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PUBLIC RALLY FOR WORKPLACE SAFETY
10 May 2006
The shocking deaths of munitions workers at Gladstone should not be allowed to be forgotten as "just another industrial accident", but must become the catalyst for tougher laws to protect workplace health and safety.
SA Unions Secretary, Janet Giles is horrified at the surge in workplace deaths, and predicts the trend will worsen under new federal work laws unless the state government steps in.
Ms Giles has announced there will be a public rally on the steps of Parliament House at 12.30 pm Thursday 11 May, to enable workers and their families to take stand for workplace safety. There will also be a minutes silence as a mark of respect for the dead.
"Workers are dying - at Gladstone, in maintenance jobs, at construction sites, the list goes on."
"South Australia's safety record is in tatters. It is a disgrace."
"How many more people must die before action is taken?"
"The two deaths at Gladstone mean five workers have died in workplace accidents in South Australia in less than a month. That sadly may rise to six if the final missing man hasn't survived."
"The most fitting tribute we can make is to toughen safety standards so these deaths haven't entirely been in vain," she says.
"The new federal laws mean job security is a thing of the past. Workers are reluctant to stand up for their safety for fear of dismissal. Clearly however, the alternative - death, incapacitation and injury - is far worse."
"The state government must ace to enforce tough safety standards to protect workers from the danger posed by the federal laws", Ms Giles says.
"We don't want the government to just talk about the sad loss of workers. What we demand is action to prevent such tragedies from happening," Ms Giles says.
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