The true impact of workplace fatalities was highlighted once again on 28 April 2009, International Workers Memorial Day, with unions and bereaved families coming together to mourn the dead and fight for the living. Around 200 people gathered at Argyle Square on Lygon St for the annual event, conducted by the VTHC in conjunction with Industrial Death Support and Advocacy (IDSA). It is the 12th year this event has been marked internationally. The global theme for 2009 is good occupational health and safety for all.
With this in mind, Unions are campaigning to ensure workers have the highest standard OHS laws resulting from the Model OHS law that is currently being developed. Unions are calling on the State and Federal Government’s to not settle for 2nd Rate Laws. The VTHC has launched a campaign via the OHS Reps website to lobby Tim Holding, Victorian State Minister for WorkCover, urging him not to adopt some recommendations from the Review Panel published earlier this year. Go here to tell the Government, Don't Risk 2nd Rate Laws.
Every year more people are killed at work than in wars. Most don't die of mystery ailments, or in tragic "accidents". They die because an employer decided their safety just wasn't that important a priority. Workers’ Memorial Day commemorates those workers and serves as a call to action to defend the rights of the living.
Already in 2009 eleven people in Victoria have lost their lives at work and since the last Memorial Day there have been 21 traumatic work-related deaths in this state. But these numbers are not just statistics. Each death is a tragedy for the families and loved ones who must struggle to come to terms with depth of their loss.
Deanne May, President of IDSA, an organisation which offers support to families of people who are killed at work. She spoke to the gathering of the impact on families and served a reminder that there are no workplace accidents and that every death is preventable. Maitea Medina spoke of the loss of her husband, Tony, who had been a tireless advocate for workplace safety for many years. He lost his battle with mesothelioma just before Christmas last year.
Victorian Trades Hall Council President, Ann Taylor, spoke of the ongoing development of National Model OHS laws which offer a once in 30 year opportunity to make all workers better off. However, workers are currently facing watered down health and safety laws which will strip them of a number of rights which are crucial to real workplace safety. Among these are the right to raise an OHS issue with their OHS Rep, along with the right to raise these safety concerns anonymously.
Also, OHS Reps, long a core element of the success of Victorian OHS legislation and a role model for the rest of Australia and recognised internationally, face threats to their rights. The model laws propose changes that threaten a rep’s training rights and threaten dismissal for fulfilling the functions of their role. This along with changes to risk management and a move away from a truly tripartite body to represent the views of workers (through unions), government and employers, will leave all workers worse off.
Unions are campaigning to ensure workers have the highest standard OHS laws and are demanding the State and Federal Government’s to not settle for 2nd Rate Laws. Unions are asking everyone concerned to sign the letter and send it to him then pass it on to as many people as possible to generate a ground swell of momentum to reject these laws.
Don’t risk 2nd rate safety is part of a national campaign initiative of the ACTU, with unions nationally committed to ensuring that workers in evrry State are not worse off as a result of the new Model law, due at the end of this year. The ACTU supports the development of new harmonised national workplace health and safety laws but says it is essential the new laws deliver the highest standards and that the rights of every Australian worker are strengthened and not diminished.
Sign the Letter to Tim Holding
