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Film exposes Howard's construction of fearSue Bolton & Paul Oboohov
17 August 2007“If you can’t stand up and say what you feel and believe, then you’re a slave. And I ain’t no slave”, said one of the building workers prosecuted by the Howard government for withdrawing labour after the unfair dismissal of his shop steward.
A 40-minute documentary exposing the activity of an industrial inquisition targeting building workers across Australia was launched in Melbourne and Canberra on August 16. Constructing Fear shows the evolution and implementation of the Howard government’s cruel Building Construction Industry Improvement Act, which was rushed through parliament in mid-2005, establishing the Australian Building and Construction Commission.
Since 2005, the ABCC has targeted hundreds of workers. It conducts closed tribunals in total secrecy and seeks individual fines of up to $28,600. Those summonsed cannot refuse to attend a hearing; they cannot refuse to answer questions; and they cannot tell anyone — including their families — what happened in the hearing (and if they do they face six months’ jail). These individuals are ordinary working people — labourers and tradespeople, parents, safety officers — and they all share one common bond. They are members of a union. Affected workers are interviewed in the documentary, such as Broedene Wardley, a crane driver and safety delegate hauled into a secret court hearing for calling a safety stop-work meeting and strike; some of the 107 workers from the Mandurah-to-Perth railway project fined $28,600 each for striking over safety issues and in defence of their sacked delegate; and 65-year-old Charlie Corbett, fined $44,000 for organising a strike in support of a sacked apprentice. Film director Joe Loh’s father John Loh was a builder’s labourer and an active trade unionist. In the director’s notes, Joe Loh describes a day when his father came home weeping and screaming because a 19-year-old apprentice had been crushed to death before his eyes. Joe Loh was only a teenager at the time. The film’s makers are encouraging groups, unions, churches and anyone else who is interested to organise their own screenings of the film. Visit <http://www.constructingfear.com>. [A director’s screening will be held on August 25 at 6.30pm at ACMI Cinemas, Federation Square, Melbourne. To book, phone (03) 8663 2583 or visit <http://www.acmi.net.au/ticketing>. The CFMEU is organising a Sydney screening at 5pm on August 31 in the Guthrie Theatre at the University of Technology, Sydney.] |
Related Stories:Related Links:From: Australian News |
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