Katherine Weiss, Brisbane (Meanjin)
As ANZAC day rapidly approaches, we mustn’t forget that a mere three days after is Workers Memorial Day – an international day of remembrance not taught in the classrooms.
This day is of exceeding importance however, as the corpses of workers young and old pile up year after year as workers are forced to labour in unsafe conditions. Just this past December a retaining wall collapsed on two construction workers on a social housing site, Kimura Dixon, a 45 year old tradesman was declared dead on the scene, with the other worker, his step-son surviving1.
This tragedy is but one of many workplace accidents that happen every day, in every industry, around the globe.
Workplace accidents can only be truly minimised through strong unions. The corrupt construction bosses would happily run their sites on razor thin safety budgets, if it weren’t for militant unions such as the ETU and the CFMEU to keep them in check! As long as there is a corner to cut, there will be a mountain of injuries –fatal or otherwise– to follow.
So please, this Workers Memorial Day, take a moment to pause, and reflect on our history of class struggle. “Remember the dead – Fight for the living!”2
2. https://web.archive.org/web/20060518055811/http://www.gmhazards.org.uk/WMDLft06.pdf
PARTISAN! 