made worse by the fact that the laws under which the cases were brought have themselves been repeatedly found to be in breach of fundamental labour standards; and the prosecution of workers by ABCC inspectors prejudices the authority and impartiality needed between inspectors, employers and workers. The building and construction laws have now been criticised seven times by the ILO for undermining workers’ rights to participate in collective action and to be represented by their union. Mr Dave Noonan, CFMEU National Secretary, said:
Every construction worker out there knows that ABCC investigators continue to harass and intimidate workers on construction sites. You cannot be selective about respecting international laws. The Prime Minister puts himself forward as someone who believes in international law, as well as someone who stands up for workers’ rights. Getting rid of these unfair laws would show he is sincere on both counts.
Family First believes Australians work to live; they do not live to work. Parents in the paid workforce are parents first and workers second. Achieving a work-family balance is a real challenge and too often family time is sacrificed for work demands. Family First voted against WorkChoices because it removed guarantees for basic workplace conditions and made families worse off. It is important that workers are treated fairly and feel secure in their jobs, and that they are guaranteed conditions such as overtime and meal breaks. Family First believes we need to strike the right balance between the needs of employers and employees. Most employers and employees do the right thing, but we need strong protections for those who seek to abuse the system.
Family First introduced legislation to ensure all workers who have to work on public holidays would be guaranteed a minimum of another day off paid at time and a half, and also moved a number of other benefits. Family First successfully amended WorkChoices to double the protection period for workers’ redundancy pay to two years. We remember those who have died or been injured in the work place.
Rev the Hon Dr Gordon Moyes AC MLC