BY JOHN GAUCI
SYDNEY — On April 27, 1500 workers attended a ceremony on the steps of the Opera House to mark International Day of Mourning for Dead and Injured Workers. The ceremony paid tribute to all workers killed or injured at work and was of particular significance because of the NSW Labor government's draconian "reforms" to state workers' compensation law.
Allan Madden, a member of the Gadigal people, welcomed the crowd to Aboriginal land and highlighted the number of indigenous workers killed and injured as a result of dangerous working conditions.
After a prayer in honour of the dead, all were asked to remember the 1970 Westgate Bridge accident, which killed 35 construction workers. Solo violinist Adrian Keating played.
Jim Sparahar from the Australian Workers Union (AWU) told how he was working on the Sydney Harbour Bridge when he was injured. Sparahar spoke of his "struggle, uncertainty and loss of self-esteem following the injury. And now John Della Bosca is trying to twist the system to make it even harder to make a claim."
Lara Jarzabk from the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees' Association told of her workplace accident, when she was 19. "I had to undergo surgery, two months in a wheelchair, [then] on plaster, crutches and the use a walking stick. My mother had to take time off work to care for me. I'm no longer active, can't play sport or dance. I can only work short shifts. I was awarded a small payout for my pain and suffering, but under Della Bosca's new scheme I would only be entitled to a third of my payout."
NSW Labor Council secretary Michael Costa explained that more workers die at work each year than on the roads. Costa asked those gathered to face the Harbour Bridge. He pointed out that 16 workers lost their lives during its construction. At that point, a group of AWU members unfurled a giant banner from the bridge's roadway that read, "Hands off workers compensation".
Costa condemned Della Bosca's workers' compensation amendment bill, labelling it "a bill to restrain the rights of injured workers". "Employers must meet their responsibilities. Workers' compensation is a basic human right", Costa declared.
Costa then proposed a motion that condemned the bill. However, instead of calling upon the state Labor government to repeal the draconian bill in its entirety, he demanded "substantial amendments" be made.
The Labor Council has delayed state-wide industrial action by setting a deadline of May 29 for the government to accept Labor Council-backed amendments, or face mass industrial action endorsed by the NSW Labor Council.
The NSW Labor Council's campaign has been criticised by Melanie Sjoberg, the Democratic Socialist Party's national spokesperson on industrial matters. "The NSW Labor Council has failed to relate to the growing willingness of people to take their struggles to the streets", Sjoberg said. "Despite the Labor Council being aware of the May 1 blockade of the Sydney stock exchange, it was not mentioned at the ceremony. Instead of encouraging workers to protest against the draconian changes to the workers' compensation act by immediately escalating state-wide industrial action and urging workers' to join the M1 blockade, the Labor Council has appointed a campaign committee and opted to lobby Labor MPs and rely on radio, print and TV advertising."