This is a very important day in the international union calendar and should be observed by all union activists.

The day is endorsed by the ILO (International Labour Organisation),
8 international union confederations and a number of governments.

In Australia, the ACTU has a charter of workers’ OH&S rights. It considers that it is a basic human right for workers to return home after every day of work healthy and safe. Further, it sees that workers have a basic human right to enjoy long, happy and healthy
years of retirement.

However, this year in Australia we face the very real possibility that our OH&S laws will be severely diluted by the federal government as it attempts to “harmonise” OH&S laws around the country.

Deputy PM Julia Gillard promised the union movement that the government would aim for best practice model legislation, however, the recommendations from the panel she established could cause OH&S laws in this country to go back many years.

The ACTU OH&S conference in February this year called for a concerted campaign to support best practice legislation around the country and for IWMD to be a national day of action.

Sadly, it has not been endorsed as strongly as it should have.

The PSA/CPSU Worker Safety Committee in SA at its March 2009 meeting called for its members to:

* support the ACTU campaign to vigorously defend the
highest standards and rights of OH&S in model laws

* promote the slogan:

“Your OH&S rights at work are worth fighting for”

* promotes Internal Workers’ Memorial Day (28.4.09) and May Day
(1.5.09) as key days

* strongly urges SA Unions and affiliated unions to strongly support
the ACTU campaign

* promotes the idea that this campaign should be as well resourced as
Your Rights at Work Worth Fighting for/WorkChoices campaign

I have prepared a longer analysis of what the recommendations mean for workers in Australia. OUR OHS&W performance amongst the OECD countries is not good. Every year, Australia loses 8000 workers from work related causes. The money cost to the nation is estimated to be $57.5 billion! Economic rationalists normally get very excited about sums of money much smaller than this, but on OHS&W, they don’t want to spend money to save money. Of course this expenditure is about workers’ lives being lost and their health, safety and welfare going down the tube.

It is therefore crucial that the union movement and other organisations and individuals who fight for social justice to support this campaign very strongly.

We should also remember that IWMD is the day to remember union activists who have been gaoled, tortured or murdered because they supported workers basic human rights. Being union worker and members can be very dangerous in some parts of the world.

The ITUC (International Trade Union Confederation) has an international campaign to prevent occupational cancer (Zero Occupational Cancer Campaign or ZOCC). This also needs to be supported as cancer is the biggest killer of workers.

INTERNATIONAL WORKERS MEMORIAL DAY 28 APRIL 2009

SUPPORT THE ACTU CAMPAIGN ON NATIONAL MODEL OH&S LAWS

YOUR OH&S RIGHTS AT WORK ARE WORTH FIGHTING FOR TOO

PREVENT WORKPLACE CANCER

YOUR JOB SHOULD PROVIDE YOU WITH A LIVING – NOT CAUSE YOUR DEATH!

MOURN THE DEAD & FIGHT FOR THE LIVING

Andy Alcock