TIM DORNIN
October 30,
2009 AAP
Building workers surrounded the Adelaide Magistrates Court
on Friday in a show of support for Ark Tribe, the construction
worker facing jail for refusing to front a federal government
commission in 2008.
Tribe has been charged with failing to appear before the
Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC) over
a safety meeting at an Adelaide building site.
Unions say he participated in the meeting but then refused
to give evidence against his fellow workers to the ABCC.
Tribe intends to contest the charge and could be jailed for
up to six months.
In court on Friday, defence counsel Michael Abbott agreed to
a four-week delay in the case to allow the prosecution to
respond to his request for further information.
However, Mr Abbott said the defence might need to subpoena the
material if it was not forthcoming.
Magistrate Joanne Tracey remanded Tribe on continuing bail to
appear again on December 18.
Outside, about 1,000 building workers rallied in nearby
Victoria Square before surrounding the court as Tribe emerged.
They vowed to return when Tribe next appeared in court.
SA Unions president Nick Thredgold said Tribe was being
persecuted for being unwilling to report on his workmates.
"The ABCC is a flawed system that strips construction workers
of the rights enjoyed by everyone else and treats them less
fairly than other Australians," he said.
"They don't have the right to a lawyer of their choice.
"They don't even have the right to remain silent."
CFMEU SA secretary Martin O'Malley reaffirmed the union's
resolve to take nationwide industrial action over the Tribe
case.
"The ABCC is seeking to penalise workers who've committed no
crimes, while companies continue to get away with appalling
rates of workplace death and injury due to shortcuts on safety
and shoddy standards," he said.
"The sickening irony is that workers are regularly killed
and injured by company negligence, but it's workers who face
jail if they dare to stop work after a fatality."
Meanwhile, hundreds of unionists shut down streets in Sydney's
CBD on Friday during a rally in support of Tribe.
Protesters marched through Sydney's CBD to the ABCC's offices
in Castlereagh Street about noon (AEDT) on Friday, with some
500 rallying outside the building.
Tribe's case has also drawn support from the Australian Greens,
with industrial relations spokeswoman Rachel Siewert describing
the prosecution as a disgrace.
"Ark Tribe would not be in this position if the ABCC had been
abolished two years ago when the Howard government was voted
out by the Australian people," Senator Siewert said.
"It is unacceptable to have workplace relations laws that take
away the right to silence, deny people their choice of lawyer,
provide powers to compel evidence with the possibility of
jail for non-compliance, and impose severe restrictions on
the rights of workers to organise and bargain collectively."
© 2009 AAP
Brought to you by
No comments:
Post a Comment