Some days, politics should be kept in the background. Increasingly the International Day of Mourning is being used as a political platform, principally by the union movement. But this is discomforting and a little like anti-war protests during ANZAC Day, as happened several decades ago.
International Day of Mourning, or Workers’ Memorial Day, as it is also known, should be a time of reflection. There is no doubt that there is a political element to wortkplace safety and the deaths of workers but it is hard to remember the dead, look at the memorials and the floral tributes when a tannoy is shouting to a unon protest rally.
This was part of the scene outside the Trades Hall in Melbourne on 28 April 2010. Thousands of construction workers used the memorial as the starting point for a march to the offices of the Deputy Prime Minister, Julia Gillard. Continue reading “Unionists express anger at Australia’s approach to OHS on Workers’ Memorial Day”