Workers call for reform and mourn the loss of 7,000 others

5 May 2009

Over the past week, thousands of construction workers have gathered across
the country to call for uniform national health and safety laws and demand
that the Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC) be abolished.

More than 4,000 workers in NSW also observed a minute's silence to mark
Workers' Memorial Day, which honours those killed on the job. Approximately
15,000 workers rallied in Melbourne, 3,000 in Perth, and hundreds gathered
in Hobart, Adelaide and Darwin.The strong attendance comes despite the fact
that big companies threatened to sue workers and unions for engaging in
"illegal" industrial action.Unions and workers have been calling for the abolition
of the building watchdog, the ABCC, since its creation during John Howard's
reign as prime minister.

Unionists are angered by the fact that workers who point out safety issues on
construction sites risk imprisonment if they fail to cooperate with the ABCC.
"Those coercive powers shouldn't exist in any democracy and they must go,
" said Sharan Burrow, ACTU president.

At a Labour Day rally in Queensland yesterday, Mackay president of the
Queensland Council of Unions, Gary Bell, celebrated the abolition of
WorkChoices, and also pushed for the dismantling of the ABCC - something
which prime minister Kevin Rudd promised during the build up to the
election.When Labor member for Dawson, James Bidgood tried to respond,
he was bunted from the stage by a union official and told not to return until
Kevin Rudd had abolished the ABCC.John Lloyd, head of the ABCC, has
rejected claims that it is linked to the number of work-related injuries and
diseases in Australia, which stood at 7,000 in 2008. He said that the ACTU
is misinformed about the facts concerning occupational health and safety
regulations. "The ABCC is not given responsibility for occupational health
and safety regulations in the building and construction industry. This rests
with the state occupational health and safety agencies, Comcare and the
Federal Safety Commissioner," he said.