NSW Unionists Mark Day Of Mourning

Remembering the dead and ensuring needless deaths do not continue were sentiments echoed repeatedly when a large band of unionists gathered together for a service outside St Mary’s Cathedral in Sydney during this year’s International Day of Mourning.

The group, representing unions from across the state, used the occasion to remember the many people who lose their lives at work each year and to demand tougher measures on bosses whose negligence is found to be at the cause of fatalities.

Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance federal secretary Christopher Warren used the day to highlight the tragedy of the many journalist killings during the war on Iraq, saying that only an independent international inquiry could determine the truth of the war crimes. In less than a month in Iraq at least seventeen journalists and other media workers were killed. "There is no greater act of censorship that silencing a voice with violence," he said.

The Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union's Gary Flynne said it was the "she'll be right" attitude that many had towards workplace safety that posed one of the greatest hazards. Some people lose the luxury of ever being able to say those words as a result, he said.

Jon Aquilina from the Rail, Tram and Bus Union spoke of the devastating impact workplace deaths have on victims' families. He said the death of his colleague and personal friend Herman Zeides, who died driving a train in Waterfall earlier this year, was a case in point.

Meanwhile, Police Association president Ian Ball used the occasion to examine the untimely deaths of two police officers who recently lost their lives while on active duty, including Glen Machinelli who was shot while in pursuit of a person who had stolen a motor car.

Tim Ayres from the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union said about 40 workers lost their lives every year in the industry. But he said rather than getting hung up on the horror of the statistic it was more important to look at the individual stories of the people whose lives had been lost. He said failed systems and inadequate management systems were most often to blame for the incidents and said the adequacy of current legislation also had to be examined. Ayres also echoed the sentiments of many in calling for a monument to be erected which would commemorate the lives of workers who had been killed.

Recent ILO figures show that two million workers around the world die from work-related accidents and diseases each year.

Based on Australian workers' compensation data, 319 Australian men and women died from accidents or exposure in the workplace in 2000-2001 and a further 71 died while travelling to or from work.

Mr Jerry Ellis, Chairman of the National Occupational Health and Safety Commission (NOHSC), adds that "these are just the reported fatalities and do not include those not covered by workers' compensation, such as the self-employed, and those who die from work-related diseases.

"Definitive statistics for deaths from work-related diseases are not yet available but the number of fatalities from injury and disease is estimated to be over two thousand each year."

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